North Orange County's city-by-city breakdown of 2021 Governor Newsom recall election results

 

Among the interesting aspects of the recent recall election in the seven north county cities served by this newspaper are the counts for votes cast by mail and at vote centers.

Voters opposed to the recall dominated the mail-in tallies, while voters favoring the recall prevailed in the ballots cast in person at the county's vote centers – except in Yorba Linda.

Yorba Linda's voters favored the recall of Gov. Gavin Newsom in both mail-in votes and in votes cast at vote centers. But mail-in voters in Brea, Buena Park, Fullerton, La Habra, La Palma and Placentia opposed the recall as in-person voters supported the recall.

Overall, a majority of voters in Brea, Placentia and Yorba Linda supported the recall, while a majority of voters in the four other north county cities opposed the recall, with the largest margin of “yes” votes tallied in Yorba Linda.

Here's the city-by-city breakdown, with numbers rounded to the nearest percentage:

Brea: Turnout was 67% of 29,287 registered voters, 60% by mail and 7% in-person. Total vote was 52% “yes” and 48% “no,” with 52% “no” by mail and 85% “yes” in-person.

Buena Park: Turnout was 54% of 43,282 registered voters, 48% by mail and 6% in-person. Total vote was 43% “yes” and 57% “no,” with 62% “no” by mail and 76% “yes” in-person. The “no” vote prevailed in all five of the city's voting districts.

Fullerton: Turnout was 59% of 77,532 registered voters, 52% by mail and 7% in person. Total vote was 44% “yes” and 56% “no,” with 60% “no” by mail and 75% “yes” in-person. The “no” vote won in four of the city's five voting districts, with “yes” winning north-central Ward 2.

La Habra: Turnout was 58% of 33,318 registered voters, 51% by mail and 7% in-person. Total vote was 45% “yes” and 55% “no,” with 60% “no” by mail and 80% “yes” in-person.

La Palma: Turnout was 64% of 9,592 registered voters, 56% by mail and 8% in-person. Total vote was 44% “yes” and 56% “no,” with 61% “no” by mail and 77% “yes” in-person.

Placentia: Turnout was 66% of 30,683 registered voters, 57% by mail and 9% in-person. Total vote was 51% “yes” and 49% “no,” with 54% “no” by mail and 79% “yes” in-person. The “no” votes won in three of the city's five voting districts, with “yes” winning center-city Wards 4 and 5.

Yorba Linda: Turnout was 72% of 47,977 registered voters, 62% by mail and 10% in-person. Total vote was 63% “yes” and 37% “no,” with 58% “yes” by mail and 88% “yes” in-person.

Larry Elder was the run-away winner in each city among voters who cast replacement votes.

In the 45-square-mile Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District, the recall was supported in four of the district's five voting areas. Only voters in southwest Area 2 opposed the recall, with 65% “no” votes.

Supporting the recall were voters in northwest Area1, with 54% “yes” votes; eastside Area 3, with 63% “yes” votes; central-east Area 4, with 61% “yes” votes; and central-west Area 5, with 52% “yes” votes.

Noteworthy shift in voting patterns at Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District since election of three new trustees last November

 There's been a noteworthy shift in voting patterns on the Placentia-Yorba Linda school board since the election of three new trustees to the five-member panel last November.

Prior to this year, virtually all votes were 5-0 (or 4-0 when a trustee was absent). The last 3-2 vote occurred 12 years ago, when attendance boundaries were established for Yorba Linda High School, with another 3-2 vote at the next meeting when the boundaries were changed.

This year, 3-2 and 4-1 votes on a number of matters have dotted the agendas of meetings in May, June and July. Of 74 votes taken at four regular sessions, nine were not unanimous, an unusually large number when compared to past years.

The most publicized of the 3-2 votes came at a July 27 meeting on a resolution asking the state's Department of Public Health to change face covering rulings for schools and school-based programs.

The resolution requests the department make face coverings “optional,” thus “giving students, staff and families choice,” while stating the resolution “gives voice to those students, staff and families.”

Supporting the resolution were newly elected trustees Marilyn Anderson, Leandra Blades and Shawn Youngblood. Opposed were 32-year trustee Karin Freeman and 11-year trustee Carrie Buck.

However, less noted at the same meeting were six other split votes on items pulled from the “consent calendar,” where many routine items are bundled together for a single vote.

Two involved 3-2 votes: An agreement with BrainPOP was voted down and a three-year online subscription for Newsela for Kraemer Middle School passed. Anderson, Blades and Youngblood opposed the BrainPOP pact, and Blades and Youngblood opposed Newsela.

In 4-1 votes, Blades opposed membership in the California School Boards Association, its Education Legal Alliance and subscription to its online policy manual and an EDPuzzle online subscription for Valadez Middle School Academy. Youngblood opposed a History Alive! online subscription for the Valadez campus.

BrainPOP aids instruction through games, animated movies and activities, Newsela provides access to standards-aligned articles, EDPuzzle involves interactive video-based lessons and History Alive! supports the social studies curriculum.

At a June 22 meeting, Blades and Youngblood opposed the district's adoption of a Local Control and Accountability Plan.

And in two interesting May 11 meeting votes, Anderson, Blades and Youngblood opposed a resolution designating May as Mental Health Awareness Month. After discussion, an amended version of the resolution was adopted on a 5-0 vote.

Deleted from the original 494-word resolution was the phrase “the long overdue societal reckoning with police violence against African Americans.”

Public participation has increased from an average half-dozen speakers during public comment periods in past years to 14 on May 11, 22 on June 1, 31 on June 22 and 33 on July 27.

State legislation draws reactions from Yorba Linda's City Council and water district leaders

 

Yorba Linda's city and water district leaders have taken strong stands on recently introduced state and federal legislative bills on topics that range from housing matters to sanitary wipes.

Mayor Peggy Huang told her City Council colleagues at an August meeting that should either of two housing bills now before the state legislature pass, there would be no need for cities to exist because there would be no local control.

One bill, introduced in the Assembly by David Chiu (D-San Francisco), would require cities with “low progress” in meeting state-mandated housing goals to take specified actions out-lined by the Housing and Community Development Department and be subject to fines.

Tony Cardenas, regional public affairs manager of the Orange County Division of the League of California Cities, told council members that the 123-year-old lobbying group feared AB215 the most of all the currently circulating housing bills due to the loss of local control.

The bill would mandate “open-ended consultation” between the state housing agency and local governments, where housing production is low for specified income levels, according to Cardenas.

A second bill, SB478, introduced in the Senate by Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), restricts cities from enforcing certain requirements regarding housing on minimum lot sizes and from imposing some floor-to-area ratio standards, Cardenas said.

Opposition to both bills was approved with Huang and members Tara Campbell and Beth Haney “yes,” Gene Hernandez “no” and Carlos Rodriguez abstaining. The latter two said the city should let the league track such bills and voice the city's opposition when needed.

The mayor was authorized to sign a letter stating the city's opposition to the legislation.

Yorba Linda Water District directors, who oversee sewer service in Yorba Linda, small portions of eastern Placentia and a tiny nick of southeastern Brea, quickly endorsed a proposed federal bill dealing with the labeling of sanitary wipes.

The bill, entitled the Wastewater Infrastructure Pollution Prevention and Environmental Safety (or WIPPES) Act, was introduced in the House of Representatives on July 21 and swiftly was endorsed by district directors at an Aug. 10 meeting.

The legislation would establish a “do not flush” labeling requirement for non-flushable wet wipe product packaging. A similar bill was recently introduced in the California legislature.

“This legislation would take a critical step toward stopping the flushing of wet wipes at the source and decrease the strains that the flushing of these products has upon property owners, infrastructure, wastewater treatment plants, ratepayers and the surrounding environment,” General Manager Brett Barbre reported to the water board directors.

Supporting the bill were directors J. Wayne Miller, Brooke Jones, Trudi Kew DesRoches and Tom Lindsey. Board president Phil Hawkins was absent from the meeting.