As the end of the decade approaches, Keith Higginbotham spends the next month exploring five of the top things to expect in Long Beach in 2010. First up - Long Beach's citywide elections - coming to a ballot box near you next April.

Come January 2, one thing you can count on – other than holiday leftovers – is the citywide election season shifting into high gear.

Every even-numbered year, Long Beach holds a citywide election, and 2010 will be no different. On April 13, Long Beach citizens will head to the ballot boxes to vote for the office of Mayor, City Auditor, City Attorney, City Prosecutor, Councilmembers in odd numbered districts, and any measures that need voter approval.

The April 13 election will be what is called a primary nominating election. This means that any candidate that gets 50 percent of all the votes cast plus one vote, is declared the winner on April 13. If no candidate on the ballot receives more than 50 percent of the vote, the city will hold another election, this time called a general municipal election, where the two candidates that received the highest numbers of votes will square off.

The election cycle for these offices actually began on Jan. 1 of this year, when potential candidates were able to file a Candidate Intention Statement with the City Clerk. This form allows candidates to start collecting money for their campaign. Potential candidates must report campaign contributions and expenses, however during the first 12 months of the election cycle--Jan 1, 2009 to Jan. 1, 2010--candidates are only required to do so every six months. In the final month leading up to the election, candidates must then file their campaign finances monthly.

However, just filing with the City Clerk to raise funds does not technically make someone a candidate.

To appear on the ballot, a potential candidate must file nomination papers with the City Clerk. For the upcoming election, the deadline for candidates to submit these documents is Jan. 15, 2010.

Now, we will look at the council races and other ballot issues in the weeks to come, but, is it possible to speculate at this early date on what the post-election results for the four non-Council races might be?

Well, my gut feeling is that each of the incumbents for Mayor, City Auditor, City Attorney and City Prosecutor simply have to show up on the ballot to win re-election.

To date, not a single challenger to any of the four non-Council positions have filed paperwork, either to raise money or to be listed on the ballot.

In the Mayor's race, incumbent Bob Foster filed his paperwork to begin raising money at the start of the election cycle. As of June 30, the end of the first six-month reporting period, the first-term Foster had raised just under $42,000 for re-election.

And while many who supported Foster in his first election, at least those I have talked to, have to some degree felt letdown, the overall impression of the first Foster term seems to be that he has been what my grandmother called "fair-to-middlin’." However, in Long Beach city government, this often seems to be more than adequate for the voters. In addition, Foster has a great deal of name recognition and there are few in town with enough cache to really make a race of it. This is not to say that a Foster second term is a fait accompli. He is beatable. My gut tells me, though, that no one will want to take over with the city finances in such a bad place and be willing to raise and spend upward of $100,000 on a campaign to do it.

The other three non-Council incumbents likely have an easier road to re-election than Foster, simply for the fact that they are not on the public radar screen to the degree that Foster is.

Incumbent City Auditor Laura Doud, serving her first term, has announced she intends to run for re-election and has filed paperwork to begin collecting funds. However, as of June 30, she reported no funds being collected.

Doud has by all accounts run a tight ship during her first three years in office. My feeling is that voters in the voting booth will still think of her as a fresh change of pace to former auditor Gary Burroughs, who she defeated in 2006. Like the other incumbents, she is likely to be unopposed.

Third term City Attorney Bob Shannon, while stating that he plans to run, is the sole incumbent of the non-Council offices up for election that has not filed any paperwork for re-election. This leads me to believe that he is so confident of his chances that he is simply waiting to file. Personally, I think Shannon, more than a lot of the elected officials, relishes what he does. I don't see him throwing in the towel and come April 13, I think he will win a fourth term, unopposed.

Incumbent City Prosecutor Tom Reeves, now serving his third term, has filed the required forms to begin collecting money. As of June 30, his disclosure forms show a war chest of just over $3,600. Keep in mind that Reeves won his first term with 60 percent of the vote, his second term with 76 percent, and ran unopposed in his third. In other words, unless the hybrid clone of Perry Mason and Superman suddenly appears on the April 13 ballot, Reeves has little to worry about winning a fourth term.

Now certainly things can change and any of these officials could have a public relations catastrophe between now and the filing deadline in about eight weeks. But life is not television, and the odds are, even when looking so far forward through the looking glass, that come April 13, the city offices of mayor, auditor, attorney and prosecutor are likely to be filled with some very familiar faces.

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