ELECTIONS SOUTHEAST / LONG BEACH MUNICIPAL, SCHOOLS : Kell, Braude, Serles Face Runoffs After Sparse Voter Turnout

LONG BEACH —  This week’s elections settled surprisingly little, with two City Council contests and the mayor’s race forced into June runoffs by a sparse turnout of voters, who failed to give candidates enough support to claim outright victory.

In the District 1 council race, incumbent Evan Anderson Braude will face retired Deputy Police Chief Bill Stovall in June, while in District 3, Planning Commissioner Jim Serles and retired Police Cmdr. Doug Drummond will continue their fight for the seat being vacated by Councilwoman Jan Hall.

Triumph also eluded Mayor Ernie Kell, who emerged the top vote-getter in a crowded mayoral race but fell considerably short of the majority needed to fend off his closest challenger, Councilman Tom Clark, now his opponent in a runoff, which had been expected.

The only decisive council results came in District 5, where incumbent Les Robbins had no trouble beating Max Baxter, a retired police sergeant supported by the police union.

The biggest winners of the election were two ballot measures, one creating a Citizen Police Complaint Commission to review reports of police brutality and the other giving the city water department jurisdiction over sewers.

In school board races, incumbent Jerry L. Shultz lost to challenger Mary Stanton, a retired schoolteacher, while school board Vice President Karin Polacheck trounced challenger Bob McKittrick.

With three opponents banging away at Braude, a runoff had been expected in the downtown District 1, where crime, development and the homeless make for a rich brew of problems.

But the primary season had begun with predictions that Kell and Serles would slide easily to victory. Both had money, name recognition and a strong base of establishment support.

Serles’ failure to grab the seat he has tried twice before to win proved especially stunning. Instead of catapulting to the council as the representative of such posh areas of the city as Naples and Belmont Shore, Serles trailed slightly behind Drummond, a political newcomer who came within inches of victory with 49% of the vote.

So tight was the election that a pre-dawn tally of absentee ballots kept election officials guessing. Even an otherwise-inconsequential 2.8% of the vote captured by Louis C. Mirabile in third place might have swung it.

It was an astounding political showing for Drummond, 52, who was outspent 4 to 1, had not a single endorsement from the city’s power structure and ran a grass-roots campaign that kept Serles’ paid political consultant on the ropes.

“I am tickled to death with the grass-root support, the wonderful people in the Third District who have helped me beat the special interests,” Drummond declared from his election party, where family and supporters drank German beer and hollered over plates of knockwurst.

Serles was put on the defensive almost from the start, when Drummond produced documents showing that the Planning Commission chairman had accepted political contributions from businessmen before voting in favor of their projects.

Several of Drummond’s charges proved to be based on clerical errors. The city prosecutor cleared Serles of criminal wrongdoing in the rest, saying that the commissioner at least twice voted when he should not have, but that he had not voted “in bad faith.”

The campaign grew increasingly nasty, with Drummond suggesting that Serles’ vote was “for sale” and Serles accusing Drummond’s camp of tearing up 32 campaign signs and throwing 12 more into the Naples canal.

As the campaigning wound to a close, pundits still considered Drummond the dark horse. Evidently, so did some Serles backers, many of whom left their sedate cocktail party at the Golden Sails Hotel when early ballots showed that their candidate had a healthy lead.

Within hours, though, the race was a virtual draw, leaving Drummond with tears in his eyes and Serles with frustration in his.

“I owe these people a lot,” Drummond said, gesturing toward his boisterous group. “These people--not the special interests. I think it says a lot in terms of (whether) you are able to buy an election.”

Serles said ethics accusations that are untrue but still indelible prevented him from winning outright.

“I certainly think it was very damaging,” he said. “It’s unfair that there are these candidates who think they can say and do anything they think. We haven’t been able to work the issues as much as we should. It’s all been charges and me trying to clear my record. It’s unfair.”

Drummond, who spent 29 years in the Long Beach Police Department, had been snubbed by everyone from the conservative Police Officers’ Assn. to the liberal watchdog organization, Long Beach Area Citizens Involved.

Before the night was over, though, Drummond had won the support of Hall, the incumbent councilwoman who had kept Serles from the coveted seat twice before. She showed up at the Drummond bash at midnight, addressed him as “Mr. Councilman,” raised her hand in deference and pronounced: “I’d love to turn over my office to you,” as the crowd exploded in a collective whoop.

The mood was more subdued at Nino’s Italian Restaurant on Atlantic Avenue, where Kell supporters gathered by a half-eaten victory cake to watch cable TV returns that by midnight made it clear that outright reelection would not be theirs.

Jeff Adler, Kell’s political consultant, blamed the “five dwarfs,” the five long-shot candidates who together amassed 16% of the vote, denying either of the leading contenders a majority.

“I was concerned by the number of candidates on the ballot from day one,” Adler said. “I knew they would dilute the results.”

Though Kell just a week ago exuded confidence, he too insisted as the results trickled in that he was not surprised that he had wound up in a runoff.

“Deep down inside, I did feel with all these candidates there was a chance” of a runoff, conceded Kell, 61, a developer and former councilman who was elected the city’s first full-time mayor two years ago.

He characterized the votes that went to Ski Demski, David Kaye, Lou Robillard, Daniel Rosenberg and Joe F. Wise as “kind of a protest vote against both Councilman Clark and myself” and suggesting that voters were perhaps rebelling against the negative tone of the campaign.

Demski, known for his raising huge flags above his home, ran campaign ads on local cable TV and picked up 7.5% of the vote with pledges to keep flying his flags and keep looking like Santa Claus.

Tired and bearing minor wounds from a tree branch that hit him in the face during a campaign walk, Clark pointed to the final vote tally of 43% for Kell as an indictment of the mayor.

“The incumbent had 57% of the vote against him. . . . It’s obvious there’s dissatisfaction with the leadership role of the incumbent,” said Clark, 63, who received 40.8% of the vote.

The optometrist built his campaign around issues of leadership, assailing Kell as a buddy of special interests who has failed to do much during his first term. Kell fought back with accounts of his achievements and attacks on Clark’s effectiveness during his three terms as mayor--when the council elected one of its own members as mayor.

Both contenders showered voters with a blitz of mailers attacking each other’s integrity and records--then blamed the other for negative campaigning.

Both camps also complained that the press had all but ignored the race, contributing to the low voter turnout of 25% and the public’s ho-hum attitude toward the election.

Spillover from the recently settled contract fight between the police union and city management left its imprint on several races. Angry about the council’s pro-management stand, the union supported several candidates challenging incumbents. None of the union candidates won--a sign, some election-watchers contended, of waning union power. Nonetheless, the union did complicate matters for incumbents.

Perhaps nowhere was that more apparent than in District 1, where union-backed Stovall engaged Braude in a runoff, shutting out newcomer Paul Croshaw and Joy Melton, who was making her second bid for the seat.

By 1 a.m. Wednesday, Stovall was celebrating what he said was the crippling of the Braude “machine” by a political neophyte.

“It’s clear the people in the district have spoken loudly,” declared Stovall, who hammered away at the district’s crime problems with a get-tough platform and spending that matched Braude’s, as of the last reporting period.

Stovall plans to seek help from both Melton, a medical office worker, and Croshaw, office manager at a stock brokerage firm.

But before election night was over, Croshaw was already pledging support to Braude.

“Support Stovall? No,” Croshaw said. “When you talk about parking, he talks about crime. When you talk about the homeless, he talks about crime. The district is more profound than that.”

Braude, a lawyer who is seeking his second term, also criticized Stovall’s approach.

“You cannot run on one issue,” said Braude, who partly blamed the poor turnout for his failure to avoid a runoff.

Robbins, a Los Angeles County deputy sheriff, was the only council contender who watched the returns with a big smile. “I just feel real good,” said Robbins, who won 66.5% of the vote, twice that of foe Baxter, who was supported by the police union.

The voters’ support for a civilian commission to investigate complaints of police brutality and abuse “means an awful lot to the black community,” said Frank Berry, president of the local chapter of the National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People.

Berry and other supporters said they were elated that 57% of the voters approved the proposal, which had been suggested for years by the NAACP and others. Public concern over the highly publicized Don Jackson case last year, in which a police officer appeared to push Jackson through a plate-glass window, pressed the council to place the issue on the ballot.

ELECTION RESULTS: J4

ARTESIA

5 of 5 Precincts

CITY COUNCIL

Two vacancies

Candidate: Vote

Jim Van Horn*: 773

Mary Alyce Soares: 581

Bob Thornton: 542

Edward Ware: 465

Charles H. Feather: 236

Herlinda Vasquez: 42

BELL

8 of 8 Precincts

CITY COUNCIL

Three vacancies

Candidate: Vote

Rolf Janssen*: 731

Jay Price*: 695

George Bass: 669

Allen Caddy: 477

BELLFLOWER

21 of 21 Precincts

CITY COUNCIL

Three vacancies

Candidate: Vote

John Ansdell*: 2,180

Robert E. Stone: 2,011

Bill Pendleton*: 1,980

Ken Cleveland*: 1,905

Ruth Gilson: 1,834

Ray O’Neal: 1,530

BELL GARDENS

5 of 5 Precincts

CITY COUNCIL

Two vacancies

Candidate: Vote

Douglas O’Leary: 473

Ronald Bird*: 472

Rosa Hernandez: 306

Josefina Macias: 274

Talt Coldiron: 121

Randy Safford: 56

Hank Ramey: 25

CERRITOS

20 of 20 Precincts

CITY COUNCIL

Three vacancies

Candidate: Vote

Ann Joynt*: 3,326

Sherman Kappe: 3,114

John Crawley: 2,111

George Marsh: 1,824

Perry N. Barit: 1,921

Alex Beanum: 1,624

Jim Hsieh: 1,582

Charles J. Kim: 1,937

Michael Kerr: 755

Faith Peckham: 324

Michael C. Cosgrove: 277

Marshall H. Story 304

Mansour Meisami: 132

COMMERCE

9 of 9 Precincts

CITY COUNCIL

Two vacancies

Candidate: Vote

Ruth R. Aldaco*: 940

James B. Dimas Sr.*: 899

Manuel L. Jimenez: 682

CUDAHY

2 of 2 Precincts

CITY COUNCIL

Three vacancies

Candidate: Vote

Alex F. Rodriguez: 425

Jack Cluck: 389

Joseph Graffio*: 368

Faye Dunlap: 268

Lewis J. Herrin: 223

Gilbert Malijen Jr.: 212

Wilfred Colon*: 195

Valerie Hansen: 164

Guillermo DeAnda: 132

HAWAIIAN GARDENS

6 of 6 Precincts

CITY COUNCIL

Two vacancies

Candidate: Vote

Kathleen Navejas*: 500

Richard Vineyard: 386

Domenic Ruggeri: 385

Donald Schultze*: 350

Joe Cabrera Zermeno: 144

Grant E. Winford: 72

HUNTINGTON PARK

8 of 8 Precincts

CITY COUNCIL

Three vacancies

Candidate: Vote

Raul Perez: 1,761

William P. Cunningham*: 1,488

Luis Hernandez: 1,352

Jim Roberts*: 1,332

Alan Kartsman: 478

LA HABRA HEIGHTS

3 of 3 Precincts

CITY COUNCIL

Two vacancies

Candidate: Vote

Richard Newbre: 783

Diane Kane: 739

Paul Tomko: 602

BALLOT MEASURE

Advisory Measure

Should the annual fire fee be increased from an average $200 to $500 per parcel to provide paramedic service 24 hours a day for the city of La Habra Heights?

Preference: Vote

Yes: 185

No: 878

LAKEWOOD

34 of 34 Precincts

CITY COUNCIL

Two vacancies

Candidate: Vote

Larry Van Nostran* 2,828

Joe Esquivel: 2,355

Leonard Lang: 1,767

Steven Hansen: 576

Jeffrey Wood: 286

Jack Guarino: 248

LONG BEACH

MAYOR

323 of 323 Precincts

Candidate: Vote

Ernie Kell*: 18,199

Tom Clark: 17,123

Ski Demski: 3,143

Daniel Rosenberg: 1,607

David E. Kaye: 1,029

Joe F. Wise: 485

Lou Robillard: 296

CITY COUNCIL

District 1

28 of 28 Precincts

Candidate: Vote

Evan Anderson Braude*: 1,722

William F. Stovall: 1,127

Joy Melton: 721

Paul Croshaw: 519

District 3

49 of 49 Precincts

Candidate: Vote

Jim Serles: 4,166

Douglas Drummond: 4,301

Louis C. Mirabile: 247

District 5

50 of 50 Precincts

Candidate: Vote

Les Robbins*: 5,319

Max Baxter: 2,679

District 7

Councilman Ray Grabinski was unopposed.

District 9

Councilman Warren Harwood was unopposed.

CITY ATTORNEY

City Attorney John Calhoun was unopposed.

CITY PROSECUTOR

City Prosecutor John Vander Lans was unopposed

CITY AUDITOR

City Auditor Robert Fronke was unopposed

BALLOT MEASURES

1--Shall the City Charter be amended to provide for the creation of a Citizen Police Complaint Commission?

Preference: Vote

Yes: 23,217

No: 17,059

2--Shall the City Charter be amended to give the city Water Department jurisdiction over the city sewer system?

Preference: Vote

Yes: 29,133

No: 8,999

LONG BEACH UNIFIED

SCHOOL DISTRICT

323 of 323 Precincts

GOVERNING BOARD

District 1

Candidate: Vote

72 of 72 Precincts

Mary Stanton: 3,802

Jerry Shultz*: 3,595

District 5

47 of 47 Precincts

Candidate: Vote

Karin Polacheck*: 5,310

Robert McKittrick: 1,834

LONG BEACH

COMMUNITY COLLEGE

DISTRICT

325 of 325 Precincts

BOARD OF TRUSTEES

Two vacancies

Candidate: Vote

William G. Millington: 21,954

Donald M. Weaver*: 19,419

E. Gerrie Schipske: 13,964

C. William Avery: 13,950

NORWALK

21 of 21 Precincts

CITY COUNCIL

Three vacancies

Candidate: Vote

Grace F. Napolitano*: 3,237

Robert J. Arthur: 2,798

Luigi A. Vernola*: 2,519

Marcial (Rod) Rodriguez*: 2,264

Dean Bentsen: 1,573

Peter L. Jacobs: 1,280

PARAMOUNT

15 of 15 Precincts

CITY COUNCIL

Three vacancies

Candidate: Vote

Allen (Joe) Parker: 1,092

Manuel E. Guillen*: 1,077

Elvira (Vera) Amaro: 1,067

Henry Harkema*: 974

Mike Pete Delivuk: 853

William E. (Bill) Carpenter: 544

Don Plunkett: 281

PICO RIVERA

24 of 24 Precincts

CITY COUNCIL

Three vacancies

Candidate: Vote

John G. Chavez*: 2,676

Richard L. Mercado Sr.: 2,498

Albert Natividad*: 2,466

Gilbert De La Rosa*: 2,343

Nancy C. Smith: 993

SIGNAL HILL

5 of 5 Precincts

CITY COUNCIL

Two vacancies

Candidate: Vote

Carol A. Churchill: 686

Gerard Goedhart*: 678

Sara Dodds Hanlon*: 573

CITY CLERK

City Clerk Kris C. Beard was unopposed.

TREASURER

Treasurer Gayle S. Girard was unopposed

SOUTH GATE

17 of 17 Precincts

CITY COUNCIL

Three vacancies

Candidate: Vote

Mary Ann Buckles: 1,838

Larry R. Leonard: 1,737

Johnny Ramirez: 1,477

Herb Cranton*: 1,428

Henry C. (Hank) Gonzalez: 1,332

John F. Sheehy: 1,234

Jerry M. Garcia: 694

WHITTIER

42 of 42 Precincts

CITY COUNCIL

Two vacancies

Candidate: Vote

Helen McKenna Rahder: 3,381

Bob Henderson: 3,360

Gene Chandler*: 2,704

David Todd: 2,347

Frederic Bergerson: 2,247

Francois Pellesser: 1,788

Thomas Barnes: 874

Vicky Kroes: 267

Joseph Marsico: 212

Donald Hawkins: 177

When results are final, winners will be in bold type. An asterisk (*) designates an incumbent officeholder.