ANAHEIM : Voters Will Have 2 Ballots in March

Voters will have to go to the polls twice in two weeks because officials were unable to merge Anaheim’s special election with the March 19 state primary.

Kris Thalman, intergovernmental relations officer for the city, said there wasn’t enough time to merge the two elections because the deadline had passed to notify the registrar of voters of any changes in the upcoming state election.

The city has been lobbying the state Legislature to allow Anaheim’s March 5 election to be postponed until March 19.

“The timing was really poor. There was no way we could have got the bill passed and the materials printed,” Thalman said. “It would have saved us money and the voters confusion.”

City officials scheduled the special election after enough signatures were collected in a petition drive to place a mobile home rent control ordinance on the ballot.

A few weeks ago, months after the city election date was set, the state decided on its primary election for a number of open legislative seats, including the 35th District Senate seat vacated by John Seymour, who was appointed to the U.S. Senate.

Anaheim officials immediately began lobbying the state to allow the March 5 date to be changed because a special election will cost the city about $100,000.

Four ballot measures, including the proposed rent control ordinance, will go before Anaheim voters March 5. They are:

* An advisory vote that will ask residents if they wish to create a special tax to bring more emergency services to the city, including 40 new police officers at a cost of about $4 million.

* A measure to allow City Council salaries to increase to the maximum state level, which is $1,000 a month, or 2 1/2 times what council members are now paid.

* A measure to allow any qualified resident to run for mayor, rather than only those on the City Council. It would also increase the mayor’s term from two to four years and make it a position independent of a council seat.