2010 election makes Yorba Linda history
The last of the Orange County ballots from the Nov. 2 election were counted on Nov.19, and the tallies show a couple of history-making results that affect Yorba Lindans. Here’s a look at historic factors in the voting:
--Jan Horton, the fourth woman elected to the City Council in city history, is one of three to serve only one term. Carolyn Ewing, elected in 1972, didn’t seek another term in 1976, and Keri Wilson, elected in 2002, lost in 2006 and in a 2007 special election.
Only Barbara Kiley, wife of newly elected Yorba Linda Water District director Bob Kiley, won two terms, placing third for three seats in 1992 and 1996. But Horton is the only individual, male or female, to leave the council without serving as mayor.
All 24 men and three women who’ve completed one or more council terms have served as mayor. Horton was mayor pro tem, the usual precursor to the mayor’s chair, in 2008, but lost the mayor ballot on a 3-2 vote. Ewing was mayor twice, Kiley and Wilson once each.
--The Yorba Linda Water District traces its history to 1909, when a mutual company supplied water to the area, but the government agency, with five directors elected by voters, not just stockholders, goes back 50 years.
During that time 22 men have been elected to the board, most for several four-year terms, including longest-serving director Paul Armstrong, 1982-2010. Only two lost seats: Carl Scanlon to Mark Abramowitz in 1998 and Abramowitz to Bill Mills in 2002.
Now, two incumbent directors, Mills (1985-87 and since 2002) and John Summerfield (since 2002), have lost to two members of the district’s Citizens Advisory Committee, Gary Melton and Bob Kiley. Appointed director Phil Hawkins placed first in the vote.
Hawkins, who replaced Armstrong after his death, also was an advisory group member. The three winners were supported by Mike Beverage, a one-term councilman 1982-86, director since 1992 and veteran consultant, who told me the board needed “new blood.”
--Incumbents, either appointed or elected, rarely have lost elections in the Placentia-Yorba Linda school district, since initial unification in 1933. This year, Kim Palmer, who replaced Judy Miner in March, lost to Carrie Buck by 218 votes.
Buck, a Rose Drive School parent, also upset another trend: winners who were often endorsed by the Association of Placentia-Linda Educators, the union representing the district’s teachers. But she was supported by the non-teaching, classified employees.
Karin Freeman, selected trustee in 1989 from the old Yorba Linda Elementary School District board in a second merger, was the top vote-getter. The 21-year trustee usually earns APLE support, as did special education teacher Judi Carmona, who won the two-year term.
--History wasn’t made in the North Orange County Community College District, where Yorba Linda resident Jeff Brown beat a spirited challenge, as did two other incumbents.
No incumbent has lost a district race since 1990. Brown and Mike Matsua, also from Yorba Linda, are two of seven college trustees, with five initially appointed to office.
The Yorba Linda pair represent the college district’s Area III, which includes the Brea-Olinda and Placentia-Yorba Linda unified school districts as well as the La Habra City and Lowell Joint elementary school districts.
--Jan Horton, the fourth woman elected to the City Council in city history, is one of three to serve only one term. Carolyn Ewing, elected in 1972, didn’t seek another term in 1976, and Keri Wilson, elected in 2002, lost in 2006 and in a 2007 special election.
Only Barbara Kiley, wife of newly elected Yorba Linda Water District director Bob Kiley, won two terms, placing third for three seats in 1992 and 1996. But Horton is the only individual, male or female, to leave the council without serving as mayor.
All 24 men and three women who’ve completed one or more council terms have served as mayor. Horton was mayor pro tem, the usual precursor to the mayor’s chair, in 2008, but lost the mayor ballot on a 3-2 vote. Ewing was mayor twice, Kiley and Wilson once each.
--The Yorba Linda Water District traces its history to 1909, when a mutual company supplied water to the area, but the government agency, with five directors elected by voters, not just stockholders, goes back 50 years.
During that time 22 men have been elected to the board, most for several four-year terms, including longest-serving director Paul Armstrong, 1982-2010. Only two lost seats: Carl Scanlon to Mark Abramowitz in 1998 and Abramowitz to Bill Mills in 2002.
Now, two incumbent directors, Mills (1985-87 and since 2002) and John Summerfield (since 2002), have lost to two members of the district’s Citizens Advisory Committee, Gary Melton and Bob Kiley. Appointed director Phil Hawkins placed first in the vote.
Hawkins, who replaced Armstrong after his death, also was an advisory group member. The three winners were supported by Mike Beverage, a one-term councilman 1982-86, director since 1992 and veteran consultant, who told me the board needed “new blood.”
--Incumbents, either appointed or elected, rarely have lost elections in the Placentia-Yorba Linda school district, since initial unification in 1933. This year, Kim Palmer, who replaced Judy Miner in March, lost to Carrie Buck by 218 votes.
Buck, a Rose Drive School parent, also upset another trend: winners who were often endorsed by the Association of Placentia-Linda Educators, the union representing the district’s teachers. But she was supported by the non-teaching, classified employees.
Karin Freeman, selected trustee in 1989 from the old Yorba Linda Elementary School District board in a second merger, was the top vote-getter. The 21-year trustee usually earns APLE support, as did special education teacher Judi Carmona, who won the two-year term.
--History wasn’t made in the North Orange County Community College District, where Yorba Linda resident Jeff Brown beat a spirited challenge, as did two other incumbents.
No incumbent has lost a district race since 1990. Brown and Mike Matsua, also from Yorba Linda, are two of seven college trustees, with five initially appointed to office.
The Yorba Linda pair represent the college district’s Area III, which includes the Brea-Olinda and Placentia-Yorba Linda unified school districts as well as the La Habra City and Lowell Joint elementary school districts.
posted by Jim Drummond at 12:00 PM
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