It's Over... No Change In Costa Mesa Race Tonight
IT'S OVER...
OK, the Fat Lady is standing in the wings, beginning to wail. Here's how it looks tonight for the 2014 Costa Mesa City Council municipal election following the 5:00 p.m. release of numbers. There are NO CHANGES IN THE COSTA MESA ELECTION TODAY. The counter at the top of the page implies that there will be another count on Monday. You can see the entire "Results" page HERE. According to the "What's Left To Count" page, HERE, there remain only 50 votes county-wide left to be tallied and those are Election Day Paper ballots. All that remains now is for the Registrar to certify the election next week. For all practical purposes, this is your final result:
FOLEY IS TOP VOTE-GETTER
Katrina Foley is the top vote-getter in this election. For the second election in a row the top vote-getter was NOT a Riganista. Two years ago it was former council woman Sandra Genis. This time it's Foley, who ended up with 26.5% of the votes. Mayor Jim Righeimer will retain his seat on the dais by finishing second. He will finish 47 voters ahead of Jay Humphrey.
WASTE OF VOTES
The also-rans include Lee Ramos finished 4th. Tony Capitelli finishes far behind Ramos. Al Melone is next. Rita Simpson trailed Melone and Chris Bunyan will finish last.
RECOUNT? DON'T KNOW...
I don't have any idea if Humphrey plans to ask for a recount once Registrar of Voters Neal Kelley certifies the election next week. He will have 5 days to do so, and to put up the cash to begin the recount. As I've mentioned before, historically recounts in Orange County don't change things much. Kelley and his crew do a good job the first time through, as we learned two years ago when John Stephens trailed Gary Monahan by 155 votes.
NO MANDATE!
One thing is clear to me following this election. Jim Righeimer, despite all his pontification and behaving like a dictator, DOES NOT have a mandate from the voters of this city. The resounding defeat of his Charter scheme in two consecutive elections by increasing margins demonstrates that the voters are not buying what he's selling. The defeat of many of his pals in this election further demonstrates the voter's views on him and his behavior. He should not expect the heat to be lifted after this election. Quite the contrary... he should expect even more scrutiny.
COMPROMISE NOT LIKELY
In a recent article Foley promised to seek compromise. Well, check the weather report for Hades... it takes two sides to compromise and the current - and future - majority has shown NO inclination to compromise on anything. No, what we will see is more contentiousness, more bickering, more angry speakers taking the majority to task. And we'll see more unilateral, partisan political maneuvering by Righeimer and his group.
I EXPECT MORE DEPARTURES
What do I expect to see as a result of this election? Well, more defections of public safety folks, for one. I won't be surprised if we see even more police officers depart or retire early. I won't be surprised at all to see several of the so-called "miscellaneous employees" leave after the council gutted their contract and left them back where they were a decade ago. And, I expect recruiting - already very difficult - to become even more so with the specter of two more years of this administration.
A TOUGH JOB GETS TOUGHER
Policing this city is going to become extraordinarily difficult. With the AB 109 releases already infesting our community, group homes growing like mushrooms and bringing with them increases in crimes and Proposition 47 redefining crimes and their punishment all add up to more work for the cops. We're so understaffed that it is almost criminal in and of itself. Jeremiah Dobruck captured part of the problem in an article in the Daily Pilot today, HERE, which discusses the impact of fewer police officers and the DUI arrests. If you read that article you'll likely come away feeling VERY unhappy.
OK, the Fat Lady is standing in the wings, beginning to wail. Here's how it looks tonight for the 2014 Costa Mesa City Council municipal election following the 5:00 p.m. release of numbers. There are NO CHANGES IN THE COSTA MESA ELECTION TODAY. The counter at the top of the page implies that there will be another count on Monday. You can see the entire "Results" page HERE. According to the "What's Left To Count" page, HERE, there remain only 50 votes county-wide left to be tallied and those are Election Day Paper ballots. All that remains now is for the Registrar to certify the election next week. For all practical purposes, this is your final result:
Katrina Foley is the top vote-getter in this election. For the second election in a row the top vote-getter was NOT a Riganista. Two years ago it was former council woman Sandra Genis. This time it's Foley, who ended up with 26.5% of the votes. Mayor Jim Righeimer will retain his seat on the dais by finishing second. He will finish 47 voters ahead of Jay Humphrey.
WASTE OF VOTES
The also-rans include Lee Ramos finished 4th. Tony Capitelli finishes far behind Ramos. Al Melone is next. Rita Simpson trailed Melone and Chris Bunyan will finish last.
I don't have any idea if Humphrey plans to ask for a recount once Registrar of Voters Neal Kelley certifies the election next week. He will have 5 days to do so, and to put up the cash to begin the recount. As I've mentioned before, historically recounts in Orange County don't change things much. Kelley and his crew do a good job the first time through, as we learned two years ago when John Stephens trailed Gary Monahan by 155 votes.
One thing is clear to me following this election. Jim Righeimer, despite all his pontification and behaving like a dictator, DOES NOT have a mandate from the voters of this city. The resounding defeat of his Charter scheme in two consecutive elections by increasing margins demonstrates that the voters are not buying what he's selling. The defeat of many of his pals in this election further demonstrates the voter's views on him and his behavior. He should not expect the heat to be lifted after this election. Quite the contrary... he should expect even more scrutiny. COMPROMISE NOT LIKELY
In a recent article Foley promised to seek compromise. Well, check the weather report for Hades... it takes two sides to compromise and the current - and future - majority has shown NO inclination to compromise on anything. No, what we will see is more contentiousness, more bickering, more angry speakers taking the majority to task. And we'll see more unilateral, partisan political maneuvering by Righeimer and his group.I EXPECT MORE DEPARTURES
What do I expect to see as a result of this election? Well, more defections of public safety folks, for one. I won't be surprised if we see even more police officers depart or retire early. I won't be surprised at all to see several of the so-called "miscellaneous employees" leave after the council gutted their contract and left them back where they were a decade ago. And, I expect recruiting - already very difficult - to become even more so with the specter of two more years of this administration.A TOUGH JOB GETS TOUGHER
Policing this city is going to become extraordinarily difficult. With the AB 109 releases already infesting our community, group homes growing like mushrooms and bringing with them increases in crimes and Proposition 47 redefining crimes and their punishment all add up to more work for the cops. We're so understaffed that it is almost criminal in and of itself. Jeremiah Dobruck captured part of the problem in an article in the Daily Pilot today, HERE, which discusses the impact of fewer police officers and the DUI arrests. If you read that article you'll likely come away feeling VERY unhappy.Labels: 2014 Election Results, Al Melone, Chris Bunyan, DUI, Jay Humphrey, Jim Righeimer, Katrina Foley, Lee Ramos, Neal Kelley, Rita Simpson, Sandra Genis, Tony Capitelli
posted by The Pot Stirrer at 11/15/2014 05:47:00 PM
14 comments
