Polls Close as Local Residents Await Results

Polls closed at 8 p.m. Tuesday at Los Angeles County vote centers, though voters already in line at that hour may still cast their ballots.

Pasadena Now is waiting for results on state, county and local measures and races, including Measure PFD, a proposed City of Pasadena parcel tax for fire protection, emergency medical services and wildfire preparedness; Measure UP, a $485 million Pasadena City College facilities bond; three contested Pasadena Unified School District Board of Education seats and three seats on the Pasadena Area Community College District Board of Trustees.

In Altadena, the first wave of voting took place for eight seats on the Town Council, with final voting to wrap up on November 7.

The Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk expects to release the first results at about 8:30 p.m., beginning with vote-by-mail ballots processed before Election Day.

Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk Dean C. Logan said at a 2 p.m. briefing that, as of 1:15 p.m., more than 1.9 million ballots had been received and recorded countywide, about 32% of registered voters. 

The total included about 1.5 million vote-by-mail ballots and more than 387,000 voters who cast ballots in person at the County’s 646 vote centers.

Logan said voting had been running smoothly across the County.

Voting has been steady and consistent all day long at the Altadena Community Center, according to Nicole Moore, lead poll worker.

The center has been open for the last four days, leading up to Election Day.

“It’s been a lot of community today,” said Moore. “People are really happy to be here. It’s just been a really good day to vote in Altadena.” Moore also noted that a number of residents who lost their homes in the Eaton Fire returned to Altadena just to vote, including one resident who made the drive from Long Beach to vote in her old neighborhood.

In the Pasadena Unified School District, voters in three of the Board’s geographic subdistricts are deciding contested races. Each race is decided by plurality, with the top vote-getter winning outright. In District 1, Felita Kealing is challenging incumbent Kimberly Kenne. In District 3, incumbent Michelle Richardson Bailey faces Veronica Elias. In the open District 7 seat, Dennis J. McNamara faces Cynthia Torres. District 5 incumbent Patrice Marshall McKenzie was the only candidate to qualify and will be appointed in lieu of election.

Measure PFD, formally titled the City of Pasadena 911 Firefighter/Paramedic Emergency Medical/Wildfire Preparedness/Response Measure, would levy 19 cents per square foot of improved property each year, with an exemption for low-income seniors. City officials estimate it would raise about $22.1 million a year. The tax would expire after 14 years unless voters reapprove it, and it requires two-thirds approval to pass.

Measure UP would authorize the Pasadena Area Community College District to issue $485 million in bonds to build and equip classrooms and career training facilities and to repair roofs, plumbing and electrical systems. The ballot question says the tax rate would not exceed $9 per $100,000 of assessed value and that the measure would provide $27 million a year while the bonds are outstanding. The college says the measure would extend the tax rate of Measure P, a bond voters approved in 2002 that will soon be paid off. Measure UP requires 55% approval.

Voters in three Pasadena City College trustee areas are also choosing among six candidates for the Board of Trustees that governs the Pasadena Area Community College District.

Area 1, which includes La Cañada Flintridge and West Pasadena, is an open seat because Trustee Sandra Chen Lau is not running. Geoff Baum and Francis Pollara are seeking it.

In Area 3, which includes Northwest Pasadena and part of southwest Altadena, incumbent Steve Gibson, the Board’s president, faces David Coher. In Area 5, which includes South Pasadena and San Marino, incumbent Kristine E. Kwong faces Jennifer Thompson.

Area 7 Trustee Alton Wang was the only candidate to file for his seat and is not on the ballot.

In Altadena, voting for eight seats on the Altadena Town Council, a volunteer advisory body, closed at 6 p.m. Tuesday and resumes Saturday, Nov. 7, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Bob Lucas Library, Loma Alta Park Library and Prime Pizza. Thirteen candidates are running, with contested races in four census tracts. The council’s Election Committee, not the County registrar, counts those ballots.

No Pasadena City Council races are on Tuesday’s ballot. Justin L. Jones in District 3, Jessica Rivas in District 5 and Jason Lyon in District 7 each won a majority in the June 2 primary and were elected outright.

At the top of the state ballot, Democrat Xavier Becerra and Republican Steve Hilton are running for governor to succeed Gov. Gavin Newsom, who is term-limited. In the 28th Congressional District, Rep. Judy Chu, a Democrat, faces Republican April A. Verlato. In the 41st Assembly District, which includes Pasadena and Altadena, Assemblymember John Harabedian, a Democrat, faces Republican Adam Christopher Vena.

Voters statewide are also deciding 14 propositions, including a housing bond (Proposition 1), a permanent extension of the income tax on high earners in place since 2012 to fund schools and health care (Proposition 3), a requirement that voters present government-issued identification (Proposition 39) and a one-time tax on billionaires (Proposition 40).

Countywide, voters are deciding two Los Angeles County Charter amendments, each requiring a simple majority. Measure A would establish binding arbitration for labor disputes with certified public safety employee organizations and prohibit strikes by certain additional County employees. Measure E would give the County Ethics Commission greater independence and structure and continue the County’s commitment to community investment and alternatives to incarceration.

Election night results are preliminary. Vote-by-mail ballots postmarked by Nov. 3 will be counted if they arrive within seven days, and the registrar will continue processing vote-by-mail, provisional and conditional voter registration ballots before certifying the election.