The Weekly Newspaper of El Segundo Herald Publications - El Segundo, Torrance, Manhattan Beach, Hawthorne, Lawndale, & Inglewood Community Newspapers Since 1911 - (310) 322-1830 - Vol. 106, No. 29 - July 20, 2017 City Council Looks at Future Election Date Options for 2018 By Brian Simon On Tuesday night, the El Segundo City Council considered options for moving future municipal election dates to align with statewide elections. Senate Bill 415, passed in September 2015, dictates that cities won’t be able to hold stand-alone elections anymore if their voter turnouts fell below a certain benchmark. In her presentation to the Council, City Clerk Tracy Weaver compared voter participation numbers in El Segundo over the past four statewide general elections (Los Angeles County) in November versus those of the April municipal contests. Average turnout in November was 66.55 percent, compared to just 33.49 percent for the most recent municipal election held in April 2016. According to SB 415, the difference between the two had to be less than 25 percent (i.e. turnout of at least 48.92 percent in April) in order for El Segundo to continue to hold stand-alone elections. By falling short of the required voter participation, El Segundo is now subject to the new law. However, the Council has some leeway in deciding when to consolidate. Weaver and her staff recommended aligning with LA County starting with the November 2018 election. Their arguments are that the move will increase voter participation; save the City money (estimated $20,000); provide more consistency for the voter experience; allow City staff to focus more on voter education and participation; build a relationship/partnership with the LA County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk Office so that the City can become more familiar with a new voting system expected to roll out in 2020; and allow the municipal Smartphones Are Beginning to Mess with Our Heads By Rob McCarthy Commerce, education and personal communication haven’t been the same since the smartphone became the musthave consumer electronic device. By one estimate, nearly every human being on the planet old enough will have a smartphone very soon. There could be six billion of these mobile communication devices worldwide by 2020, according to business analytics company IHS Markit. A decade ago, smartphones hardly existed. Yet, for all of the advances made because of smartphones, recent research points to an overdependence of the technology that shows up in how people nowadays talk, interact when together, and problem-solve. One recent study by a team of researchers in Austin, Texas concluded that a smartphone nearby makes it harder to think and concentrate. The findings by the University of Texas team came from studying the technology and study habits of college students, but there’s application here for high school administrators and teachers, parents and business leaders looking at ways to boost productivity and innovation in the workplace. “Our smartphones enable—and encourage— constant connection to information, entertainment and each other. They put the world at our fingertips, and rarely leave our sides,” the co-authors wrote, adding Inside This Issue Certified & Licensed Professionals.....................14 Classifieds............................4 Community Briefs...............3 Crossword/Sudoku.............4 Entertainment......................6 Legals............................ 12,13 Letters...................................2 Police Reports.....................2 Real Estate.......... 8-11,15-16 Sports.................................5,7 Weekend Forecast Friday Sunny 74˚/66˚ Saturday Sunny 75˚/65˚ Sunday Partly Cloudy 75˚/65˚ El Segundo Girls 14U Softball Team Head to Nationals The El Segundo Girls 14U Softball Team is on a roll! After winning three So Cal All Star tourneys, the LA District “B” Championship and placing second at California State “B” Championships, the team is headed to Roseville, California next week to compete at Nationals. Those wishing to help defray the team’s costs for the week-long tournament may donate at the gofundme page: ESGS 14U Nationals. The players will also be selling root beer floats during today’s farmer’s market on Main Street. Pictured above, front row L to R: Norah Green, Erin Graner, Kelly Carignan, Mya Bennett, Krista Cleland, Grace Bonney. Back row, L to R: Coach Rob Graner, Taylor Gray, Alexandra Hamilton, Audrey Malloy, Head Coach Steve Cleland, Mia Bacura, Haley Hart, Marlee Johnson, Coach Rick Mack. Photo by Julie Hamilton. See Smartphones, page 3 election to be on the same voting cycle as the El Segundo School Board. Aside from the staff recommendation, Weaver presented additional options to the Council—one in which the City can continue to hold standalone elections in April 2018 and 2020 provided it approves a plan by the end of this year for consolidation by 2022; and the other in which the City could align with a June statewide election date. However, she warned that the June option would be more costly and that pending legislation might change the dates so that elections occur sometimes in March as well as June— potentially creating confusion for residents and skewing City Council terms. Mayor Suzanne Fuentes expressed her disdain for the entire concept, feeling the State “has no business telling cities when it can hold their elections.” In looking at consolidating, she said her biggest concern is the budget since the City’s fiscal year runs from October 1 to September 30 with strategic planning in July and August. “If we hold elections in November, the newly seated Council doesn’t get to vote on strategic planning,” she said. Fuentes suggested See City Council, page 14
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