Incumbents pull away in race for two seats on the La Cañada Flintridge City Council
The race for two open seats on the La Cañada Flintridge City Council brought victory Wednesday to incumbent candidates Dave Spence and Jon Curtis, who both earned more than 37% of votes cast, compared to challenger Keith Eich’s 25%.
Preliminary figures released by the county Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk showed Spence leading the race, so far garnering 1,802 votes, with Curtis close behind at 1,784 votes. As of Wednesday morning, Eich had earned 1,199 votes.
More vote-by-mail ballots are likely to arrive in advance of the county’s anticipated March 31 certification. The registrar’s office still has some canvassing to wrap up, with the first update of several updates likely to be issued Friday.
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Curtis and Spence co-hosted an election night celebration at the Thursday Club that drew a crowd of more than 100 supporters and ran until 10 p.m. There, they thanked members of their campaign and citizens who helped get out the vote, though only initial absentee ballot counts showing Spence in a slight lead with 980 votes at the time.
Curtis said Wednesday he got a call from Spence sometime around 11 p.m. informing him the results had been updated and showed them both ahead of Eich.
“I was obviously very happy and, frankly, very humbled by the amount of support from the community,” Curtis said. “It’s been so busy, between the campaign, the duties of mayor and trying to keep things moving forward and, from a work standpoint, trying to make a living — now it’s time to take a breath and regroup.”
Spence was not immediately available for comment Wednesday morning, but shared his gratitude with supporters Tuesday night.
“I’m not going to make a campaign speech, but I did want to thank all of my friends,” the six-term councilman said. “I’ve had some super advisers — they’re called past council members and mayors.”
Eich — who spent election night with a small contingent of friends and supporters at Dish Restaurant— said Wednesday he learned a lot about the community in his canvassing efforts during the campaign and is eager to stay engaged, possibly by seeking a seat on a city commission.
“It’s been a learning experience for sure,” said Eich, who was up at 6 a.m. retrieving yard signs, should he plan to run for council again when three seats come up in 2019.
“I’d like to think it’s a plan,” he added, “but a lot can happen in two years.”
La Cañada voters were also asked to weigh in on Measure H, a 10-year, quarter-cent countywide sales tax expected to generate $335 million annually to fund programs and strategies for the nearly 47,000 homeless citizens residing in L.A. County. Countywide figures showed that measure passed with 67.44% of the vote.
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Sara Cardine, sara.cardine@latimes.com
Twitter: @SaraCardine
