That’s really going to mess up the song

If you live in Davis City Council District 3, as approximately 20 percent of the folks in town do, the following pertains to you.

The other 80 percent of Davis residents can go back to whatever right and relevant activities they were enjoying before I so rudely interrupted you.

District 3, you see, will be holding a special election in early May to fill a vacant council seat while the rest of town will be on the outside looking in.

Then again, presumably some concerned citizens in Districts 1, 2, 4 and 5 may have a passing interest in who will ultimately represent District 3 given that she — it will be a she — will be voting on issues that affect us all.

There are two candidates for the District 3 seat, Donna Neville and Mary F. "Francesca" Wright.

But before they can do battle, the California secretary of state had an important question to decide. And that is, which candidate will be listed first on the ballot.

Believe it or not, there's a procedure for this.

"Randomized Alphabet Drawing Results and Rotation — City of Davis May 2, 2023

All-Mail Ballot Special Municipal Election" said the headline from the Yolo County Elections Office, using more capital letters than allowed by law.

"Randomized Alphabet Drawing to determine order of candidates' names on the ballot. The results of the state randomized alphabet drawing is listed here."

Since "results" is plural, it should be "are," not "is" listed here, but the county apparently decided not to hire a proofreader.

"In accordance with Elections Code section 13112, the Secretary of State conducted a random drawing on February 6, 2023, of the letters of the alphabet."

Sounds like something the California Lottery might do.

"This randomized alphabet determines the order of appearance of candidates' names on the ballot for the upcoming City of Davis May 2, 2023, All-Mail Ballot Special Municipal Election to fill a vacancy in City Council District 3 (2019 boundaries)."

Toddler unhurt in parking-lot collision

By Lauren Keene Enterprise staff writer

Emergency personnel responded to a South Davis parking lot Thursday in response to a carversus-pedestrian collision.

Lt. John Evans said the pedestrian, a 2-year-old child, ran into the bum- per of a slow-moving vehicle in the parking lot of the McDonald’s restaurant in the 4400 block of Chiles Road.

“The child did not sustain any injuries but was taken to the hospital as a precaution,” Evans said. Officers responded to the scene and took a report to document the incident.

The secretary of state held this drawing just for us? I'm touched.

"Using a random alphabet and rotating the order of candidate names by supervisorial district, together ensure fairness and impartiality in determining how candidates are placed on the ballot."

Imagine that. They're going to place entire candidates on the ballot, not just their names.

Now this is where we all need to pay close attention, because if you don't know your ABCs, you could be left out in the cold.

"The randomized alphabet applies THROUGHOUT the candidate's entire last name first, followed, if necessary, by first name, then middle name."

So the last shall be first. I think that's in the Good Book somewhere.

"If more than one candidate's last name begins with the same letter, proceed to the second letter and, if needed, the third, etc. We follow this process until a different letter appears allowing us to determine who appears first on the ballot."

There will be a quiz at the end of this tutorial.

"For example, if two candidates with the last names Campbell and

Carlson are running for the same office, their order on the ballot will depend on the order in which the letters 'M' and 'R' were drawn in the randomized alphabet drawing."

All those who jumped to the conclusion that Campbell will be listed first because "M" comes before "R" in the alphabet please go back to square one and repeat the lesson.

According to the randomized drawing, the first letter of the alphabet is now "L" and the second letter is "F."

The letter "R" is 14 and the letter "M" is 20, which means Carlson, not Campbell, will be listed first.

While most candidates, seemingly, would prefer to be listed first, it's unclear if Carlson is the winner here and can pick where to be on the ballot or if Carlson will automatically be listed first even if Carlson would prefer to be somewhere else. I suspect the latter, but I may have to call the Secretary of State to be sure.

Given that our very own District 3 race has just two candidates, they could have just flipped a coin, but that would be against the law.

Reach Bob Dunning at bdunning@davisenterprise.net.

Cops seek elusive serial trespasser

By Lauren

Keene Enterprise staff writer Davis police are seeking the public’s help to identify a serial trespasser.

The unidentified man has repeatedly peered into windows of houses in the 700 block of Sycamore Lane during the nighttime hours, according to a Davis Police Department social media post that included the man’s photo.

“Once residents become aware of his presence, he flees on foot,” the post said.

“Although officers have quickly responded to the calls, we have not yet been able to stop him.” Police describe the suspect as a light-skinned male between 35 and 45 years old with a medium to large build, mustache/goatee and receding hairline. He often wears a lightcolored track or sweat suit. Anyone with information or who can identify the suspect is urged to contact Davis police detectives at 530-747-5400.