Gail Eastman, who narrowly lost her re-election bid last November, has opened a “Gail Eastman for Council 2016” campaign committee.
It makes sense. Gail Eastman was obviously interested in continued council service, and has already run three strong city-wide campaigns. It remains to be whether the council district she ends up in will be open or not, but she will come out of the gate with a big head start in terms of recognition by the voters. Plus, candidates stung by a close-run loss tend to incorporate an extra level of determination and grit into a comeback bid.
Under the agreement with the ACLU-represented plaintiffs, an Advisory Committee of retired Superior Court judges living in Anaheim was supposed to work with staff and outside consultants on drawing the council districts. As it turned out, there was only one such retired judge in Anaheim, so the pool has been expanded to include retired judges living in OC (per agreement with the plaintiffs). That done, work should be underway on the lines and public hearings in the planning stages, at least.
The council districts are supposed to be done by the end of the year, although it seems to be it could be done sooner.
