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Uploaded: Wednesday, November 4, 2009, 5:01 PM

Election results further cemented after update
Scharff's election lead grows; more voters reject Measure A

by Royston Sim
Palo Alto Online Staff

Posted by I Voted, a resident of the Barron Park neighborhood, on Nov 5, 2009 at 12:48 am

How many people voted for city council? What percentage of registered voters?

Posted by PA voter, a resident of the Charleston Meadows neighborhood, on Nov 5, 2009 at 6:53 am

The Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters hasn't published Palo-Alto specific statistics on turnout, but countywide, a little under a third of voters voted, mostly by absentee ballot: Web Link For comparison, Santa Clara County turnout was 85% for the 2008 presidential election: Web Link

The reality is that even though a voter's voice is strongest on local matters, people are much less inclined to vote in these kinds of off-year elections. As a result, they're more about whose supporters are more motivated than about what the local population as a whole thinks is best.

Posted by Good Hands, a resident of the Downtown North neighborhood, on Nov 5, 2009 at 7:15 am

Wonderful results in the City Council races. Palo Alto will be in good hands.

Posted by MV Resident, a resident of Mountain View, on Nov 5, 2009 at 9:24 am

@I Voted:

If you look at the current results at the Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters, 13,376 people voted for Measure A, so my guess is that roughly the same number of people voted for City Council candidates. Since the total number of votes cast for councilmembers is about 56,000, that averages 4 councilmember votes per voter (which sounds about right to me since not everyone would vote for five seats).

Since roughly 20% of the ballots still haven't been counted, I'm guessing the total number of Palo Alto voters will be in the neighborhood of 16 or 17 thousand. I'm not exactly sure, but a quick Google search leads me to believe that there are approximately 40,000 registered voters in Palo Alto, meaning the voter turnout would be around 40% for this off-year election.

Posted by RT, a resident of the Barron Park neighborhood, on Nov 5, 2009 at 11:18 am

Horrible results in the City Council races. Palo Alto will be in destructive hands.

Posted by Tim, a resident of the Crescent Park neighborhood, on Nov 5, 2009 at 3:46 pm

How did Frost get 270 votes? Not real smart if this had been a closer race for the top five.

Posted by A Frost Fan, a resident of the College Terrace neighborhood, on Nov 5, 2009 at 4:20 pm

Frost adds diversity to the Council elections. He calls it as he sees it. No bull.

Posted by Doug Graham, a resident of the Barron Park neighborhood, on Nov 5, 2009 at 4:20 pm

Another glass ceiling broken: it is interesting to note that, 34 years after annexing to Palo Alto, there has finally been a Barron Park resident (Gail Price) elected to the City Council!

Posted by Another Frost fan, a resident of the Adobe-Meadows neighborhood, on Nov 5, 2009 at 5:12 pm

I like Frost. I know that he may never get elected, but I like how he is always reinventing himself. From food drives, and laptop drives to happy thanksgiving and Christmas signs. He may not have it all together, but he has a good heart. His campaign this year was hurt by all the bad publicity about where he actually lives and the incident with another homeless. But, Victor, if you are out there, my congratulations! You did well. 270 Palo Altas voted for you. It's all good.

Posted by Buzz, a resident of the Leland Manor/Garland Drive neighborhood, on Nov 5, 2009 at 5:15 pm

Now that the SEIU supported candidates will be on the council, it will be interesting to watch them juggle their responsibilities to the voters to work on getting the budget under control, holding firm on the changes to employee benefits while they seek to please their $ supporters in the union. The only poll watchers we saw all day were from the union, including one who drove up from San Jose to check the street indexes - I imagine those union members who didn't have their names checked off will be subject to some sort of retribution. What will they do if the new council holds firm?

Posted by A Noun Ea Mus, a resident of the Professorville neighborhood, on Nov 6, 2009 at 4:48 am

"Now that the SEIU supported candidates will be on the council, .."

Oh come on. They were endorsed by the union (AFL-CIO Labor Council) and probably also by a bunch of other groups. This doesn't mean they are beholden to vote any particular way. When one looks at the special interests buying access the unions are probably at the bottom of the list---realtors, developers, etc.

Then it gets even more bizarre..

"I imagine those union members who didn't have their names checked off will be subject to some sort of retribution. What will they do if the new council holds firm?"

I imagine that Pamela Anderson will run for mayor in the future and be elected in a landslide. And the council will hold firm.

But getting back to the previous imaginary issues...

So the hordes of SEIU members who live in Palo Alto are worth the trouble of a union official checking to see if they showed up to vote? And even then there would be no guarantee they didn't vote for Timothy Gray and Larry Klein. And what will who "do" if the new council "holds firm"? The union officials supposedly holding draconian electoral oversight over Palo Alto SEIU members? Or the hordes of Palo Alto SEIU members who supposedly are victims of SEIU voter intimidation?

Political paranoia works best when mixed with at least minimally plausible scenarios.

Posted by A Frost Fan, a resident of the College Terrace neighborhood, on Nov 7, 2009 at 4:57 pm

Frost would have brought the experience of the sidewalk right into the Council Chambers. Lying vertical on the sidewalk gives one a unique perspective on the passing world of horiztonal people.