The CAO Weekly Report The week of May 14, 2012 Monterey County Administrative Office Lew C. Bauman, CAO In this edition: Elections staff makes a TV appearance A wrap up of exciting events at County Parks Team building in one department is a tasty exercise Elections Take Its Message to the Voters via Television Staff members from the Elections Department had more than their 15 minutes of fame last week, manning phone banks on live television. It was all for a good cause educating the public about the upcoming June primary. The Department was invited by KION- TV Channel 46 to take part in the station s KION Call Center to answer questions about the elections process. This is the second time the department has done this type of outreach; the last time was fall 2011 before the November election. For county departments that have not tried this type of outreach, it s a good way to get important messages out, not only to those that call in, but to the news-watching viewers. Here is how Elections handled the phone bank work, and the preparation that went into it. The Election outreach team gears up for its appearance on KION-TV. To generate interest and questions, Elections created topic categories for the news anchors to mention during the program as well as provided questions that the anchors could ask the staff live on the air. Just prior to each commercial break, cameras showed the Elections staff on the telephones and the news anchors asked viewers to call if they
had questions on the categories of interest mentioned such as how, when and why to register to vote, how to request and return a vote by mail ballot, how to locate a polling place, and more. As this is a Presidential Primary, there is more interest in the election this year, generating more calls than in the past. With the Primary less than a month away, that means mailings are in high gear. Nearly 250,000 pieces of election mail were sent through the USPS system this week, including 101,585 vote by mail ballots and 148,190 local Monterey County Voter Guides. This is actually fewer guides than there are registered voters. Why? Thank the 8,000 or so voters who chose to opt-out of receiving their local Voter Guide in the mail, choosing to view it on the Department s website in an effort to go green. As more and more voters choose this option, local agencies holding elections will begin to benefit from a cost savings. Haven t received any State or local election mail yet? You may want to verify you are registered. The deadline to register, or re-register, is Monday, May 21 st. On this day, the Elections Department will remain open until 8:00 p.m. to accommodate those wishing to register. Here s how you can check online to be sure you are properly registered to vote! 1. Visit www.montereycountyelections.us 2. Select Am I Registered to Vote in Monterey County? 3. Provide all requested information 4. A message will appear to either confirm you are registered or to indicate there may not be a single match to the information you provided. If there is no match, please call the Elections Department and ask for help Our Election Question and Answer this week focuses on a situation that could arise once you have received your vote by mail ballot. Question: What should I do if I ve already received my vote by mail ballot but I want vote for the Presidential candidates and they are not on my ballot? Answer: The two remaining party-nominated offices (President and County Central Committee) are only open to voters of the party, and may be open to the No Party Preference (non-partisan) voters if the party has allowed. Therefore, if you already have a vote by mail ballot and want to vote in another party s primary, you should request a new ballot from us. No Party Preference voters can simply return the unvoted ballot to us, mark the box Spoiled on the blue return envelope and indicate the party ballot you would like to receive on the line under the box. Partisan voters must re-register to vote with the party they want to participate first, and then the Department will automatically send a new ballot. What to do with the old ballot? Please shred, destroy, or turn it in to us so we can destroy it. Election systems are set in place to only permit one voted ballot from each voter so be careful not to send us back the wrong one once it is returned, it can t be given back.
Events Wrap-Up from the Parks Department Three major events have taken place in county park locations during the last month. Here is an overview of the activities from the Parks Department. American Le Mans Monterey The American LeMans Monterey presented by Patron was held at the Laguna Seca Recreation Area May 10th-12th. The American Le Mans Series, GT3 Challenge by Yokohama, Mazda MX-5 Cup, Cooper Tire Prototype Lites and others put on a great show. This is the only Laguna Seca race event that features racing into the early evening for the Saturday American Le Mans race. There are four different classes of cars in the action-packed six-hour American LeMans Series race. Dempsey Racing, an established team in the Grand Am Rolex Series GT class, made its ALMS P2 debut on Saturday with a Lola- Judd prototype. Actor Patrick Dempsey owns the team and took over driving duties about two hours into the race. A highlight of the weekend was Thursday s press conference in which Mazda North America announced the renewal of its naming rights agreement with the Sports Car Racing Association of the Monterey Peninsula (SCRAMP) for another five years. Actor Patrick Dempsey plays a doctor on TV and now could bring some real life experience to a role as a race car driver. Dempsey made his LeMans racing debut behind the wheel of one of his team s own high performance cars at Laguna Seca. AVIA Wildflower Triathlons Festival The 30 th Annual Wildflower Triathlons Festival took place May 4th-6th at Lake San Antonio. Long known as the Woodstock of Triathlons for its rustic setting, this year s event hosted over 7,000 triathletes. This year s event included a Club Summit a meeting of the leaders from most of the major triathlon clubs in California. The purpose of the summit was to share best practices and create opportunities to play, train and race together. Julie Moss, a well-known triathlete, was the keynote speaker. Top competitors from around the world participated in the Elite category--most of them Olympic, World and Ironman champions. Athletic events included a long course, Olympic distance and a mountain bike triathlon for a variety of age groups. Teams participated in the Club or Collegiate competitions.
This festival is produced by Tri-California Events, Inc. for the Monterey County Parks Department. This event benefits the Parks Foundation of Monterey County. Sea Otter Classic More than 50,000 fans, athletes and cycling enthusiasts attended the 22 nd Annual Sea Otter Classic at Laguna Seca Recreation Area April l9th-22nd. Title sponsors included Volkswagen and SRAM. This year s event included a large expo area with over 300 vendors, road races, dual slalom, downhill and cross-country mountain bike racing. New events added this year were cyclocross and downhill skateboarding. The skateboard race was invitation only with a $5,000 purse. Cyclocross riders (above) and riders on the Gran Fondo (right). Activities for women and children were expanded to all four days of the festival this year. The Gran Fondo rides on Saturday were also expanded to include 96, 49 and 20-mile fun rides. Over 1,500 riders participated in the Gran Fondo rides. From Our Departments: Team Building with Salsa Was it a Food Network Challenge or a Bobby Flay Throw Down? No, just some staff bonding time over salsa at the Treasurer/Tax Collector s Office. In celebration of May birthdays and in the spirit of Cinco de Mayo, the office held a salsa competition! The display of tasty entries facing the judges during the competition. Staff members were encouraged to bring in their favorite salsa dishes for a blind taste test contest, which resulted in recognition and awards for the 1 st, 2 nd and 3 rd place winners. Afterwards, all the entries were eaten for lunch!
Not only was this event lots of fun, but it provided staff with an opportunity to show off their other special talents! Everyone benefits from these events and has a good time while team building, says Mary Zeeb, County Treasurer. I appreciate these volunteer efforts and can t wait to see what they will cook up next time. Pictured (l-r back row) Carolos Gomez, Ruth Mora, Liz Crooke, Rene Cantu, Antonia Garcia, Noemi Lopez Martinez, Angelica Ruelas. (l-r front row) Gloria Perez, Maria Ayala and Rigo Gonzalez.