Measure F by a nose; voters bypass polls

So, it appears Measure F has squeaked by, but by the thinnest of margins. The latest numbers have it at 55.3%, when the $282-million school bond needed 55% to win.

Just how close is that? The tally stands at 22,307 voting yes and 18,004 voting no. That means the winning margin is just 136 votes. So, yes, your vote does count.

Of course, many people didn’t even bother to cast a ballot. The 40,000 or so who did represent less than 35% of the 115,000 registered voters in our two cities.

Surprisingly, that was less than the county average of 38.5%. And, certainly, Measure F was the closest thing the county had to a big local issue. About the only comparison would be La Habra’s utility tax.

Why the close win? And why the low turnout? The first of those questions seems much easier to digest.

The buzz is that this year the voters were simply anti-initiatives -- thus the across-the-board losses by the eight statewide propositions, including the four backed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. In Orange County, the four countywide measures lost, as did La Habra’s tax. (Interestingly, the governor’s four initiatives did pass in Orange County.)

Measure F’s victory was the rarity this year. But the generally negative voter vibe certainly could have pulled down the yes votes in Newport-Mesa. (Remember, Measure A in 2000 got a 72% yes vote; it needed 67% to win.)

It also seems clear that there was not the same overwhelming community support for Measure F as there was for Measure A. I suspect that’s a combination of voters feeling like they’d been promised that Measure A would do the trick and voters balking at the nearly $300-million price tag, even if it didn’t mean a jump in the tax rate -- just the extension of one.

Measure F also was a harder sell than Measure A. It wasn’t hard to convince voters that leaky roofs and cracked sidewalks needed repairing. But pushing for future improvements to technology and stressing the need to create a first-class learning environment is a bit abstract.

Still, school officials and Measure F volunteers all managed it. Given the environment of this week’s vote and the points they were trying to sell, they should be pleased with even the marginal success.

The low voter turnout in Newport-Mesa is more surprising. Measure F didn’t drive voters to the polls, nor did the state measures. (Statewide, the turnout was about 42.6%, quite a bit higher than Newport-Mesa and a good bit above the county.)

Now, perhaps Schwarzenegger is not as popular in Newport-Mesa as he is in the rest of the county -- Newport, certainly, is in many ways more conservative than other parts of the county, and the governor is moderate on a number of social issues. But I still would assume that the union dues and teacher tenure measures would bring out the vote. (Orange County, by default, doesn’t need to be redistricted, so that measure might not have meant much here. Republicans aren’t going to lose any of their seats and probably won’t gain from the north tip of the county.)

All the anti-Arnold rhetoric didn’t drive much of an outrage vote here, either. Voters just weren’t that engaged, I guess.

If you have thoughts about the low turnout, send me ane-mail.

Finally, thanks to everyone who either e-mailed, called or was unlucky enough to run into me in the past five days and wished me congratulations on my promotion to editor. I appreciate each and every note.

* S.J. CAHN is the editor. He may be reached at (714) 966-4607 or by e-mail at s.j.cahn@latimes.com.

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