[poll id=”31″][poll id=”30″]Disclaimer: The comments in this blog are my personal opinion and may or may not reflect an adopted position of the city of Glendale and its city council.

Glendale’s Primary election is on Tuesday, August 28th, in less than 2 weeks. Just in case you think your vote doesn’t count let’s look back at some close elections.   

  • In the 2010 Ocotillo District Primary Election there were 3 candidates. The top two vote getters that would move on to the General Election were David Goulet with 738 votes and Norma Alvarez with 725 votes. A difference of 13 votes. Ms. Alvarez would go on to win in the General Election by 193 votes out of a total of 3,584 votes cast.
  • In the 2012 Cactus District General Election out of 7,259 votes cast, Ian Hugh prevailed over Gary Hirsch by 172 votes.
  • In the 2014 Ocotillo District Primary Election Jamie Aldama won by 19 votes out of       2, 423 total votes cast. Aldama had 1221 votes to Alvarez’ 1202 votes.
  • In the 2016 Yucca District Primary Election with 3,151 votes cast, I prevailed over Chavira. I had 1591 votes and Chavira had 1545 votes – a difference of 46 votes. 
  • In the 2016 Mayoral contest with 26,022 votes cast, Jerry Weiers with 13,712 votes beat Mark Burdick with 12,767 votes – a difference of 405 votes.

Despite overall voter apathy in Glendale and because so few registered voters actually take the time to vote, Glendale’s elections tend to be ‘squeakers’. Expect about 2500 people to vote in the Ocotillo district and about 4,000 to 5,000 voters in the Barrel district. With those kinds of numbers you can see that truly every vote does count.

If your Early Ballot is still sitting on your kitchen table or ‘To Do’ pile, dig it out, fill it out, and please send it in. You don’t need postage and it only takes 5 minutes to swing by a postal outlet or postal box when going to and from work or grocery shopping. You still have time to mail it in.

If you are a poll voter, take a minute to get online at the Maricopa County Recorder’s Election website and check to find your polling location. Many locations change from one election cycle to another. Don’t assume that because you voted at a local church or school site that it will automatically be used as a voting site this time.

Vice Mayor Lauren Tolmachoff of the Cholla District is running unopposed and her election will simply confirm that fact. In the Ocotillo District your candidates are Emmanuel Allen and Jamie Aldama. In the Barrel District your choices are Ray Strahl and Bart Turner.

To tell you the truth, there is not a lot of daylight between all of the candidates’ positions on the issues. It may come down to a question of character and passion. I think perhaps the best way to help you to decide in this election is to call the candidate directly and ask about any local issue important to you.  Did the candidate call you back? If not, don’t expect to get a better response should that person be elected.

In the spirit of fairness, I went to each candidates’ online presence, whether it was Facebook or an independent web site and looked for a contact phone number. I was able to find the following:

  • Emmanuel Allen     602-488-0147
  • Bart Turner           623-487-3808
  • Ray Strahl            623-341-7614
  • Jamie Aldama       623-930-2249 (I could only find the main city council office number)

Please do vote. It’s so important to the future of Glendale…and you and your family’s future as well. Yours could be one of a very few votes that causes a candidate to win or lose. Remember a margin of 19 votes can decide the winner!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

© Joyce Clark, 2018         

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