TUSD Press Release on Victory

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Tammy Khan
Office of the Superintendent

Date: November 05, 2008 Phone: (310) 972-6152

Victory for Measures Y and Z!

I am elated to announce the overwhelming victory of TUSD School Bond Measures Y and Z. It has been a long journey to achieve this success, with months and months of planning, community meetings, informational forums, and thousands of volunteer hours. The Torrance community rallied together - parents, students, both certificated and classified employees, community members, and all of the city’s elected officials, in order to pass these two bonds. Both bonds passed with tremendous community support; Measure Y passed with 74.05% of the vote, and Measure Z with 71.24% of the vote.

We will continue to provide the community with updates on the progress of both bond measures through our website, www.tusd.org.

Again, I want to thank the over 1,000 volunteers who made phone calls, those who walked their neighborhoods and spoke to their friends and neighbors, and those who made monetary contributions to the campaign so that we could be victorious! This success would not have been possible if the Torrance residents had not recognized our need to upgrade our facilities and voted to pass both bond measures. Thank you to all the Torrance residents who participated in this very important election. We did it thanks to your involvement and dedication!

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2335 Plaza Del Amo, Torrance, CA 90501 – 310.972.6500

Election Results

UPDATE3 (Wednesday): Final numbers with all precincts reporting: 74% on Y and 70% on Z. Wow. Great job to everybody on the campaign, the phonebankers (there were a lot of them), the marchers, the signwavers, and all the folks who brought up the importance of these bonds to their neighbors and friends. The resounding approval shows Torrance residents support their schools.

UPDATE2: With 36% of the precincts reporting, Measure Y is even higher, at 73% and Z is up to 70%. In order for the bond measures to end up not passing, the rest of the vote would have to come in at below 50% - very unlikely. This is because the voters from areas that have yet to report aren't going to think much differently about the bond measures compared to those whose votes have already been counted. So I go to bed happy about the results on these measures.

UPDATE: With 27% of precincts reporting, Measure Y is at 72% and Z is at 69%. This is looking really good so far.

With 5% of precincts in, we're at 68% on Measure Y and 64% on Measure Z. Remember, it takes 55% to pass each of the school bonds. A simple majority is not enough.

Results available here.

All Hands On Deck: Election Day Tomorrow! Then Party after the Polls Close

Someone who'd been to the phonebank in the last week told me there callers have heard from over 10,000 Torrance voters who've said YES, they'd be voting for Y and Z. But we need to make sure these Yes voters actually get to the ballot and cast their vote.

This is why it's critical to get people making those calls on election day. Go to the campaign office and make some calls. The office is located right near the entrance 12 (between Joann's and Macy's on the ground floor). You don't have to wander through the mall at all to get there.

There's no organized opposition to the bond measures, but that doesn't mean that people will automatically vote yes. This is a challenging economic environment, making people more inclined to automatically vote no on these kinds of initiatives, regardless of their merit.

Consider phonebanking for a few hours to bring Y and Z to the finish line.

Then head out to the Red Car for a post-election celebration. Per Michael Wormers and Don Lee emails, the party is for all who've helped the campaign in any way and starts at 8pm (after the polls close) at the Red Car Brewery at 1266 Sartori Ave in Old Torrance.

Hands Across Torrance

Lots of people came out today to raise awareness about Measures Y and Z - a great mix of kids, parents, grand parents. There was a ton of enthusiasm, and a LOT of horn honks and thumbs up from the cars passing by. I only took a few pictures but met a few photographers there documenting the event, and will hopefully be able to share some of there photos soon. (Please check back!)

The Y and Z'ers took up a lot of the northbound side of Hawthorne from Carson most of the way to Lomita, and a group set up shop on the southbound side as well.

Here are the pic's I got today -
In preparation for the event, my daughter and I put together some signs:.
I'm especially proud of the sign that she did all on her own:

Meet the Y and Z Crusaders

Wonderfully creative!

Republican & Democratic Parties - Not One Bad Thing to Say on Y and Z

The County Democratic Party endorses Torrance school bond measures Y and Z.

The County Republican Party takes no official position on Measures Y and Z. There's more to it than that, though. I left a message with the County Party office today to inquire further, but did reach the local office (at Hawthorne and Lomita), which confirmed the no stance. However, the phone answerer indicated the higher ups in the party were supporting Y and Z, that there are a lot of safeguards in the measures. This was not an 'off the cuff' answer, but rather what she said after checking with the office staff -- so I suspect it's the unofficial party line on Y and Z. Call yourself if you'd like to inquire for yourself - the number is 310-791-3305. The person I was talking to also shared her personal position that she was going to vote Yes on both Y and Z.

So, the major parties are either explicity endorsing or unofficially giving its thumbs up on Measures Y and Z. I think this is a great indication that fixing Torrance schools is not a partisan issue - it's just something we HAVE to do.