ODDLY ENOUGH


August 25, 2014 at 12:00a.m.

ODDLY ENOUGH

LA mulls making ballot bankable

LOS ANGELES

Los Angeles is considering turning voting ballots into lottery tickets.

With fewer than a fourth of voters showing up for recent local elections, the city’s Ethics Commission voted to recommend that the City Council consider a cash-prize drawing as an incentive to vote.

Commission President Nathan Hochman said a pilot program should be used first to find out the number and size of prizes that would bump up turnout.

“Maybe it’s $25,000; maybe it’s $50,000,” Hochman said, according to the Los Angeles Times. “That’s where the pilot program comes in.”

The Aug. 14 vote was unanimous. The issue moves to the Rules, Elections and Intergovernmental Relations Committee headed by City Council President Herb Wesson, who said he’s intrigued by the idea but wants to hear what neighborhood councils and “legal beagles” think.

“I can’t wait to have this conversation,” he said, but added that he didn’t want to be the “poster child” for the proposal.

It wasn’t immediately clear whether there was any precedent in other cities or states for such a move, which brings with it questions of propriety and legality.

UK councils field weird queries on dragons, ghosts

LONDON

Is your town safe from dragon attack? Inquiring minds want to know.

A list of the top 10 strangest questions posed by Freedom of Information Act petitioners has been published by England’s Local Government Association.

The group, which represents more than 350 councils, asked the public not to burden its staff with questions deemed “vexatious,” aka ridiculous.

Rossendale Council was asked to detail its employment of exorcists and faith healers. Worthing Council was asked to explain its emergency plans for meteor strikes and solar flares. Birmingham was asked to reveal how many requests it’s had to screen public buildings for ghosts.

And there be dragons in northwest England, apparently. One fact-seeker asked Wigan Council: “What plans are in place to protect the town from a dragon attack?”

Associated Press