Preliminary DLANC Election Results
Eric Richardson
[Flickr]
The DLANC board of directors meets in the lobby of the Los Angeles Theatre in September of 2009.
DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES — Preliminary results for Friday's Downtown Los Angeles Neighborhood Council election were distributed this evening.
53 candidates were on the ballot competing for 28 seats on the council's Board of Directors.
Of those 28 seats, 17 were up for grabs in races that had more aspirants than seats. 11 were single candidate races, though, if preliminary results hold, two of those candidates -- Alameda East Resident Director and Alameda East Business Director -- failed to win their seat even by simply showing up to vote for themselves.
Valerie Watson won the election's most heavily contested race, taking the At-Large Director seat with 311 votes. She brought in 200 more votes than the next candidate, Simon Ha.
Eight candidates were up for the three Arts, Cultural and Education Interests Director seats. Leslie Colwell, Jay Lopez and Shira Blatt were winners in the preliminary tally, though the gap between third and fourth was only two votes. Edgar Varela topped two other candidates in the Arts, Cultural and Education Interests Director (Resident) race.
Patti Berman was re-elected as Area-Wide Resident Director with 133 votes, tripling the vote count of her competitor.
Stanley Michaels narrowly edged Jung "Gatoona" Lee in the race of Civic Center Residential Director by a tally of three votes to one.
Other resident seats were won by Russell Chan (Bunker Hill), "General" Jeff Page (Central City East), Mamta Patel (City West), Andrew Ruiz (Fashion District), Barrett Reiff (Historic Downtown) and Scott Bytoff (South Park). Rick Young edged out Lawrence Landry in a tight race for the Area-Wide Homeless Resident seat (32 to 28).
The race for Hal Bastian's Area-Wide Business Director seat was close, with Bastian edging Judy Hong by four votes (74 to 70).
Four candidates were up for the single South Park Business Director seat, with Allen Gross emerging as the winner. Other business winners were Celina Mancia (Central City East), David Hurato (City West), Jay Kim (Downtown Center), Lynn Myers (Fashion District) and Michael Delijani (Historic Downtown).
Wendell Blassingame, La'shaun Foster Jones and Gerald Phillips took the three Social Service Provider seats. Private and Public Sector Workforce seats were won by Niv Davidovich and Tanner Blackman.
Final results should be certified by the City Clerk's office next week.
Simon Ha on June 29, 2010, at 07:38AM – #1
Congratulations, Valerie!
Guest on June 29, 2010, at 09:54AM – #2
Congratulations Hal - happy to see you are keeping your Area Wide Business Director's seat. Having met you a couple of times personally - you represent as a true and competent gentleman.
Dixon on June 29, 2010, at 10:00AM – #3
Yes, Hal Bastian won......but he almost lost. Was it his Gilmore connections that nearly did him in?
Valerie Watson on June 29, 2010, at 10:19AM – #4
Thanks, Simon. And congrats to all of the At-Large candidates for the solid turnout. OK, now let's get to work!
Rene on June 29, 2010, at 11:40AM – #5
@Ciscustop - what a vague statement. What could you possibly mean regarding Hal's Gilmore connections?
Voting was a bit odd. Although I live AND work in downtown LA, I was only able to vote on ONE ballot. I ultimately chose the Resident ballot but felt that there were several other areas in which I should have been allowed to vote.
Perhaps this system could be fixed for next year?
Bert Green (@bgfa) on June 29, 2010, at 07:37PM – #6
DLANC has the power to change the voting categories. They were set up this way to ensure no one group could dominate the Board. Now, 8 years later, downtown is a different place. It's up to the newly elected Directors to decide if they want to look at this issue and make changes.