DETAILS ABOUT THE 2022 ELECTION
This year will be the third time that Costa Mesa voters will elect a Mayor. It will be the second time we will elect City Council members to represent the residents in Districts 3, 4 and 5.
How did this happen?
A short explanation of a complicated issue is that in December 2015, the City of Costa Mesa was threatened with a lawsuit because it was alleged that its at-large voting system violated the California Voting Rights Act. As part of settling that lawsuit, the City agreed to place a measure on the November 2016 ballot (Measure EE) that would allow for district-based elections so that the votes of minority voters would not be diluted. Although controversial in the manner in which it was written, the process being rushed and the way districts were drawn, Measure EE was passed by 65% of the voters.
What is your voting district?
The City of Costa Mesa's website has an interactive map that allows you to determine your voting district either by zooming in on the map or by typing in your address or Assessor's Parcel Number (found on your property tax bill). Here is the link to that map.
How many voters are in each district? Are they divided equally?
The following is the latest information on the number of voters in each District. No, it is not divided equally.
What districts are electing City Council members this year?
Districts 3, 4 and 5. District elections will alternate every two years so that elections will occur once every four years in any given district. In 2024 representatives for Districts 1, 2 and 6 will be elected.
What about the Mayor?
The Mayor will be elected every two years in city-wide elections.
What is Measure K?
Measure K was put on the ballot by the City Council. If you don't know about it, that is because during a chaotic council meeting on August 2 members of the Housing ad hoc committee (Council members Harlan, Marr, and Reynolds) rushed to put it on the ballot before the cutoff for the Fall election. They pushed through a previously unseen version of the ballot measure, giving the public, Staff, and City Council members minutes to review it during the actual hearing on the item. What came out of that was a ballot measure with typos (which later were fixed when the City Attorney did her analysis) and a map that targets Fire Station 6, the Westside Police Substation, the Women's Club, and the historic Presbyterian Church on 19th Street for redevelopment. You may have received a couple of glossy mailers. One was from the City and another was from a political action committee "Costa Mesa for Everyone, Yes on Measure K" Both flyers contain statements we believe to be untrue. Please see our sister website CostaMesa1st.com for more information.
