Emily Gabel-Luddy – 4,411 Votes (49.7%) [+11 Votes]
Bob Frutos – 4,316 Votes (48.7%) [+2 Votes]
Ballots Cast – 8,866 (15.7% of 56, 239 Registered Voters) [+13 Votes]
Measure U – PASSED with 5,720 YES votes vs. 2,562 NO’s [+456/+7]
Note: [+] = Differential between Preliminary & Final Results
* notice the interesting +456 Vote increase in Measure U?
Link: Election Night Photos
BREAKING NEWS 4/21/11: RECOUNT Official or is it? (Updated 4/26/11)
It appears Burbank’s elected City Clerk Margarita Campos plan is to simply ignore residents Protest and demand for a Recount. Fronnie Lewis has posted 4 excellent Election Recount stories over at MediaCityGroove.com yet not a word about it in our local “newspaper” The Burbank (mis-)Leader. Last week a Hand Recount was initiated by the election watchdog group Protect California Ballots and Burbank resident George Marciniw, who apparently got cold feet the next day. A legal substitute request was then submitted by Fronnie Lewis herself and Kevin Muldoon & his wife Linda within the required 24 hour period. As of 6pm yesterday (4/25/11) Mr Muldoon is still waiting word as to if/when the Recount will proceed. According to Kevin, “The City Clerk is holding by that the original request was withdrawn and the deadline missed”. Fronnie Lewis contents the following here:
“The recount or ‘protest’ request as the city is calling it was received on Wednesday 20, 2011 before 5 p.m. George Marciniw’s withdrawal letter was not dropped off at the Burbank City Clerk’s office until Thursday, April 21. In his letter (which I have a copy of) Marciniw says quote: The organization ‘Protect California Ballots’ representative Judy Alter would like to pursue the recount using Journalist Fronnie Lewis to take my place if that is acceptable. According to the California Deputy Secretary of State, Lowell Finley, this is acceptable and legal. Also on Thursday April 21, I handed City Clerk Margarita Campos my personal letter volunteering to replace Marciniw in the recount request process. While I was there, Kevin Muldoon came in with two letters and handed them to Campos. All three letters were delivered to the city clerk before 5 p.m. Thursday, April 21.”
It appears that the City is resisting the Recount request and in doing so further eroding any remaining confidence in their honesty and integrity, not to mention the much maligned mail-in ballot process itself which has failed to increase voter turnout and must be changed. You can read Fronnie’s stories by clicking on the below links including her most recent update and as always there’s lots of chatter over @ the SemiChorus Blog. You can also read my own Recount related email correspondence with City Clerk Margarita Campos here. I took the liberty of forwarding a copy to Judy Alter (emeritus UCLA Professor) @ Protect California Ballots who responded with the following statements via email:
“I believe that Ms Campos has not done a recount. I checked with the CA Deputy Secretary of State, Lowell Finley, about her assertion about reading only one name, etc. She is wrong. A recount of the city council race of all the ballots needs to have the person looking at the ballot and reading the vote to say Bob, Emily or no vote. One ballot will have only one vote for that race. It will not take any more time. I will write this out for her. I have been manager of two citizen recounts and know that this is the required process. Asking for more money is also wrong.”
“They cannot charge by the names or ballots but only for the time the recount board members, usually $100 per person of $400.”
“The opportunity to recount an entire race is too important. We have secret vote counting and we the people must actually see how the voters voted”.
Declaring the Results of the General Election is on tonight’s Council Agenda but astoninglishly there’s no mention at all of the Protests filed in Ms. Campos Staff Report. It’s almost as if the City is daring those concerned with this unique opportunity to audit and validate the current system to file a Lawsuit…I guess they don’t already have enough (11 current & 14 more anticipated cases to come all on City Manager Mike Flad’s watch). It’s time for newly elected Attorney General Kamala Harris to follow through on one of her election pledges and really take a look at what’s going on here in Burbank. More post Election Commentary to come shortly. In the meantime, please consider donating to Protect California Ballots to help them pay for our Recount.
BONUSES Lawsuit Update
Also of note this weekend, an update on the Burbank Leader vs. City of Burbank “Bonuses” Lawsuit, in which the City claims The Leader’s request to obtain the amount of bonuses paid to individual public employees is “illogical”. The L.A. Times is also running the story here with some good comments. The only thing “illogical” & “suspicious” IMO is the City’s stubborn refusal to comply with the Law (FOIA request) & spend thousands of taxpayers dollars (with Council approval) fighting a case they’re destined to loose, while demonstrating to all of us that they still just don’t get it…you work for us! Any public employee unwilling to disclose their salary & bonuses should tender their resignation immediately & go work in the private sector. There are 100’s if not 1,000’s of people who will gladly take your job and all the benefits that come with it (health plan, holiday pay, pension etc). These people’s arrogance (Scott, Wilke, Flad etc.), lack of transparency and sense of entitlement is absolutely astounding!
–Links–
The Recount: Why I support it and what will it cost
Update-on-the-burbank-election-recount-drama
News Alert: Recount in Burbank City Council race
More on the Recount of the Burbank City Council run-off
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