Why don't more Alhambra residents run for office?

Two years after Alhambra canceled its general election because of a lack of challengers, three of the five incumbents up for re-election in November will likely be automatically re-elected into office. We asked Alhambra Source readers why more residents don't run for office in this city. Out of 132 responses as of July 13, a lack of information on how to run is the most popular response (27%), followed by residents are satisfied with how the city is currently run (26%), residents simply don't care (22%), and residents just don't have the time or resources to run for office (19%). Voters also had the option to choose "other" and fill in their own response.

City officials told the Pasadena Star-News that the lack of challengers is an indication of satisfaction among constituents, and that long-standing members of City Council and the School Board are more experienced to handle the city's issues. "I think people who have tried to run against council people are trying to introduce major changes in the city," Councilman Gary Yamauchi, who is running unopposed, told the Star-News. "But we have a high approval rating ... so that could be one of the reasons is that people are happy with the city of Alhambra."

Alhambra Unified Superintendent Donna Perez, who will be retiring this year, said that the longevity of Board member terms is especially beneficial for public education. "Stability helps with making some of those very hard decisions that have to be made," she told the newspaper. "They are not trying to guess anything because they've been on the board since the crisis began in January 2008 and so they've grown with the problem."

Alhambra General Municipal Elections will be held on November 6.