Discover the heartbeat of Hanford as we unpack the vibrant community events and the march towards the primary elections. Lupe Villa, Registrar of Voters, joins us to peel back the curtain on the essential, yet complex, preparations for the upcoming primary elections under the new Voter Choice Act model.
Navigating the twists and turns of election season, we tackle the real costs, both financially and in terms of voter engagement, that come with democracy's dance. We scrutinize the reasons behind low voter turnout and confront the specter of election fatigue. But fear not, for we also celebrate the unwavering dedication of our elections office staff, who stand ready to ensure every ballot is cast with confidence in its security and every voice is heard. Join us for an insightful conversation that promises to leave you informed and inspired to make your mark on the ballot.
Eric Bentley stops by to update us on the high school soccer and basketball playoff action as well as giving a shout out to a remarkable accomplishment at Woodrow Wilson Jr. High.
Tune in now!
You can find the Hanford Insider at www.hanfordinsider.com and on social media at @hanfordinsider Thank you for supporting the show!
Discover the heartbeat of Hanford as we unpack the vibrant community events and the march towards the primary elections. Lupe Villa, Registrar of Voters, joins us to peel back the curtain on the essential, yet complex, preparations for the upcoming primary elections under the new Voter Choice Act model.
Navigating the twists and turns of election season, we tackle the real costs, both financially and in terms of voter engagement, that come with democracy's dance. We scrutinize the reasons behind low voter turnout and confront the specter of election fatigue. But fear not, for we also celebrate the unwavering dedication of our elections office staff, who stand ready to ensure every ballot is cast with confidence in its security and every voice is heard. Join us for an insightful conversation that promises to leave you informed and inspired to make your mark on the ballot.
Eric Bentley stops by to update us on the high school soccer and basketball playoff action as well as giving a shout out to a remarkable accomplishment at Woodrow Wilson Jr. High.
Tune in now!
You can find the Hanford Insider at www.hanfordinsider.com and on social media at @hanfordinsider Thank you for supporting the show!
Speaker 1:
On this episode of the Hanford Insider, we'll hear from the Kings County registrar of voters, lupe Villa. Rob will give us a community calendar update and I'll be back to update you on all of the high school sports. This is your Hanford Insider for Monday, february 19th.
Speaker 2:
Welcome to this episode of the Hanford Insider. I'm your host, rob Bentley. Thanks for listening. In community news this week. The Hanford City Council will be meeting on Tuesday, february 20th. On the agenda they'll receive a final report and recommendation from the Parks and Community Services Department about this year's winter wonderland. It was a huge success. This year they were able to recover 137% of the costs. If you check out the November 26th Insider, you'll hear about what a major win this is. The City is now considering purchasing a larger rink instead of renting one. There'll be more sessions, lower prices and they'll be able to make many more improvements for the annual event based on customer feedback. Congratulations to Brad Albert and his staff for another great event. For a full agenda of the City Council meeting, visit the City website at HanfordCity. I'll have a full recap of the regular meeting on next week's episode. Also meeting this week will be the Revenue Measure Committee on Wednesday and the Parking and Traffic Commission will meet on Thursday. Congratulations to Abigail Sawyer, who was crowned Miss Kings County 2024, and Brooke Furia, who was crowned Miss Kings County Outstanding Teen 2024 at Saturday's pageant.
Speaker 2:
If you saw a lot of school buses and band equipment trailers in town on Saturday. It was because the South Valley Winter Arts Association competition was being held at Sierra Pacific and Hanford West High Schools. Middle schools and high schools from all over the valley attended. For a list of results, visit svwacom. The schools will be back in town again for the next round of competition on March 2nd. Hanford churs a hotbed for this winter pageantry activity each year.
Speaker 2:
Here's some things coming up on our community calendar. The Hanford Fox Theatre will be showing the Barbie movie on Saturday, february 24th at 2 pm. Admission is $10. Hanford High School will be presenting the Adams Family Musical on February 29th through March 2nd at the Presentation Center. Tickets are available at the door. The King Speedway season opens Saturday March 9th with the Dave Hell Memorial. The night will feature the NARC King of the West 410 Sprint Cars and IMCCA Stock Cars. Visit racekingspeedwaycom for tickets and information. Main Street Hanford is selling tickets to the Everybody's Irish Beer Tasting event in downtown Hanford on Friday March 15th. Tickets are available at MainStreetHanfordcom. The King Storybook Garden Museum is holding their annual Victorian T fundraiser at the King's Fairgrounds on Saturday, march 16th. Visit childrenstorybookgardenorg for information and tickets.
Speaker 2:
There are a lot of great events coming up in 2024 and you'll want to be sure to mark your calendars now for these events. The Hanford Sunset Rotary Club will be having their great stakeout fundraiser at the Hanford Fraternal Hall on March 23rd. The Kings Players and Children's Storybook Garden and Museum murder mystery dinner on April 20th. The Hanford Chamber of Commerce Taste of the Valley in the Civic Park on April 26th. For you Car Show enthusiasts, mark your calendars now for the Hanford Fraternal Hall's second annual Spring Classic Car Show on Saturday, march 30th. The Hanford West High School Bandbackeers Cars on Campus Car Show will be on April 27th. The third annual Carnegie Museum of Kings County Downtown Hanford Car Show will be held on Saturday, june 8th. Registration is now live at carnigucarshowcom.
Speaker 2:
I'll be grabbing events as I see them on the Hanford Sentinel Calendar and social media pages. If you have an event coming up and you'd like some help getting the word out, let's work together. You can find your information to HanfordInsider at gmailcom. By the looks of the ads on TV and the signs going up around town, you know the March 5th primary is just around the corner. There's already been several candidate events and I thought it would be great to talk with the Kings County Elections Department about the plans for the election day now that ballots have been sent out, I've invited Lupe Villa, from the Kings County Elections Department, to come on the show to give us an update and to answer some of the questions submitted by my listeners. Well, it's great to have on the show Mr Lupe Villa, who is the Register of Voters for Kings County. Enjoy your early movies.
Speaker 3:
Thank you, rob, appreciate the welcoming. I'm looking forward to your interview and trying to provide as much information to our public.
Speaker 2:
So, Lupi, how long have you been the registered voters here in Kings County?
Speaker 3:
I was appointed the registered voters for Kings County as an appointed position, not an elected position, and I was appointed to the position July 2019. So I'm going on five years, my first election being the 2020 cycle, and since then we've had a couple more elections since then. So we're looking forward for the March 5th primary that is coming up here in about three weeks.
Speaker 2:
So let's jump right into it then. A lot of people have a lot of questions about the March 5th primary. Can you tell us what your office is doing to prepare for that?
Speaker 3:
Yes, sure. So the March 5th primary is going to be coming up. You know part of the process that we have here in Kings County and the preparation bulk of the preparation is invested into what we call VCA, which is the Voter Choice Act County. So Kings County became a VCA County, a full-blown VCA County, in the cycle of 2022, which was our last election cycle. Prior to that, Kings County employed what is called VCA Light Model and that was implemented in 2020, general election and again in the 2021, september 14th recall election of our governor. So those two models are similar. The full-blown VCA model calls for a 10-day early voting. So at the 10-day mark before the election, we open up two vote centers. Our first vote center opens up in LeMord at the Office of Education on February 24th and the second center will be our office here at 1400 W Lacey Boulevard at the government center. The election office will be open to provide election services, voting services, to any member of the community within Kings County.
Speaker 3:
The VCA model also, which is Voter Choice Act, also offers the opportunity to our voters to vote anywhere within Kings County. For example, if you're in Hanford and you're traveling through Avonel or vice versa, you're more than welcome to stop at any of our vote centers and be able to cast your vote. The technology that we deploy and that is employed at each of our seven centers is technology that allows us to print the ballot on demand that is appropriate to that voter, so thereby allowing voters to vote anywhere within Kings County. Now I urge the public to understand that it's within Kings County, not within the state of California. You can drop off your ballot at any vote center within the state of California, but you can only vote within Kings County if you're a registered voter of Kings County. So just clarification on that aspect. So you're able to vote in Kings County, but, however, you may drop off your ballot anywhere throughout the state of California.
Speaker 2:
So are there any specific initiatives or campaigns aimed at encouraging voter turnout participation in this primary election?
Speaker 3:
Yes, there is, as with any election, even for the upcoming election that we're going to be having November 5th, general Election Week we are required to send out mailers to our voters.
Speaker 3:
So those mailers identify the voting locations, the type of election model that we're employing and the time and dates of our vote centers.
Speaker 3:
So for this March 5th primary election, again, you know, we'll open up the 10-day centers in February 24th and they'll be open from 9 to 5, monday to Friday, including weekends, and then our additional five centers will open up on February 2nd I mean March 2nd and they'll be open for three days prior to election day, which is March 5th.
Speaker 3:
In Keans County we're going to have a very busy schedule this 2024 cycle because, if you reside within the Congressional District 20, it's going to be a special election that's going to be held on March 19th, meaning that we will be operating vote centers and ballot drop boxes for those folks that reside within the Congressional District 20. The Congressional District 20 suffer a resignation from Mr McCarthy, thereby vacating that office, and the governor called a special election that is going to be held on March 19th the March 19th special elections and it will require that, if not, one candidate takes the majority of the vote, then we're going to have what is called a general election, scheduled for May 21st 2024. That is to fill the vacancy left by Mr McCarthy upon his resignation of Congressional District 20.
Speaker 2:
So a lot of people are asking what happened to the centers where you could actually go and cast your ballot. Everybody seems to be getting these mail-in ballots. Can you kind of explain the process and how that's changed over the last several years?
Speaker 3:
Yes, rob. So, historically speaking, king's County was what we call the traditional polling place County, in which you only had one day voting, and that was an election day on Tuesday, and you had all these other small polling places in which people would go and cast their vote in person. During what is called COVID 2020, the governor knew some sign an executive order ordering all counties To mail a mailing ballot to every single registered voter within the state of California, thereby making it a law. When it became a law, then all the counties within the state of California 58 are required to mail a ballot to every Single active registered voter they have within their county, and that's where we're at today. It became an executive order back in 2020 and he's staying place and it's the only place. Today. Therefore, the absentee word in elections is no longer absentee, because every what everybody gets a ballot by mail nowadays.
Speaker 3:
Now, ever since then, since we became a voter choice at County, we removed what is called the polling place traditional model. We employ the VCA model, which is allows for a bigger congregation to happen voters in a single place and that is because of COVID. During the COVID pandemic, we were not allowed to have. There are several implementations that we had to take part in, like social distancing, it's sanitation of equipment, and that required us to find bigger locations, and that is how we operate. The seven centers that we have now are much bigger, they can accommodate a lot more and they're, you know, employed with. Each one of the centers has a technology that is needed to be able to, you know, successfully administer the election using the VCA model.
Speaker 2:
So we'll move now to a couple questions that were submitted by my listeners, and one of the listeners had brought up the idea of the Hanford City Council election for the vacant City Council seat. The Anticipated cost for a special election for that was something like a hundred and fifty thousand dollars. What factors go into putting on a special election?
Speaker 3:
When there's a request from the city or an entity or a special district or in school district for a it's a type of special election we have to take in consideration a lot of factors. One of them is what is the cost to mail out ballots? What is the cost for the postage? What is the cost for the material that it has to be included in the ballot pack, like voter instructions? What is the cause for the voter information guide? What is the cause to staff the vote centers? What is the cause for the vote centers? What is the cause for the material that we have to send out to the vote centers, the overtime that is in being Required by staff.
Speaker 3:
So all those things play part in this is also, we have to consider how do we set up an election and using our systems that we have today. So that is a cause that is passed over to our vendors, to, you know, our print vendor, our voting system vendor and our election management system vendors as well. So, in consideration of all those, you see an estimated cost about a hundred two hundred fifty thousand dollars For one single seat and that would be for the for that area I believe is area C of Hamford's at the city of Hamford. So all those things have to take part and you have to consider before you submit that Estimated cost to the city or the entity requiring or requesting that that proposal. So, yes, it is very expensive process.
Speaker 3:
I can tell you that in today's world for the March 5th election, I can, with confidence, I can tell that it's about three hundred thousand dollars just for Kings County to administer that election. So I, like I tell many other people who I met with before it's planning an election, it's like planning a big wedding without guests, because in Kings County we have very slow, very low turnout and it's very disappointing to have such an expensive election Be employed with no voters coming out and cash in their vote like they should. We give them the opportunity. Voters get their ballots 29 days prior to the election. We open both centers 10 days prior to election. We open our office during the weekends and holidays to allow those voters to drop off their ballots if they choose to. We have 11 drop boxes throughout Kings County when we're only required to have four and we open seven centers to our voters take advantage of and even though, given all those opportunities, our turnout is still low.
Speaker 2:
That's. That's just amazing to me to think. You know, I wonder if something, if some of it, has to do with the voter fatigue or they're turned off by the idea of voting. You know they've heard so many stories about. You know security issues with the voting process and Fraud. Have you come across any voter fraud in Kings County?
Speaker 3:
You know, rob, I thank you for that question because I think it's very important for us to share with the public and your listeners the fact that we cannot be naive to the fact that fraud can happen anywhere right, I mean hacking of systems can happen anywhere. Your bank account might get hacked from your phone, so who is to say that's not going to happen in a voting world, right, in something related to elections? But I can speak to King's County and I can tell you with a high degree of confidence that I am very I sleep well at night knowing that our systems are secured. I know that my staff and myself do our best and put our best forward to ensure that the security of our election equipment and material is handled with care. I think that we invest a lot of our personal time and our sacrifices our personal to ensure that our voters here in King's County cast and take part in an election that is safe, secured and transparent. So I take a great pride in that and, with that said, I want to say thank you to my staff Emily, manuel, paula, hope and Gloria for their hard work and dedication. They've given this not just this upcoming election in March 5th, but our future elections that we have in the 2024 cycle.
Speaker 3:
To add to your question as well, a lot of the times, I think turnout might be related to concerns they have about security, but it can also be voter fatigue. We do have voters that are just not quite happy with the material they get. Think about this you're at home and you're getting all this election material, not just from the elections office but from candidates right. They bombard your mailbox with all this different type of material and you have to give it to them, in that they're trying to promote their name, they're trying to get your vote. I totally respect that, but a voter might get fatigue knowing how much material comes to their home when it's election time. So it's a combination of things.
Speaker 3:
Voter fatigue is not something that is not uncommon throughout the state. My counterparts have confirmed it. I confirm it that sometimes voters just get tired of all this material. But I must stress that it's extremely important to ensure that you come out and cast your vote. It's an opportunity for you to have your voice heard and it's an opportunity that is given to you. It's a privilege to be able to vote and therefore I ask, I encourage all of you guys to come out and cast your vote, march 5th, march 19th, and hopefully we get to see you at the polls.
Speaker 2:
That's fantastic, lupi, if someone has a question about the elections process maybe something's wrong with their ballot, that they see something, that something's not correct how can they contact you?
Speaker 3:
So our ballots went out March I'm sorry February 5th. Monday, February 5th the ballots went out for the March 5th election and on Monday, February 5th, within one hour we got a phone call from a voter that was concerned about the ballot. So we get phone calls all the time, from small concerns to concerns that are serious that we have to take immediate action on. But any voter within the Keynes County area is more than welcome to call our office at 559-852-4401 and there'll be a live person answering your phone call. So I encourage any of you to please contact our office. You can stop by our office.
Speaker 3:
We're located at 1400 West Lacey Boulevard, Building 7, the elections office. We're right to the breezeway, next to the finance office. You're more than welcome to stop by and ask your questions. If during the election cycle, during live election, when our vote centers are open, you can stop at any of our seven vote centers, You'll find those locations by visiting wwwvotekeenskeonecom. You'll see the locations to our vote centers and the locations to the drop boxes that we have throughout Keynes County. But please call our office to have any concerns with any of our processes or with the ballot that you'll be receiving.
Speaker 2:
Well, thank you, lupe, for giving us all of this information, and I guess we'll be back in November, huh.
Speaker 3:
Yes, for sure. I think you're more than welcome to put back in November. Just keep in mind as mentioned earlier during our conversation is that we do have a special election on March 19th, the Tuesday March 19th. That election is going to be for a Congressional District 20. So folks that reside within Congressional District 20 will be receiving two ballots two weeks apart. I encourage you to please make sure that you put the correct ballot in the correct envelope. We do have processes, internal processes that have been put in place to make sure that every ballot counts. So if you do, by mistake, send both of your ballots in one single envelope, rest assured that we're going to take the steps necessary to ensure that your vote is counting for both of those elections. So March 19th is going to be our special election. If nobody wins that contest, then we'll have another special election May 21st and then we'll move forward to our November 5th general election.
Speaker 3:
Well, thank you so much, lupe. You're welcome, rob. Thank you so much. Thank you all for listening to us and again, please reach out to our office. You have any questions, concerns? You may reach the elections office at 559-852-4401. Thank you so much.
Speaker 2:
And now it's time for Hanford Insider Sports with Eric Bentley.
Speaker 1:
In girls basketball playoff action, two Hanford teams remain alive and are one win away from playing in Celand Arena for a Valley Championship. We'll start with Hanford West, as the one seed in Division 5 cruised past 16 seed Yosemite and 8 seed Cesar Chavez in their first two playoff games, both of those wins coming by more than 16 points. This sets up a showdown vs number 4 seed Kalinga at Hanford West on Wednesday at 6pm. Sierra Pacific is still alive as well, after taking down 13 seed Porterville easily and investing 12 seed LD Amante 83-73 in the Division 2 bracket. With a trip to Celand Arena on the line, the Golden Bears will travel on the road for the first time this playoffs as they look to take down the number one seed Menachi on Wednesday.
Speaker 1:
As for Hanford High, their season came to an end after 11 seed Hoover was able to upset the bullpups in the first round. Hanford High finishes their season with a 14-15 overall record. On the boys side, unfortunately, no teams were able to advance into the semifinals. We'll start with the 5th seed, sierra Pacific, as they were able to pick up a narrow 78-76 victory over 12 seed Fresno High in round 1. Trailing by two points with less than 30 seconds left. The Golden Bears got a huge 3-point basket from Jackson Reinhart with 15 seconds left to give Sierra Pacific the lead, and they were able to hang on for the win. Just two days later, though, sierra Pacific was upset by 13 seed Atascadero in the quarter finals. The Golden Bears finished their season with a 17-13 overall record. Hanford West and Hanford High both finished their seasons with a first round exit, as the four-seed Huskies were upset in a shootout, falling to 13 seed Atascadero 90-86. The bullpups faced a tough challenge as a 15 seed in Division 2, as they were bested by number 2 seed Mission Prep. Both Hanford West and Hanford High finished their seasons with an 11-18 overall record. And a fun junior high basketball note congratulations to the Woodrow Wilson 8th grade boys basketball team. In two years the Warriors have never lost a game, racking up an impressive 27-0 record and being crowned the Yosemite Athletic League Champions. So a big shout out to coach Kelvin Shepard and all of the Woodrow Wilson 8th grade boys team.
Speaker 1:
On to soccer playoffs, where the six-seated Hanford West girls remain alive in the D5 bracket, with a pair of triumphs over 11-seed Shafter and a 2-0 upset over three-seated Mammoth. The Huskies will host 12-seed Foothill on Tuesday. 13-seed Sierra Pacific was able to pull off a 2-1 upset in double overtime over the four-seed Arvin, before being shut out by San Joaquin Memorial in the second round. The Golden Bears finished their season with an 11-9-3 overall record. Hanford High saw their season come to a close in the first round suffering a 3-0 loss to the five-seed Kingsburg, the Bullpups.
Speaker 1:
In their year. With a 12-7-6 record In boys' soccer action, hanford High was the only team that made the playoffs, and they are definitely playing the role of spoiler very well, as the 12-seated Bullpups were able to take down five-seated Carruthers 1-0 and four-seed Exeter 2-1. A big challenge awaits, though, as on Tuesday they will travel to take on the number one seed, matilda Torres. Baseball and softball seasons did get started this past week. Unfortunately, not many results got posted online, so if you want your team covered, make sure to send us an email at HanfordInsider at gmailcom. I'm Eric Bentley and this has been your Hanford Insider Sports Report.
Speaker 2:
That's it for this week's show. Next week we'll hear from Hanford Elementary School District Superintendent Joy Gabler. If you enjoy the show, leave a review on my website. If you'd like to join the Hanford Insider email list, stop by the website at HanfordInsidercom to sign up today for updates. You'll also get an exclusive copy of my newsletter in your inbox each week. I also need your help getting the word out about the show. You can do it by liking and sharing on social media or just telling a friend For more information about the show. You can find this podcast on Facebook, instagram, threads X and YouTube at Hanford Insider. Some of my best show ideas come from you, my listeners, so be sure to email me at HanfordInsider at gmailcom If you have a story idea and I'll get going on it. Hey everybody, thanks for listening. Have a great week.