Photo finish
Tariq Malik
HUNTINGTON BEACH -- It was a long night of nail-biting and
poll-watching for four of the 20 candidates seeking seats on the City
Council.
For several hours Tuesday night and early Wednesday morning,
candidates Debbie Cook, Connie Boardman and Bill Borden were running neck
and neck for two of the open seats. Incumbent Pam Julien retained the top
spot from the get-go.
But when the last ballot was counted, Julien, Cook and Boardman had a
reason to smile.
Julien, who was first elected to the council in 1996, received 25,238
votes, about 14%. For most of the night, Cook was running fourth, behind
Julien, Borden and Boardman. But early Wednesday, she jumped up to second
place in the polls as voting precincts reported in. She ultimately won
12.2% of the ballots, or 21,955 votes.
Boardman, who ran unsuccessfully for City Council in 1998, secured the
third council seat early in the election. She took home 21,407 votes, or
11.8%.
Although Julien took an early lead from absentee ballots, even before
any voting precincts had reported in, she didn’t rest easy until all the
results were in.
“I just wanted to be in the top three, but I’m very excited about the
turnout,” she said.
Although city residents could only choose three candidates Tuesday,
she added, the efforts of the top eight candidates have been truly
amazing as they prepared for this election.
Julien was watching live coverage of both the city and national
elections in the West Coast Club at the Hilton Waterfront Beach Resort,
where the city’s firefighter and police associations hosted an election
night bash for the incumbent and candidates Borden and Gil Coerper.
“Win or lose, this has been a fabulous experience for me,” said
Borden, who came in behind Boardman with 19,413 votes, or 10.7%. He added
that the people he’s met during his campaign have been wonderful.
Three large televisions, each set to a different news channel, kept
those at the West Coast Club abreast of election polls, with direct
numbers coming from the county via computer.
Supporters for both Cook and Boardman set up camp in Cook’s home to
keep tabs on the ballot count. One group clustered around the living room
television, while others awaited updated vote counts from an office
computer.
“It renews your faith in the system and also underscores the fact that
if you aren’t vigilant, you can lose your representation,” Cook said of
the election.
While she and Boardman maintained separate election committees and
campaigns, the two informally collaborated to win council seats because
they have similar views on city issues and wanted to support each other.
“I think it’s a huge message for the grass-roots efforts,” Boardman
said. “It shows that a grass-roots campaign can beat out the money that
gets pumped from the outside into these elections.”
Boardman credited the volunteers who worked on her election committee
and those who helped Cook -- about 800 residents who supported their
goals and ideas, she said.
“Without them, we never could have done it,” she said.
In addition to Julien, Cook and Boardman, 17 other candidates vied for
the council slots left open by Councilmen Dave Sullivan and Tom Harman,
who was elected as the state’s 67th District assemblyman.
The city broadcasted live elections results on Channel 3 until 1:45
a.m. as ballots were counted, with camera crews visiting campaign parties
and candidates as the night wore on.
“I think all the candidates did a great job, and I hope the ones that
didn’t get elected stay involved with the community,” said Rich Barnard,
spokesman for the city.
The existing City Council will hold its last business meeting Nov. 20,
and the newly elected council members will be sworn in Dec. 4, with
Julien scheduled to become mayor by rotation.
Barnard said this election marks two firsts in Huntington Beach
history.
“It’s the first time that all open seats on the council have been won
by women, and the first time in city history that women will have the
majority on the council dais,” he said.
Julien, Cook, Boardman and incumbent Shirley Dettloff form 4-3
majority over Mayor Dave Garofalo and Councilmen Peter Green and Ralph
Bauer.
FYI
HOW THEY RANKED
The following official vote totals were obtained Wednesday from the
Orange County Registrar of Voters office.
HUNTINGTON BEACH CITY COUNCIL
Pam Julien 25,238 14.0%
Debbie Cook 21,955 12.2%
Connie Boardman 21,407 11.8%
Bill Borden 19,413 10.7%
Gil Coerper 14,722 8.1%
Diane Lenning 10,050 5.6%
James Young 9,904 5.5%
Thomas Doney 8,551 4.7%
John Thomas 6,945 3.8%
Joey Racano 6,522 3.6%
Chuck Downing 6,067 3.4%
Stephen Garcia 5,150 2.9%
J. Devin Dwyer 4,569 2.5%
Gerald Chapman 4,130 2.3%
Norm Westwell 3,625 2.0%
Robert Johnson 3,351 1.9%
Joe Carchio 3,096 1.7%
Lou Baker 2,676 1.5%
Mark Szulc 1,501 0.8%
Mark Lewis 1,440 0.8%
write-in candidate(s) 370 0.2%
HUNTINGTON BEACH CITY CLERK
Connie Brockway 47,317 97.0%
write-in candidates 1,447 3.0%
HUNTINGTON BEACH CITY TREASURER
Shari Freidenrich 46,481 96.9%
write-in candidates 1,471 3.1%
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