Ballot booths could be crowded with election options

Yorba Lindans face a busy campaign season during the next year and a half, with residents casting ballots on important local issues in as many as six elections.

Here’s a rundown of actual and potential ballots for the rest of this year and next year:

--The November special election includes a vote on Prop. 77, designed to eliminate the weirdly shaped legislative districts politicians draw up to preserve their political status.

Yorba Linda’s state Assembly, state Senate and Congressional districts could become more compact and competitive if the measure passes. The city might be reunited into one Assembly district, instead of the current arbitrary division into the 60^th and 72^nd districts.

--Another special election, possibly in January, will decide the fate of a local initiative giving Yorba Linda residents the right to vote on major land use decisions within the city.

Sadly, the initiative campaign already has taken a nasty turn, with council members and initiative supporters trading accusations about the truthfulness of each other’s statements.

And in a bizarre incident at the last council meeting, Mayor Keri Wilson deftly redirected the comments of one speaker, whose mean-spirited mimicking of a council member’s speech patterns set a new low for unwarranted personal attacks.

--A third special election might occur if the council approves a high-density Town Center zoning ordinance later this year. Low-density advocates say they’re ready to gather enough signatures to force a referendum vote on the unwanted measure.

--The June 2006 primary election will determine if Mike Duvall becomes the first council member to win higher political office. A GOP primary win in his state Assembly race would virtually guarantee him a November victory in the safely Republican district.

--The November 2006 general election will fill the council seats held by Ken Ryan, who will be completing his second term, and Keri Wilson, who will have finished a first term.

--A special election is possible if Duvall wins his Assembly contest. The council could call for a special ballot or, more probably, appoint someone to serve out his council term.

Residents could overturn an appointment by again gathering enough signatures to force an election. But if Duvall wins the primary, he could resign in time for his post to be put on the November ballot, along with the council positions now held by Ryan and Wilson.

A FINAL NOTE--Developer Michael Dieden has hired veteran political consultant Dennis DeSnoo to work on the Town Center project. DeSnoo told me he doesn’t give interviews and warned me he acts aggressively to keep his name out of the newspapers.

DeSnoo’s firms have worked on the campaigns of all five sitting City Council members, collecting more than $90,000 in fees and expenses. He aided Ken Ryan and Jim Winder in 2000, Ryan and Keri Wilson in 2002 and Allen Castellano and Mike Duvall in 2004.

The informative www.ylforum.org Web site first noted the tie-in, but Webmaster Jim Horton told me he decided to delete DeSnoo’s name when “politely asked” by DeSnoo.