Thursday, December 04, 2008

East, west voters differ on one council choice

East and westside Yorba Linda voters agreed on two of the City Council members elected on the Nov. 4 ballot but had different ideas about who should fill the third open position.

Mark Schwing and Nancy Rikel won in the city’s eastern and western sections, but eastsiders chose seven-vote winner Jim Winder as westsiders favored Ed Rakochy.

A commonly accepted dividing line between the east and west sides is the boundary for the city’s two state Assembly districts, which generally runs along Village Center Drive north of Yorba Linda Boulevard and Fairmont Boulevard to the south.

On the eastside, in the 60th Assembly District, Schwing tallied 6,369 votes, Winder 6,148, Rikel 6,026 and Rakochy 5,346. On the westside, in the 72nd Assembly District, Schwing totaled 6,959, Rikel 6,896, Rakochy 6,607 and Winder 5,812.

The city’s 43,010 registered voters are split nearly evenly between the two districts, with 21,019 in the east and 21,991 in the west. Eastside turnout was 17,071, westside 18,021.

About 37 percent of voters cast mail ballots, totaling 6,305 for Schwing, 6,212 for Rikel, 5,807 for Winder and 5,438 for Rakochy.

Precinct votes totaled 6,914 for Schwing, 6,613 for Rikel, 6,416 for Rakochy and 6,049 for Winder. Early voting counts were 108 for Schwing, 104 for Winder, 99 for Rakochy and 97 for Rikel.

Measure BB, prohibiting the use of eminent domain for economic development citywide, won 79 percent “yes” overall (77.3 in the east and 80.5 in the west), the highest achieved by any candidate or ballot measure in Yorba Linda history.

A sad aspect of the election was the small number of intense partisans who called those with differing views “liars.” To suggest any of the nine candidates didn’t hold the city’s best interests in their hearts is arrogant and distasteful.

A FINAL NOTE

Recently received e-mails include Francis Gibson’s note about the death of Keith Earll, a lifelong Yorba Linda resident, at age 82. His father, Fred, founded Earll’s Garage, which Keith ran from 1948 until his 1991 retirement. Keith also served on the Yorba Linda and Fullerton High school boards and more than 20 years as volunteer fire department chief.

T.L. Wagner identified Robb Block as the officer mentioned in my Nov. 20 column who used his motorcycle siren to alert residents to evacuate, then helped douse embers with a garden hose in the Rockhampton Court area—“truly a hero.”

And Maria Soles praises Pastor Dan Wagenknecht of Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church for offering after-fire assistance to her brother-in-law Alex, who “left his house the day of the fire with nothing. This is what makes us the community that we are—thank you!”