71 Votes Cast for Town Council; One Candidate Receives Zero Votes

Seventy-one people showed up to vote in the 2012 Altadena Town Council elections on Saturday, electing a slate of candidates who were running with no opposition.

Vote totals for candidates ranged from zero cast for Town Council Chair Sandra Thomas to 25 cast for new candidate Bernardean Broadous.  The Altadenablog reports that Thomas is currently hospitalized, which would explain why she did not vote for herself.

Seventy-eight votes were cast in the election, but there were seven ballots that were ruled invalid: three were voters who selected a candidate not in his or her census tract, two were write-in candidates for the 4601 tract cast for "Beth Grambling," and two others were not clearly marked, according to Town Council Chair Eric Pierce.

The full voting counts are as follows:

Regarding the two ballots cast for Beth Grambling, Town Council Election Committee Chair Eric Pierce said he would pass the information on to the Council, which will be appointing people to fill the seats where nobody filed to run.

Regarding Dr. Thomas receiving zero votes, Pierce said that since she was on the ballot unopposed, she will be reelected to the seat and will not require the Town Council to vote her in as an appointment.  

In last year's elections 353 voters cast ballots, though there were opposition candidates on the ballot during that election.  Turnout was light that year compared to other recent elections, which have seen more than 700 people come out to vote, according to the Altadenablog.

Ezieme, Thomas, Marcussen are all incumbent council members who have served for multiple years.  Matthews, a retired federal court official and community volunteer, was appointed to a vacant seat on the Town Council earlier this year.

Broadous, who will be serving for the first time on Council, has served on the West Altadena Project Area Committee and the PUSD Districting Task Force that helped come up with the districting design for the recently-passed Measure A.

Wilkins, the other first time member, has lived in Altadena since 1984 and often posts at the President Streets email group.