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March 2020 primary election: See The Fresno Bee Editorial Board’s key recommendations

By The Fresno Bee Editorial Board
Brandi Orth, Fresno County Clerk, holds an informational flyer about improvements for the March 2020 primary election under the Voter’s Choice Act, including more hours and days to vote, more flexibility in casting a ballot and where to vote. Voters will be able to drop off their ballots in any of 43 secured metal drop boxes throughout the county, as well as any of the 53 voting centers, at which any registered voter can now vote.
Brandi Orth, Fresno County Clerk, holds an informational flyer about improvements for the March 2020 primary election under the Voter’s Choice Act, including more hours and days to vote, more flexibility in casting a ballot and where to vote. Voters will be able to drop off their ballots in any of 43 secured metal drop boxes throughout the county, as well as any of the 53 voting centers, at which any registered voter can now vote. JOHN WALKER Fresno Bee file

The Fresno Bee Editorial Board offers its recommendations for key races in the March 3 primary election:

Fresno mayor: Andrew Janz. While he is short on management experience, Janz offers fresh ideas and inspires hope for solving Fresno’s many problems. He represents a clean break from past failures, would work well with the City Council majority and would usher in a new direction that Fresno badly needs.

Fresno City Council District 4: Tyler Maxwell. A fourth-generation resident of the east-central Fresno district, Maxwell has its best interests at heart. He earned two degrees from UC Berkeley and could have gone anywhere after graduation. He returned to his home in Fresno. That speaks volumes.

Fresno Superior Court: Douglas Treisman. He has three decades of experience as a Fresno County prosecutor. Most recently he has headed up the appeals unit, meaning he reviews judges’ decisions for possible errors or misapplication of the law. That is solid training for a judicial career. Plus he has successfully tried cases all the way to the state Supreme Court.

Congressional District 16: Jim Costa. The longtime Democratic congressman is fired up for another two-year term, and challengers don’t offer enough reasons to replace him. Short on sponsoring legislation, Costa performs his real work on committees and caucuses, and the district has benefited from it.

Congressional District 21: David Valadao. The Hanford dairyman used to represent the district until Democrat TJ Cox upset him two years ago. It was the nation’s closest election. Now Valadao is back for the GOP. Given the bitter partisanship of today’s politics, Valadao is refreshingly moderate. With his agricultural roots, he is a good pick.

Congressional District 22: Phil Arballo. The Fresno native and Bullard High graduate grew up in a single-parent household, and has a much better sense of what people in the district deal with every day. Incumbent Devin Nunes has lost touch with the population he serves by choosing instead to make the Trump agenda his focus.

Local school bonds: Yes to all. In Fresno, it is Measure M. In Clovis, Measure A. Central Unified School District has Measure C. Bonds are also up in Parlier, Easton and Kingsburg. Bond sales are the main way school districts can raise money to repair aging classrooms, labs and gyms and build new ones.

New balloting system: For the first time, Fresno County’s balloting will be conducted completely with vote-by-mail ballots under the Voters Choice Act. Registered voters can return their ballots through the mail postage free, though postmarks must be no later than March 3 and ballots must get county elections officials by March 6.

Voters can also take their ballots to drop box locations and vote centers. For locations, visit the county elections website, https://www.co.fresno.ca.us/departments/county-clerk-registrar-of-voters or call (559) 600-2575.

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