Q. What is the County Council of the Green Party of Los Angeles County (GPLAC)?

The County Council is governing body for the Green Party of Los Angeles County (GPLAC). It is elected by Green Party members, voting in the state primary election every two years.

Q, What is the Green Party of Los Angeles County (GPLAC)?

The Green Party of Los Angeles County (GPLAC) is the county organization of the Green Party of California (GPCA).

Q. What Are The Duties and Responsibilities Of The County Council?

The duties and responsibilities of the County Council are defined in the GPLAC bylaws, in Section 5.2 “Duties of the Council”. They include a range of party building strategies and tasks, internal and external communications, and representing the GPLAC to the GPCA.

Q. Why Are There County Councils?

All political parties in California are governed by the California Elections Code. The Code specifies the duties and qualifications of all political parties, including their state and county organs. Each ballot-qualified party must hold a county organization election in the state primary election every two years.

In Los Angeles County, the Green Party calls its elected County organization the ‘County Council’. Other parties have chosen slightly different names for the same body. The Libertarian, Natural Law and Peace & Freedom Parties have chosen ‘Central Committee’. The Democratic, Republican & American Independent Parties have chosen ‘County Central Committee’.

Q. How Many Members Are There On The County Council And From What Districts Are They Elected?

For the 2006 elections, there will be 44 members on the County Council, elected from 14 State Senate districts. The districts have between two and six seats per district, proportional to the number of registered Greens in that district, compared to the rest of the county.

Here is a chart with a breakdown of the districts and the number of seats and registered Greens in each.

Twelve of the fourteen State Senate districts in Los Angelese County are wholly located in Los Angeles County. The two that are not -19 and 32 - have only a small portion in County, and therefore have been combined with the adjacent district to each - 17 and 29 respectively - adding their registered Green total together to determine how many seats.

Historically, the number of County Council seats in Los Angeles County and the districts from which they were elected, has varied over time.

From 1992-2000, County Council seats were elected by State Senate Districts. From 1992-1994, there were 44 seats. Then for the 1994 elections, the County Council voted to change this to 34 seats. This number was in place from 1994-2002.

For the 2002 and 2004 elections, the County Council voted to change the number of seats to 17, and to elect them by Supervisorial district. For the 2006 elections, the number of seats has been returned to 44, elected from State Senate Districts.

Q. When is the County Council Election?

County Council elections are held in even numbered years, at the same time as the California state primary. The next County Council election will be June 6th, 2006.

Q. How Do I Find Out Which State Senate District I Live In?

Go to http://lavote.net/district/.

Q. What Are the State Senate District Boundaries?

To see the district boundaries, click http://www.sen.ca.gov/ftp/SEN/senplan/SENMAPS/SD_STATE8X11.PDF and http://www.calvoter.org/voter/maps/

Q. How Are The Number of County Council Members Per District Determined?

The number of County Council representatives per district, is proportional to the number of registered Greens in that district, compared to the number of registered Greens in the county overall. This number of registered Greens used for these calculations is determined as of the 115th day before the County Council election, by the Los Angeles County Registrar's offfice.

Q. Who Is Eligible To Run For County Council?

One must be a registered Green in Los Angeles County in the State Senate district in which one seeks election. (E. C. § 201 and GPLAC Bylaws 7.1.2)

In addtition, the California Elections Code specifies that to be considered a registered party member eligible to run as a Green Candidate, one must have been affiliated with party, as shown by affidavit of registration, at least 3 months prior to filing nomination documents, or for as long as he or she has been eligible to register to vote in the State. The candidate must also not have been affiliated with any other qualified party for 12 months immediately prior to filing. (E. C. § 8001)

Q. How Can One Qualify for the Ballot?

To qualify for the ballot, a potential County Council candidate must gather at least twenty valid nomination signatures from registered Greens in her/his district. These signatures (and the Green registration status of the signers) are then checked for validity by the County Registrar . Afterwards, if enough signatures are valid, one's name is placed on the ballot for public vote.

If you want to purchase a list of Green Party voters in the district in which you seek nomination, the Los Angeles County Registrar Recorder/County Clerk's office charges $54 for such a list, and it can be made available on a CD. The lists contains phone numbers and emails for many, but not all, Green Party members in the district. For more information, contact their office at (800) 815-2666.

Q. What Are the Filing/Nomination Signature Gathering Dates To Qualify As A County Council Candidate?

The period within which one can begin to gather signatures and then hand them in, are February 14th, 2006 (Tuesday) to March 10th, 2006 (Friday, 5pm). These dates correspond to E-112 and E-88, indicating the number of days before the County Council election, according to the California Elections Code. (E.C. €€ 8020 & 10407)

To fill out the official papers and obtain the official signature gathering forms, one must go to Norwalk to the County Registrar's office.

Q. Where is the Count Registrar’s Office and What Is Their Contact Information?

To learn more about running for County Council, including where and when to go to take out papers to actually run, contact the Los Angeles County Registrar's office:

Conny B. McCormack, Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk
Harry L. Hufford Registrar-Recorder Building
12400 E. Imperial Highway, Norwalk 90650-8357
mailing address: P.O. Box 1024, Norwalk 90651-1024
web site: http://lavote.net • email: recorder@rrcc.co.la.ca.us
voice: (800) 815-2666; (562) 462-2716 • fax: (562) 929-4790

Q. Will the GPLAC Be Promoting the County Council Elections And County Council Candidates To Its Members?

Yes. Before the beginning of the Signature Nomination Period on February 14th, the GPLCA will twice send email to all of its members that it has email address for, to let them know about the County Council elections and how to run for them.

Then once candidates have qualified for the County Council ballot, each will be entitled to a web page on the GPLAC web site, to have a candidate statement. Links to these candidate statements will then be emailed to GPLAC members.

Q. What If All Of The Seats Are Not Filled In The June 2006 Election, Or If There Are Future Unscheduled Vacancies?

California Elections Code § 7850 gives elected County Councils the power to appoint additional County Council members at its discretion.

GPLAC Bylaws specify in Article 8 - "County Council Vacancies", that if there is a County Council vacancy after the election, or at any time as a result an office being vacated, seats may be filled by County Council appointment. Potential appointees must gather the same number of valid nomination signatures - twenty - as if they were running for the office during the regular election. The County Council then votes upon one vacant seat at a time. Voting may occur at a face-to-face meeting, or by an on-line vote.