Inglewood elections
Incumbents sweep the field
With 100% of precincts counted and only a number of absentee and provisional ballots remaining to add to totals in the Inglewood election, incumbents in both the city council and school board races have pushed back challengers to retain their seats.
Only 8.2% of the city’s eligible voters cast ballots to give Daniel Tabor the win over challenger George Dotson in the first district. Tabor won 54.1% versus 45.8% for Dotson.
In the school board races, seat number one incumbent Arnold Butler beat out challenger Joyce Randall 56% to 43.9%, and Trina Williams will keep her spot in seat number two after defeating Carliss McGhee 53% to 46.9%.
In the open slot for seat number three, Alena Cindy Giardina, who formerly held an appointed seat on the city council, defeated Renee Dorn, daughter of Inglewood Mayor Roosevelt Dorn, 56.6% to 43.3%.
The results will remain unofficial until the city council approves them at its June 30 meeting.
Candidates must be sworn in by July 5.
In other Inglewood election news, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has declared a special primary election for Sept. 1 to fill the 51st Assembly District seat vacated, when Curren Price won a state senate post.
If no candidate wins 50% plus one vote, then a special general election will be held Nov. 1. The election would be certified within a week after final voting and the winner will take a seat shortly afterwards.
Then in 2010, the election for the seat’s next four year term will occur with a primary scheduled in June of next year and a general election for the following November.
The political buzz has Gardena Councilman Steve Bradford as one of the leading candidates with others said to be interested in running including Lawndale Councilman Robert Pullen-Miles; Gloria Gray of the West Basin Municipal Water District Board; and Inglewood Councilman Eloy Morales.
Inglewood, CA -- George Dotson and Danny Tabor have been here before. The two veteran Inglewood leaders are once again facing one another for a chance to represent residents of the first district on the city council.
Now they are competing once again for the council seat during the June 16 election and this match is winner take all. Also included on this ballot are the run-off races for Inglewood School District board seats.
Inglewood City Council
Candidates running for Inglewood City Council seats bring a diverse collection of experiences to the contest to win a seat to govern in the “City of Champions.” On April 2, at the end of the day, they hope to be the ones left standing so they can deliver a pot of gold to residents in the form of paved streets, quieter airplanes, sewers free of tree branches, and a return to yesterday.
District 1 candidates George Dotson, LeRoy N. Fisher, Felicia Ford and Daniel Tabor, are running against incumbent Mike Stevens.
Inglewood residents’ desire for change has forced incumbents in the two City Council races into runoffs on June 11.
First-term Councilman Mike Stevens, who won 31.3 percent of ballots cast in the April 2 election, will face challenger George Dotson who captured 44.8 percent of votes.
In District 2, Councilwoman Judy Dunlap (32.9 percent of votes) will face Alex Padilla (48.5 percent of votes).
Dunlap is facing a runoff for the first time since she defeated former Councilman Anthony Scardenzan in 1993.
Inglewood Unified School Board’s authority is stripped, its contract-granting days are temporarily on hold, its decisions are null and void and its suggestions are advice-only. And yet, candidates have thrown their hats into the General Municipal Election race for school board seats 2 and 3 on April 2.
Two-term incumbent, Arnold Butler, is running unopposed for seat 1. Incumbent Trina Williams resigned seat 2 in January, leaving candidates Carliss Richardson-McGhee and Mariana Prado on the ballot. Recently, Prado withdrew.
The Children’s Institute (CII) will host its fifth annual Fatherhood Solutions Conference on Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Sheraton in downtown Los Angeles. Themed, “Strengthening Relationships Between Fathers and Their Children,” “the event will feature America’s Court television judge Kevin Ross as keynote speaker.
