The difference in cost between holding a special election in an odd-numbered year and holding a regular election in an even-numbered year can be huge.
To its chagrin, that’s what the new Twin Rivers Unified School District has found. It merged the Rio Linda Union, North Sacramento and Del Paso Heights elementary districts with the Grant high school district in 2007.
That new district has a board that was elected to a four-year term running from November 2007 to November 2011. A special election in 2011 would cost the district $450,000, according to the Sacramento County elections office.
In contrast, a regular election in an even-numbered year would cost the district $50,000.
Every penny counts in a district facing a tough budget year.
So the board is considering two options for moving the election to avoid a $450,000 tab for a special election in 2011:
• Hold the election this November, which would shorten board member terms to three years.
• Hold the election in November 2012, which would lengthen board member terms to five years.
No elected board should be extending its term by unilateral decree – especially a new board that hasn’t faced voters since the district was established. The reality is that the original special election in 2007 drew only 19 percent of the 60,000 voters in the district.
An election this November is the better option. Voters in that new district should not go five years before being able to weigh in on the performance of the new board.
This is an issue of democratic accountability.
If it wants to save money with an election this year, the board needs to pass a resolution by March. The county elections office and potential candidates need to know. And the board needs to go on record now formally rejecting a 2012 election – signaling to voters that board members will not arbitrarily extend their own terms in office.