DLANC Election Today: Voting Open 2 - 8pm
Eric Richardson
[Flickr]
The DLANC board of directors meets in the lobby of the Los Angeles Theatre in September of 2009.
DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES — Polls open in two hours for the Downtown Los Angeles Neighborhood Council's 2010 board election, running from 2 to 8pm inside The Exchange (114 W. 5th).
52 candidates representing residential, business and community interests will be listed on the ballot, though only 13 of 28 seats are races in which there are more candidates than spots. More information can be found on the DLANC election website.
Just three months after moving from USC to the Historic Core in 2004, I unexpectedly found myself elected to the DLANC board of directors. After a phone call from Brady Westwater, someone I had barely met at the time, I showed up to a special election to vote and instead ended up finding myself elected.
I had no clue what I was getting myself into -- heck, I didn't even know what seat I had been elected to at the time -- but my three years on the council were a major part of shaping my understanding of Downtown and my fascination with this unique community. Some of my earliest writings that later turned into blogdowntown were recaps of council meetings that I attended.
So go vote. You never know what might happen.
Ginny Brideau (@ginnycase) on June 25, 2010, at 01:19PM – #1
I remember my DLANC election day. At the time we were living at PE Lofts, and I'd hosted a candidate event in the lounge, posted notices in the laundry room, and talked to countless people on the street, hoping to get them to go vote, and to consider voting for me. There was one other person running for the seat, and I'd been told that there was no way I could win.
I easily won my seat, and then realized what I had gotten myself into. Over the next couple of years I continued to meet my neighbors, work hard to keep things moving, and got to know a lot of great people.
When my term ended I realized that although I wasn't on the board anymore, there were still plenty of opportunities for me to participate with DLANC. When candidate time came around this term, I opted not to run. The #1 reason - there are enough people in the neighborhood that I don't need to run in order to think things will get done. #2 - I think I've been able to get more done in supporting DLANC than being a sitting board member.
So - who ever wins the two key resident seats today...I'll be calling you shortly to introduce myself.
Simon Ha on June 26, 2010, at 09:05AM – #2
Any idea what the voter turn out was?
I was there to vote around 7pm and there was a line almost out the door. It was good to see this amount of community participation.
Bert Green (@bgfa) on June 26, 2010, at 09:45AM – #3
Turnout was very high. My office is next door to where the election was held, and most of the day there was a long line out the door, except for a short period between 4-5:30 pm. The 2008 election had 2000 voters, about half of whom were mail-ins. I'm pretty confident that this year the turnout will be higher than that. A lot of the candidates did enthusiastic outreach, and the DLANC outreach committee did a great job getting the public involved.
Eric Metz (@lastreetcar) on June 28, 2010, at 09:28AM – #4
Anyone know when the results are released?
Eric Richardson (@blogdowntown) on June 28, 2010, at 10:28AM – #5
The City Clerk's office handles counting the ballots, and they only promise turnaround within seven business days. Since Monday, July 5, is a city holiday, that means they could come as late as next Wednesday. It's certainly possible they could come this week, though.
Bert Green (@bgfa) on June 28, 2010, at 10:36AM – #6
We were told that certified results would be provided by July 7. It's likely that non-official results will come earlier than that.