Politics & Government

Did You Know There's an Election Going on Today?

It's for the District 5 Los Angeles Community College Board of Trustees seat.

The ballot in Hollywood and the Hollywood Hills is thin, but there’s an election going on, and schools and precincts are open for what is expected to be a very low turnout.

The only issue on the local ballot in our area is a run-off for District 5’s Los Angeles Community College Board of Trustees seat.

The competition is between Lydia A. Gutierrez and Scott Svonkin. They were forced into a runoff after a six-person race yielded 35.6 percent of the vote for Svonkin and 14.8 percent for Gutierrez. And, although the position is supposed to be non-partisan, the candidates have expressed their political beliefs, with Gutierrez as a Republican and Svonkin as a Democrat.

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Some of the flyers hitting the doorsteps locally include a teapot being poured with a warning that "The Tea Party is trying to take over our Community Colleges May 17." Gutierrez calls herself a social conservative, but denies any Tea Party backing.

Svonkin’s flyers discuss waste in community college projects, but Gutierrez said that he is part of the problem.

Find out what's happening in Hollywoodwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Gutierrez, 53, attended Pepperdine University, worked as a master teacher at UCLA’s Math Project and is a fellow from Cal State Long Beach’s Writing Project.

Svonkin, 45, was on the school board, went to school at Cal State Northridge and worked as an instructor at Valley College.

The Office of the City Clerk has a list of polling places and additional voter information.


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