CAST YOUR BALLOTS … Believe it or not, today is Election Day … it may not feel like Election Day, but trust me, it is … without a doubt, Measure A is the most important election since the last election and is likely to remain the most important election until the next time we vote … we’ve been voting for a month now in this first-ever mail-only election that may well become the wave of the future … but remember, postmarks don’t count …

If you haven’t already mailed your ballot, don’t … and don’t trust those words on the back of the envelope that brought the official Measure A ballot into your household in the first place … those instructions say you can drop off your ballot at “any polling place in Yolo County by 8:00 p.m. on election day.” … but there are no polling places … why that instruction is there is anyone’s guess, but as Richard Nixon’s hired hands used to say, those words are now “inoperative.” … if you’ve waited until today to vote, you can drive your ballot into Woodland or drop it off at the Davis library on 14th Street … or call County Clerk Freddie Oakley and see if she’ll take your vote over the phone …

YES OR NO? … while the “No on A” forces were loosely organized and woefully underfunded, they had the advantage of having to convince only one-third of the Davis electorate that $200 a year was too much to pay …

The “Yes on A”  side, meanwhile, has been banking all along on the open-checkbook policy the vast majority of Davis voters employ when it comes to supporting this town’s public schools … while the “Yes on A” folks ran a professional, but wisely low-key campaign, they were plagued by several major missteps that caught even supportive voters by surprise …

One such misstep was Superintendent Winfred Roberson’s letter to selected senior citizens on district letterhead that virtually everyone rightly saw as an inappropriate endorsement … another was the League of Women Voters’ one-sided “debate” that specifically and intentionally excluded participation by anyone from the “No on A” side …

Ultimately, while those instances may have caused voters to raise their eyebrows and shake their heads, it’s unlikely that large numbers of potential “yes” voters actually switched sides as a result …

A PREDICTION … I’ve felt all along that this one would be close … nothing that’s happened in the course of the campaign has changed my mind … even in Davis, times are tough for a number of people and it doesn’t seem as if they’re likely to improve any time soon … on an uncluttered ballot with only one choice to be made, Measure A will carry the day with 70.2 percent of the vote … but don’t bet the mortgage on it …

B-I-N-G-O FOR A CAUSE … folks in Yolo County have long been blessed by the efforts of the Mexican American Concilio and its president for more than a decade, Rick Gonzales … since it started a scholarship program for deserving students in 1998,  Concilio of Yolo County has awarded 500 scholarships and adult grants throughout the county, including to Davis High, Da Vinci and King High … adult grants have gone to the likes of CommuniCare, Davis Community Meals, STEAC, Davis Bridge and Yolo Hospice  …

Concilio also is becoming involved with a summer soccer league with players from migrant camps located in Davis, Dixon, Winters, Madison and Woodland  … in short, Concilio is doing vital work at a critical time in Yolo County …

With that in mind, Concilio will be the recipient of the Second Sunday Bingo proceeds on Mother’s Day at the Odd Fellows Lodge in downtown Davis … if you’d like to support the work of Concilio, have some fun and hear about the plans for the 27th annual Recognition Dinner in October, plan to spend part of Sunday afternoon at the Odd Fellows … doors open at noon, with the first game at 1 p.m. … in a town full of worthy causes, Concilio could use your support …

— Reach Bob Dunning at [email protected] Comment on this column at www.davisenterprise.com

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