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%