Steps to ensure voting fairness
Jane H. Turnbull, President
Four years ago, it took 37 days to decide the outcome of the presidential election – and then it was decided by the Supreme Court.
This year, the League of Women Voters is asking all voters and election officials to do several things to minimize the likelihood of another such debacle.
Because there still are risks that voting procedures would not be fair, accurate and accessible, in early September the five leagues in Santa Clara County wrote Jesse Durazo, our county Registrar of Voters, offering to work with him in several areas. As of Oct. 11, we have had no response.
The specific areas, and the leagues’ suggestions, are:
• Voter registration: Ensure that the DMV and other authorities transmit information in a timely manner; accept all registration forms with adequate eligibility information.
• Erroneous purging: Do not purge rolls after the close of registration; check a sample list of potential voters for accuracy.
• Problems with new ID requirements: Educate voters about bringing suitable ID to the polls; recruit adequate bilingual poll workers.
• Failure to count provisional ballots: Ensure that eligibility to vote in federal elections is the real test for counting provisional ballots in federal contests; ensure that poll workers are informed about the criteria for the use of provisional ballots.
In the meantime, a local political leader has publicly raised the concern poll workers are being instructed not to tell voters that they have the option of using a paper ballot rather than the electronic voting machine.
We share this concern and urge that this instruction be promptly rescinded.
But each of us bears a personal responsibility. First and foremost, we have a duty to become well informed.
We trust that everyone who is eligible to vote Nov. 2 will make it a top priority to do so.
More women for local offices
Ginny Lear
As election day draws near, may I offer a reminder that there is a timely exhibit at the Los Altos History Museum, “Votes for Women: Unfinished Business.”
It traces the American women’s suffrage movement, which was less than 100 years ago. The exhibit also includes the important political and social roles women have played in our local area.
Los Altos Hills has a long history of women serving on city councils. This year there are five qualified candidates running for three seats, two women and three men.
It is my hope that the Hills voters will continue electing qualified women to this important decision-making role.
My focus on electing women to the Hills council arose because for the first time in more than 40 years, Los Altos has an all-male city council.
This strikes me as very wrong in the 21st century.
I am hopeful that the history museum exhibit will remind and encourage women in Los Altos to consider running for Los Altos City Council in 2005, when two seats should be vacated due to term limits, or for school boards, which also have elections then.
Please use the year ahead to become informed, attend meetings, apply for school committees or city commissions, and talk with people about your interests.
As a previously elected woman in Los Altos, I can assure you, community involvement is an extremely rewarding experience.
No local field access
Mountain View and Los Altos Pop Warner parents Jim and Leslie Lodestro Mark and Bernice Hirschbek Liz Robinson (Brown) Lee and Lisa Kratzer Manuel Flores David Wood Raul and Yolanda Alvarez Greg and Gail Myers Minerva Munoz Agustin and Mathilda Hernandez
This year, our local Pop Warner football teams were not able to play their games at either Mountain View or Los Altos high schools. They played only three home games this year – two at St. Francis High School and the third at Sunnyvale.
We wish to extend our thanks to St. Francis for their continued generosity as well as our good neighbors in Sunnyvale.
More than 95 percent of the children in the Pop Warner program matriculate in the Mountain View-Los Altos Union High School District – yet they don’t have access to the only places in the district where they can play football. Why?
Why don’t we care enough about these young children to give them the same access and field time that their peers get in Palo Alto, Sunnyvale, Oak Grove and Menlo-Atherton – to name a few districts?
Our community has twice as many football fields at our own public schools, than some of our neighbors and our children still do not have a place to play. Why is that?
As a community we have an obligation to support our children, especially with the resources of our public schools. Nearly 50 percent of the children in this program are considered “at risk” children. What sort of message are we sending to these kids?
We believe it is in the community’s best interest to create and encourage high-quality programs like Pop Warner for these children to participate in.
We want to engage in a dialogue to give our children what every other child in Pop Warner on the Peninsula has – a community that supports them, and provides them fair and reasonable access to the public resources they need and are entitled to.
A question over town debt
Dot Schreiner
A recent mailer sent out by candidate Mike OMalley, the present incumbent, states that the Town of Los Altos Hills’ financial condition is excellent. He states that the town has $12 million in reserves and no debt.
Sounds wonderful.
On Sept. 16, the town signed a lease agreement that indebted the town for $2 million, to be paid over a 15-year period, with interest payments totaling over $800,000. Why?
There is something wrong with this picture.
