Vote not finalized, but new SP Council, Clerk and Treasurer to take office

November 26, 2008
Santa Paula News

The actual vote might not be finalized by Monday, but the city is moving ahead with installing new two City Council members and the City Clerk and welcoming back the incumbent Treasurer at the December 1 meeting.

By Peggy KellySanta Paula TimesThe actual vote might not be finalized by Monday, but the city is moving ahead with installing new two City Council members and the City Clerk and welcoming back the incumbent Treasurer at the December 1 meeting.There is little doubt that Jim Tovias and Fred Robinson will be taking the Council oath of office, replacing incumbents Ray Luna and John Procter, who declined to run for third terms. Tovias, an insurance office owner, and Robinson, the executive director of the nonprofit ARC-Ventura County, have consistently been ahead in the Council vote tally of opponent Jennifer Matos, a professor of biology.The meeting will start at 6:30 p.m. at the Community Center, located at the corner of West Main Street and Steckel Drive. The session will be televised live on Time Warner Cable Channel 10 and replayed per schedule.About 10 percent of the total number of votes cast in Ventura County for the November 4 Presidential Election remain to be counted. The ballots are provisional - such as a voter being registered at another polling place than where they cast the ballot - and must be carefully validated.Tovias is in the top ballot spot with 3,952 votes, 33.89 percent. Robinson trails him by only 34 votes with 3,918 or 33.60 percent, and has a wider lead - 200 votes - over Matos, who garnered 3,718 votes, 31.89 percent.
Also to be sworn into office Monday are new City Clerk Judy Rice, who ran unchallenged to replace incumbent Josie Guzman-Herrera, and Sandra “Sandy” Easley, the incumbent treasurer who also ran unopposed. “We’ll be saying goodbye to the old and hello to the new” at the December 1 meeting held at the Community Center, said City Manager Wally Bobkiewicz.The newly seated Council will also decided on a new Mayor to replace Bob Gonzales, and a new Vice Mayor to replace Ralph Fernandez. Traditionally the Vice Mayor assumes the top role, although there have been rare instances in the past where tradition was sidestepped.After the swearing in ceremony and selection of new Council leaders, a reception will be held. And, noted Bobkiewicz, the show will go on whether or not the county has certified the election results, which now show a 200-vote gap between second place candidate Robinson and Matos.“The county is telling us that the vote will be done by the end of the week,” to meet the mandated December 2 deadline, but Bobkiewicz noted that City Clerk Herrera has the power in Santa Paula. “The Clerk is the only one who certifies the vote for the city of Santa Paula,” and the county acts only as a contractor to run the election.“City Clerk Herrera is confident she’ll have what she needs to certify the election... what we do and what other cities do is, since we contract for the election, the last piece is the County Clerk sending their certification. The city clerk in any city” is able to verify an election independent of the county, and “their certification is what matters. The clerk could say today she’s satisfied,” noted Bobkiewicz. “It always works out in the end.”



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