The Santa Clarita Valley’s school districts and a water district won’t be moving their elections to even-numbered years after all.

County supervisors followed the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder’s suggestion not to switch election dates, according to a spokesman for 5th District Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich.

A 2-2-1 vote not means the ballots won’t move, meaning more costly elections and less voter participation, spokesman Tony Bell said.

Antonovich, who represents the Santa Clarita and Antelope valleys, voted for the move, along with Supervisor Don Knabe.

For Antonovich, the issue was a “no-brainer,” Bell said, and his vote was indicative of his support for his community.

“This was a common sense request from our local communities,” Bell said. And the bureaucrats should have figured out a way to make it more cost effective for the county. And it ultimately would have saved more money for the school districts.”

Susan Christopher, who went to the meeting to testify on behalf of the Castaic Union School District, said the move would have greatly increased voter participation, citing the bond-measure turnout as an example.

She appreciated Antonovich’s support but was disappointed by the outcome of the vote.

“Of course, we wanted to make sure we were in compliance with the California Voters Rights Act,” said Christopher, who’s the board president for Castaic Union. “What we found is that we could really increase the voter participation of minorities by moving these elections — and that’s what we were really excited about.”

Newhall School District board member Sue Solomon also expressed disappointment with the vote.

“Definitely we would see an increase those (even-numbered) years,” Solomon said. “It would bring out more people to vote.”

Over the last six weeks, each local board has sought county approval to move elections.

Original Story