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SATURDAY APRIL 14, 2012 VOLUME 6 NO 15 Koerber, Capoccia and Harabedian Elected MacGillivray Bid for Re-election and UUT Measures Fail By Susan Henderson On Tuesday, 35% of the registered voters in Sierra Madre turned out to elect three new faces for the City Council and solidly denounce efforts to extend the current Utility User Tax measures. Before the election the fate of the UUT could not be predicted and thus it was no great surprise that it lost, many Sierra Madreans were surprised when incumbent councilwoman and two time Mayor Mary Ann MacGillivray did not retain her council seat. A number of former MacGillivray supporters did not vote for her in this election citing her participation in bypassing then Mayor Pro Tem Joe Mosca in the normal rotation of council members to Mayor in 2008 and 2009. MacGillivray’s vote allowed Kurt Zimmerman to serve in Mosca’s place and MacGillivray, who had just been sworn in to the council, became Mayor Pro Tem and the following year Mayor. Finally, after the 2010 council race, Mosca became the first openly gay Mayor of Sierra Madre. Chris Koerber, who ran against Colin Braudrick and garnered more votes than any other candidate despite an evolving controversy over his failure to clearly articulate his association with the Tea Party was elected to complete the unexpired term of Mosca, had to resign when his family moved to London. Of his victory Koerber says, “I am honored and humbled to be the people of Sierra Madre’s choice as city councilman for the two-year seat. This election came at an extremely important time for the city, and being selected by my fellow citizens shows that the city is ready for a councilman who will work for clarity, community, and economic accountability. “ He also congratulated his opponent, Colin Braudrick “for a well fought race”. Koerber was against the UUT measures. John Harabedian, garnered the most votes in a five person race for two 4-year terms on the council. A native of Sierra Madre and new to politics, he says, “As kid growing up in Sierra Madre, I never imagined I would have the honor to serve on City Council. I am truly humbled and invigorated. Now it’s time to get to work.” John was in favor of the Utility User Tax measures. And the surprise victory of the campaign, according to many ‘old timers’ to Sierra Madre politics was newcomer John Capoccia who beat out incumbent Mary Ann MacGillivray for a four year term on the council. “I’m honored to serve along side them as we all work to fulfill our respective commitments to preserve this great town for present and future generations.” Uncontested Races Richard Mays was re-elected to his old job of City Treasurer, a position he held from 2004-2008 and Nancy Shollenberger, who has been city clerk since 1984 was also re-elected. Both ran unopposed. Turnout Still Low There have been lots of speculation that this year’s election had a record turnout, however, those reports are not accurate. According to the summary report issued by the City Clerk late Tuesday night, there are 7,766 registered voters in Sierra Madre of which less than half bothered to cast a vote. Of the 2,728 that did vote, the absentee ballots, (1,113) represented 40% of all votes cast. More voters cast absentee ballots this year than in the last 3 council elections. However, compared to the City Council race in 2010, in which 2,875 voters participated in the election, Sierra Madre continues to suffer from the same voter apathy as the rest of the country. None of the Above After initial election results were released to the public, several citizens contacted the Mountain Views News inquiring on the results of the “write in ballots”. Although the results shown on SMTV-3 did not indicate, there were additional categories of votes cast that included ‘write-ins’. There were also several hundred “blank” ballots. In this election there were 60 write in votes for various candidates. Most notably, one caller indicated that she cast votes for “former council persons Lisa Fowler, Rob Stockley and Enid Joffe, because, in my opinion, they really worked hard for the city.. I just wanted to make a statement about the kind of council persons these new people should be.” The Final Tally According to City Clerk Shollenberger, on “Tuesday, April 17, 2012 at 10:00 a.m. we will have a manual tally of one precinct and we will count the verified ballots and provisional ballots received on election day. We will then have the final canvass of the election and approval of the Resolution on Tuesday, April 24, 2012, at which time we will have our reorganization of the City Council. Clockwise, left to right: Councilman- elect John Capoccia, 2nd from the right and Bryan Horsman, Campaign Manager, Wife Marta, Me, and Erica Silva, Assistant Campaign Manager; Councilman Elect John Harabedian (top right) and Councilman-elect Chris Koerber. Far left unverified results from 2012 and tally from 2010 election. A retirement party on March 29 was attended by Sierra Madre Library staff, who celebrated Margaret Duran’s 46 years of service to the Library. At 82 years young, Margaret has been an active member of the community “for more years than she can remember.” In 2009 she received the prestigious Sierra Madre George Maurer Lifetime Service and Volunteer Award in recognition of her many years of dedicated service to the City. Margaret began her professional library career in Sierra Madre in 1966, after completing graduate courses in Library Science at Immaculate Heart University in Los Angeles. She quickly became known as a champion of literacy and for her unrivaled reference expertise. A committed library advocate, she frequently gave public “book talks” emphasizing the importance of reading, always alerting patrons to new and noteworthy library acquisitions. Margaret’s exemplary research, evaluation and cataloguing skills are indelibly “stamped” on the Library’s 24,000 volumes of Reference and Non- fiction works. Up until her retirement, she was responsible for selecting and maintaining the books in these collections. Margaret is the author of several booklets on the history of Sierra Madre, including Sierra Madre Public Library: Our Story (1976), Sierra Madre Library 1887-1987: A Centennial Celebration, and A Story of a Quilt, written in 1977 when the Sierra Madre Historical Quilt was unveiled. The quilt project was one she helped conceive and coordinate, which was a two-year, community-wide effort celebrating the U.S Centennial. Sierra Madre citizens designed and sewed quilt squares representing the City’s organizations as well as scenes and qualities unique to the town. (continued on page 3) SIERRA MADRE LIBRARIAN RETIRES This Week’s Highlights: EARTH DAY 2012 - Section B The World Around Us Arts & Entertainment Opinion - Left Turn/Right Turn Legal Notices Good Food - Good Life Sports B Pasadena/Altadena Around San Gabriel Valley Arcadia - Monrovia/Duarte Education & Youth Good Food - Good Life ONE OF A KIND......Page A9 Architectural Tours at Pasadena’s Caltech A Read The Paper Online At: www.mtnviewsnews.com | |||||||||||||||||||
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