POMONA (CNS) – A new state Senate member is to be elected in extreme eastern Los Angeles County today.

And a pair of vote-by-mail elections will wrap up in two area school districts looking to extend, and in one case increase, parcel taxes to fund district services.

Voters in part of the Pomona area will be casting ballots to fill the vacant seat in the 32nd state Senate District. The seat was left open by the resignation of Democrat Gloria Negrete McLeod, who was elected to Congress in November. The victor will fill out the remainder of her term, which will end in November 2014.

The are five candidates on the ballot, and if none receives a majority of the vote, a runoff between the top two finishers will be held May 14.

The district is largely based in San Bernardino County, but it also includes portions of eastern Los Angeles County, including Pomona.

In the San Marino Unified School District, voters will decide on Measure R, which would extend the existing $330 annual parcel tax for another six years. The tax was first implemented in 1991, and it has been renewed four times. It is set to expire June 30.

The district’s resolution calling for the election stated that “future funding for the district from the state of California and other sources is projected to be inadequate to provide the level of support to the district’s education programs which the citizens of the district expect.”

In the South Pasadena Unified School District, voters will decide Measure S, which would extend the district’s parcel tax and increase it by $98, to a total of $386, for five years. District officials said the tax, which has been in place since 2009, funds 35 teaching and support positions “that would otherwise be eliminated, forcing increased class sizes and cuts to instructional programs.”

Both of the parcel tax elections are being conducted by mail. According to the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk’s Office, more than 10,000 ballots were sent to voters in the San Marino district, and about 16,600 were sent to voters in the SPUSD.

Both measures need the support of two-thirds of voters to be approved.

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