Race Is Still Too Close to Call--for Simi Valley Parks Director

As the nation lies mired in legal battles over who will be the next president, the question for Simi Valley is who will be the next parks director.

For two days about 20 workers in the basement of the Ventura County Government Center have been steadily recounting votes, minus the lawyers and supercharged rhetoric surrounding the recent presidential recounts in Florida.

The stakes are decidedly lower, but for Jim Dantona, who spent more than $20,000 and fell short by three agonizing votes, no priority is higher.

Dantona says he campaigned hard during the race. Not only did he spend a small fortune for a relatively obscure post, he attended parks board meetings and solicited advice from park users ranging from horse lovers to tennis players. He even talked about erecting a veterans’ memorial in a city park. But on election day his opponent, Kate O’Brien, edged him.

The loss was more galling because O’Brien, an engineer and Libertarian, didn’t put up signs, didn’t knock on doors and told very few people she was even a candidate. On top of that, O’Brien says she spent no money.

“I don’t know why people voted for me,” she said with a shrug.

With the vote nearly neck and neck at 17,310 to 17,307, Dantona demanded a recount.

But after two days with 25 of the 90 precincts recounted, he now trails O’Brien by five votes, county officials say. And the recount is costing him about $1,200 a day and will very likely last well into next week, officials added. If he ties or wins, he doesn’t have to pay for the recount.

Dantona, a 27-year-old corporate benefits manager, said he owed it to his supporters to pursue the recount.

“When you look into their eyes you see that government can make a difference,” he said.

He is hoping to pick up the votes he needs to win with provisional ballots filled out at polling places by people whose names could not be found on voting lists. They are counted last. In this case, 400 ballots were discarded as ineligible, but Dantona hopes to find a handful that were mistakenly rejected.

Bruce Bradley, the county’s director of elections, said it was very unlikely any eligible votes will be found among these ballots.

“We do this for a living and if we didn’t qualify a ballot it’s not a good ballot,” he said.

Bradley, a 20-year veteran of Ventura County elections, said he has never seen a candidate spend so much money on a parks and recreation post.

“It’s not usually a stepping stone, but maybe it is in Simi Valley,” he said.

Sandi Webb, a supporter of O’Brien and former Simi Valley City Council member, has an idea why her friend won.

“She was the only woman on the ballot,” she said. “And I think a lot of people were turned off by how much money was spent.”

Down in the basement, teams of counters sat at tables, picking up each ballot and calling off the names to another worker who writes them down. They must sort through 52,000 ballots.

Behind each table, supporters from each camp serve as observers. A metal fence separates the counters from the rest of the office.

“It’s really been an education,” O’Brien said. “I know exactly how George Bush feels.”

One thing missing from the recount are the ubiquitous chads--dimpled, pregnant, hanging or otherwise. Ventura County’s voting machines make a cleanly pressed hole so no one needs to divine voter intent from vague bumps here and there.

Dantona’s father, Jim Dantona Sr., spent Wednesday looking over the shoulders of the counters. The veteran political activist and consultant said this was old hat for him.

“I’ve been doing this for 30 years,” he said.

The senior Dantona served as chief of staff for Gov. Gray Davis when he was state controller; he was chief of staff for former Democratic state Sen. David Roberti and worked on Congressman Joseph Kennedy Jr.’s campaign in Massachusetts.

He conceded sitting on the Rancho Simi Recreation and Park District is not especially earth-shaking but said it would give his son an entry into politics.

“When you are down by only three votes and you worked as hard as Jimmy did, you don’t just want to let it go,” he said. “There is always some room for error.”

Jim Dantona Jr. said some ballots might have been sent through the counting machine two or three at a time, causing an undercount. Bradley said this was unlikely because the machine would have registered a problem.

Dantona said his friends support his efforts, though a few questioned why he was going all out for the parks district.

“A lot of people ask why you are doing it,” he said. “In the presidential election they are making a huge impact on the nation. I can have a big impact on the quality of life in Simi Valley.”