Hopeful Municipal Candidates Begin Paths to Elected Office

 

[Updated November 17, 2016 | 9:30 a.m.]  Pasadena’s 2017 municipal election campaign took its first steps Wednesday evening as a handful of candidates and election observers met with City Clerk Mark Jomsky in a conference room at City Hall for the second of two candidate workshops conducted by the City Clerk’s Office.

The applicants at the workshop are vying for seats in City Council districts 3, 5 and 7, and seats on the Pasadena Unified Board of Education (PUSD) in districts 1,3, 5 and 7.   Among the PUSD prospective candidates were Jouslynn Griffin, Michelle Richardson Bailey and Rita Miller. Attendee Krystal Lopez-Padley is a prospective candidate for City Council in the Fifth District. and attendee Adrienne Large is a prospective candidate for  City Council in the Third District.

As City Clerk, Jomsky is considered the City’s Elections Official and will manage both Council and Board of Education elections per the City Charter. Due to the possibility of the County adding ballot measures to the special countywide election on March 7, 2017, the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk may administer and conduct the March primary, instead of Jomsky, he told the candidates. 

A decision in the matter is expected at the beginning of December.

The candidates will be campaigning for the primary election to be held on March 7, 2017. Should no candidate for a specific office win a majority (50 percent plus one), of votes, a General Election with the top two vote getters for each office, will be held on April 18.

Prospective candidates who have no attended the workshops may also now schedule individual appointments with the City Clerk to be issued nomination papers and receive the same information that was presented at the workshops.

Each candidate received an accordion file from the clerk, holding scores of forms and information items, ranging from instructions on collecting signatures  to disclosing financial interests and preparing campaign statements. 

The official nomination period for the campaign began  Monday, as the candidates became eligible to collect signatures to qualify for the ballot. The nomination period will run through December 9. The deadline will be extended if the current incumbent, for any reason, fails to file to run again.

Candidates for PUSD seats also much collect 25 qualified signatures. Jomsky recommended to the candidates that each collect five to ten more signatures than required, as some signatures may be disqualified for various reasons.

Candidates for a City Council seat must present 25 qualified signatures from Pasadena voters. Candidates for PUSD seats also must collect 25 qualified signatures. Jomsky recommended to the candidates that each collect five to ten more signatures than required, as some signatures may be disqualified for various reasons.

Candidates received three nominating petition forms, and each may be managed by anyone the candidate desires, as long as the signature collector is 18 or over. Should two candidates collect signatures from the same voter on his or her nominating petition, the first candidate to turn in his or her signatures will receive credit for the voter’s signature.

Jomsky explained the candidates’ 200 -word candidate’s statement which once filed, cannot be revised or changed. 

Get someone to proofread your statement,” Jomsky told the candidates, “and proofread it yourself, and then I will. The candidate’s statement is confidential until expiration of the nomination period, but may be withdrawn until 5:00 p.m. of the next working day after the close of nomination period.

“A candidate running unopposed might want to withdraw his statement, for example,” said Jomsky. 

A Statement of Organization (Form 410) must also be filed within 10 days of qualifying as a committee, which is to say if a candidate receives contributions of  $2,000 or more towards his or her campaign; or spends $2,000. Personal funds to pay the filing fee and candidate’s statement are not counted toward the $2,000 threshold. All recipient committees which file a Statement of Organization (Form 410) must pay a $50 annual fee to the Secretary of State, pursuant to Government Code Section 84101.5

City Council Candidates must also pay a $650 deposit to the City against costs incurred in preparing various  election materials, while PUSD candidates will pay $750. 

Prior to the December 9 filing deadline, candidates for office will be returning to the City Clerk  a Nomination Paper with the minimum required signatures, a filing fee of $25.00, and optional Candidate’s Statement and/or Candidate Statement Form, a deposit for Candidate’s Statement (if applicable), a Form 700 Statement of Economic Interest , a voluntary signed State Code of Fair Campaign Practices, a voluntary signed City Fair Campaign Practices Agreement, a Ballot Designation Worksheet, a Foreign Language Translations Information Sheet, a Transliteration Request Form and an optional biographical form.

Candidates may also file the Form 501 Candidate Intention Statement if  they are planning to raise or expend campaign funds for the upcoming election, according to the presentation.