The period to apply for a ballot to vote in the Eagle Rock Neighborhood Council election, which is vote-by-mail only in 2025, opened March 7 and closes April 28. According to the council’s Communications Director Natalie Friedberg, the last day to mail a ballot is April 29. Election day is May 6.
According to council Education Director Max Baumgarten, the council’s multifold abilities include awarding grants to local schools and nonprofits, as well as representing the neighborhood on community issues.
“For example, on Townsend [Avenue] there’s some funky bus lanes, and it’s not really the safest street in terms of traffic or pedestrians,” Baumgarten said. “A few months ago we wrote a letter to the city spotlighting and highlighting the public safety issues at hand.”
According to the Los Angeles Neighborhood Council Coalition, the budget allocation to each of LA’s 99 neighborhood councils was $32,000 in the 2023-24 fiscal year.
Baumgarten said that the vote-by-mail system only creates an unnecessary step for voting.
“I think that vote-by-mail only is quite cumbersome,” Baumgarten said.
Council Treasurer Gina Elliott said the vote-by-mail election process is a huge barrier.
“I don’t expect participation to be very high, which is unfortunate because this is the most local level of government we have,” Elliott said.
In the 2023 election, no candidate received more than 73 votes, and 17 of the 18 candidates running for office were elected, according to the canvass of votes.
A stakeholder in Eagle Rock can apply for a ballot by visiting the LA city clerk’s NC Elections webpage. According to the 2025 Neighborhood Council Elections Handbook, a stakeholder is anyone who lives, works, owns property or participates in a community organization in a district, such as a student.
Elliott said that Occidental is within council subdistrict 2, which has only one candidate running for two open subdistrict director positions, meaning there will be a vacancy after the election. According to Elliott, an interested Occidental student would be able to submit an application to join the council after Election Day and the council board would vote to approve them to the open seat.
Council Social Justice Director Flor Chaidez ’95, who has served on the council for four years, said she voted in person at the Eagle Rock library during previous election cycles.
“Even though [vote-by-mail] sounds a little cumbersome, my husband went to the portal, and it took him five minutes to sign up,” Chaidez said.
Contact James Miller at jmiller4@oxy.edu
