Tim Willert
Danette Erickson will return for another term on the Crescenta
Valley Town Council, but two of her colleagues will not.
Erickson, the town council president, easily won reelection
Saturday, but incumbents Tim Jagoe and Vasken Yardemian didn't make
the cut.
Erickson amassed 199 votes, more than double the total of Krista
Smiley (84) and Jaleen Lunt (77).
All three will begin serving three-year terms in January.
Lunt is currently a council alternate, while Smiley is a former
alternate. Neither could be reached for comment Sunday.
In all, 338 residents cast 835 votes at the Crescenta Valley
Sheriff's Station, making it the largest voter turnout since the
council's inception in 1989, officials said.
"I think it shows that the community really cares about the town
council," Erickson said Sunday. "It was just a very tight election
with lots of good people."
Only 41 votes separated 10 of 11 candidates vying for three
regular and three alternate seats.
Local business owner William Bodell finished fourth with 72
votes, followed by current council alternate Scott Solis (69) and
landscape architect Marjorie Kaspar (63). Each will serve as council
alternates for one year.
Jagoe and Yardemian, meanwhile, finished tied for seventh with 61
votes apiece, and will step down at the end of the year. Neither
could be reached for comment Sunday.
The town council provides a forum for residents of unincorporated
La Crescenta and Montrose to identify and discuss issue of concern.
The council acts as an advisory board for L.A. County Supervisor
Michael Antonovich.
Council member Stuart Wilcox, chairman of the election committee,
was surprised Jagoe and Yardemian were not reelected.
"An incumbent certainly has an advantage," he said. "But some of
the other folks were actively campaigning and they didn't get
elected."
Erickson hinted that Jagoe and Yardemian may have underestimated
the competition.
"They didn't realize how busy this election was," she said. "It
took a lot of work this time, and I didn't take anything for
granted."
Rounding out the 11 candidates was Richard Gilden (54 votes), Greg
Foley (52) and Khachig Janoyan (43).
Erickson said there were no losers.
"Everybody received a lot of support," she said. "Hopefully,
everybody will stay involved [in the community]."
Voters were allowed to cast ballots for up to three different
candidates.
"We did turn away about two dozen people who lived in the city of
Glendale, and half a dozen who were not registered, Wilcox said.
Wilcox attributed the large voter turnout to newspaper coverage
and several issues that have generated a lot of community interest,
including the Foothill Boulevard community standards plan.
Additionally, the election committee expanded election hours to
increase accessibility, he said.
