Joyce, Fasana Win Duarte Council Seats

For the first time in 21 years, voters have put a woman on the City Council.

Ginny Joyce, the top vote-getter Tuesday with 1,108, or 30.28% of the ballots cast, and John Fasana, who received 1,010 votes, or 27.61%, won easily to fill the seats vacated by incumbents Mervin Money and Ed Beranek, who did not seek reelection.

The winners were trailed by Noah Jameson, who received 650 votes, or 17.76%; Lino Paras, with 513 votes, or 14.02%, and LeRoy Gabriel, with 377 votes, or 10.30%.

Joyce and Fasana said they are comfortable with the new makeup of the council.

“I have good rapport with the existing council, and John and I can add good input,” Joyce said.

“This will be a strong council, and the five of us should be able to work together,” Fasana said. “There is real talent on that council, and I hope our record in the next few years proves that out.”

Fasana said his top priority is to get acclimated. “I’m not going to overthrow the system, but the study sessions are on my hit list,” he said.

The council holds one-hour study sessions before each council meeting. Although the sessions are open to the public, critics have said the matters discussed there would be better discussed during the regular meeting.

Fasana also would like the city to get its strategic planning process--a yearlong effort to determine the city’s long-range goals and assess its strengths and weaknesses--well under way before it launches many new projects.

Joyce, however, said her top priorities are drawing more business into the city and improving law enforcement. “The Sheriff’s Department is not serving our needs,” she said.

Joyce and Fasana said they won because their campaigns focused on what they had to offer the city.

Fasana, 32, has lived in Duarte for only three years but has made a name for himself as co-founder of the Citizens’ Assn. for a Safe Environment, which led the fight against a proposed waste-to-energy plant in neighboring Irwindale.

Joyce, 49, is a 10-year resident who has been vice president of the Chamber of Commerce and is a member of the city Traffic and Safety Commission.

The two new members will take office at the council’s Nov. 24 meeting.