In your backyard » From an 18-year-old school board candidate to a slew of proposed taxes on everything from tech giants, hotel guests and pot, here’s a list of things to know

Yes, it’s true, Election Day 2018 is all about congressional midterms. You want to know whether Donkeys or Elephants do the happy dance. We get it. You might not be motivated to wade through all those pages in the back of the election pamphlet about down-ballot local government races and measures. We’re here to help. From an 18-year-old school board candidate to a slew of proposed taxes on everything from tech giants, hotel guests, hospitals and pot, here’s a handy summary of what every voter needs to know to sound smart about the Bay Area’s local elections.

Why are cities and school districts adopting district voting?

Civil rights lawyers have been pushing local governments throughout California to have voters elect their leaders by district instead of at-large to promote minority representation, a move

critics say balkanizes government by shifting focus from citywide to neighborhood needs.

In the Bay Area, the cities of Santa Clara, Morgan Hill, Menlo Park, Fremont, Concord and Martinez are taking their first dive into this democracy reboot in November, while Sunnyvale ponders putting the question to voters in 2020. Martinez, Morgan Hill and Dublin schools are doing it too.

Santa Clara isn’t going quietly. Forced into district elections by a lawsuit, the city is appealing a judge’s order requiring district elections and has put a nonbinding Measure N on the ballot asking voters if they really want the district elections a judge says they must have. It’s unclear how the long-shot appeal might affect Santa Clara’s district elections in November should the city prevail.

But the election assures new faces will be chosen, as most of those cities and districts have races with no incumbents running.

Which tech HQ host city is testing the waters with a “head tax”?

Mountain View, known to the rest of the world as Googleville, wants money for the traffic and housing problems that come with being world headquarters for the internet search giant. City officials want voters to approve taxing businesses between $9 and $149 per employee, depending on company size. If approved, it would generate more than $6 million a year for the city — more than half of it coming from Google alone.

Technology executives and neighboring cities are watching closely. Seattle walked back a similar plan amid fierce opposition from Amazon and Starbucks. Cupertino (Apple) and Sunnyvale (LinkedIn) also have considered charging similar