With all ballots in, Frutos and Springer claim City Council seats
With all 11,555 ballots counted, incumbent Bob Frutos and challenger Sharon Springer won seats on the City Council, Burbank City Clerk Zizette Mullins announced Friday.
Longtime Councilman David Gordon, first elected in 2006, and three-time candidate Juan Guillen, lost in their election bids.
Incumbent Jess Talamentes won a council seat outright in a primary election last February because he received more than 50% of the vote.
That left the next four top vote-getters — Frutos, Springer, Gordon and Guillen — vying for two council spots in the municipal general election held last Tuesday.
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Frutos led with 6,300 votes, followed by Springer, who received 5,666.
Leading up to the election, Frutos said he knocked on a lot of doors.
“I did old-fashioned campaigning, going door-to-door, talking to the residents, explaining what’s going on in our city — not shying away, really making myself available to anybody and everybody,” he said.
Frutos said he was humbled he garnered the most votes.
“It’s the people that have afforded me the opportunity to serve again, and it’s the people that have privileged me to work on the tough issues. For me to win is very, very down-to-earth humbling.”
Springer said she’s pleased voters came out to support her.
“I’m thrilled, honored, humbled and very excited that the city elected me to serve on City Council,” she said. “I look forward to all the challenges ahead. I want everybody to stay engaged.”
For Springer, this election marked her second run for City Council.
In the days leading up to the election, she said her campaign team stayed focused, knocking on doors and greeting potential voters outside schools and supermarkets.
“It was the little campaign that could — and did,” she said. “We stayed focus on winning the election. We did not take our eyes off of that goal.”
Gordon received 5,287 votes. He did not immediately return a request for comment.
Guillen won 3,783 votes.
Of the city’s 66,481 eligible voters, 11,555 ballots were cast — 523 more than in the city’s 2015 general election, according to the City Clerk’s office.
The numbers represent a roughly 17% return rate.
The City Clerk’s office counted 11,142 ballots on April 11, then tallied 413 more that had been postmarked by election day and delivered by April 14.
Twitter: @kellymcorrigan
