Los Alamos County Councilor David Izraelevitz/Courtesy photo
BY MAIRE O’NEILL
maire@losalamosreporter.com
Los Alamos County Councilor David Izraelevitz may be set to remain in office until 2024 following a one-time realignment of certain elected office districts conducted Monday by Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver and her staff.
The process was life-streamed from the state capitol building in Santa Fe on the Legislature’s website and was mandated by HB407 which was passed by the Legislature earlier this year.
Izraelevitz first heard the news in a phone call from the Los Alamos Reporter requesting his reaction. He later responded that there is a question as to whether the Secretary of State’s actions will hold so he would wait until the issue is completely resolved. He could end up serving 13 years on the Council.
“It is very rewarding to be a County Councilor and if my responsibilities are extended, it will be a special honor,” he said.
Toulouse Oliver said today that the process used to complete the legislatively-mandated realignment of districts was transparent and fair. She thanked her staff for their diligent work as well as the public officials who worked with them throughout the process.
Today’s meeting proceeded according to the letter that was sent out to governing bodies and office holders throughout the state on July 9, 2019 in order to provide clarity to the public about the officers who were affected by this legislatively-mandated realignment process.
A statement released by Toulouse Oliver said it is important to note that today’s process did not change any district boundaries from which candidates are elected and was simply to align all add- and even-numbered districts with the corresponding ballot on which those offices are elected, which she said makes the administration of elections more efficient and provides for more voter clarity.
Some districts were renumbered and, where necessary, a drawing of lots took place to determine the renumbering. Some terms of office such as Izraelevitz’s were extended and, in those instances, a drawing of lots took place to determine which officeholder would receive an extended term. The updated districts numbers, along with the term extensions, take effect immediately.
In Los Alamos County, all County Councilors were assigned a district number. Because four Councilors, Sara Scott, James Robinson, Randall Ryti and Izraelevitz had terms expiring in 2022, a lot was drawn between those councilors to determine who would receive an extended term and be assigned to the highest odd-numbered district.
Additionally, the Secretary of State renumbered the districts to correspond as closely as possible to the district number the current Councilor holds numerically to conform with Section 1-10-8, mandating that odd-number districts appear on the presidential ballot and even-numbered districts appear on the gubernatorial ballot.
Los Alamos County Clerk Naomi Maestas released the district number and term expiration dates for County Councilors as follows:
Councilor Antonio Maggiore – District 1 (term ends 2020)
Councilor James Robinson – District 2 (term ends 2022)
Councilor David Izraelevitz – District 3 (term extended to 2024)
Councilor Randall Ryti – District 4 (term ends 2022)
Councilor Katrina Schmidt – District 5 (term ends 2020)
Councilor Sara Scott – District 6 (term ends 2022)
Councilor Pete Sheehey – District 7 (term ends 2020)