Politics & Government

July 23 Election to Be All-Mail Ballot

Termed-out District 4 Councilman Steve Diels and activist Dawn Esser are competing for the Redondo Beach city treasurer slot.

The Redondo Beach City Council unanimously approved a motion Tuesday night making the July 23 special municipal runoff election for the city treasurer's position an all-mail ballot. Councilman Bill Brand was absent.

Termed-out District 4 Councilman Steve Diels and activist Dawn Esser were the top-two vote-getters in the May 14 election, so they will proceed to the runoff.

In addition to the all-mail ballot, the council approved doubling the number of words allowed in the candidate statement from 200 to 400 words—which also doubled the cost from $1,100 to $2,200—despite a message from the city clerk that one of the candidates disagreed with doubling the statement, as well as a $160,000 allocation from the city budget to pay for the election.

"(Dawn Esser) is also opposed to the increase to the 400 words," said City Clerk Eleanor Manzano. "(She) also feels that Steve Diels should abstain."

After receiving advice from City Attorney Mike Webb—who said Diels did not need to abstain from voting on the candidate statement issue—Diels voted to approve the motion.

Manzano said that based on results from the May 14 election as well as the all-mail ballot in 2011, an all-mail ballot in July will actually increase voter turnout in addition to decreasing the cost of the special election.


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