LOCAL ELECTIONS : No Winner in Redondo Beach; Colin, Mona in Council Runoff

The best turnout for a special election in Redondo Beach history failed to give a majority to any candidate for the District 3 City Council seat, forcing Steve Colin and William R. (Bill) Mona into a runoff on May 17.

In Tuesday’s primary, Mona placed first with 560 votes, or 37.9%, followed by Colin with 474 votes, or 32.1%, and William Brad Parton with 442 votes, or 29.9%. As the two top vote getters, Mona, 54, a business representative for Local 770 of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union, and Colin, 31, an attorney, will compete again in the runoff.

Voter turnout was 24.1%, about 2% higher than citywide mayoral races generally attract, said City Clerk John Oliver, who had predicted a typical special-election turnout of 16%. “I would say the voters were encouraged by the candidates getting out and going door to door,” he said.

Colin agreed that the high turnout was due to “three candidates working the district.”

Mona called it “a tribute to me, to tell you the truth. I got the most votes, and if I outpolled a mayoral race, then that compliments me.”

Telephone Campaign

Parton, 27, a pension and retirement investor, also took some credit for the turnout, attributing it partly to a telephone campaign he and his supporters ran before the election. Another reason more people than usual voted, he said, is that they “are just sick of some of the stuff going on in the city, and maybe they saw a choice for once.”

The District 3 race was one of personalities more than issues. There are no current controversies in the district, and on most topics, such as improving traffic, upgrading Dominguez Park and providing leadership, the three candidates agreed.

The district is bordered by Marshallfield Lane, 190th Street, Paulina Avenue and the Torrance and Hermosa Beach city limits.

The council seat has been vacant since November, when Marcia Martin resigned to pursue a career as an Orange County sheriff’s deputy. Martin quit just eight months after being reelected to a second four-year term. The only candidate opposing Martin last year was Colin, who lost by just five votes.

Whoever is elected in May will serve the remainder of Martin’s term, nearly three years.

For this week’s election, Mona estimated that he spent about $7,500. Colin reported spending about $3,000 and Parton about $2,500.

Mona, who hired an election consultant, said he had to spend more money than his opponents to overcome Colin’s name-recognition advantage.

Last weekend, Colin, Parton and their supporters were upset when about 250 of Colin’s signs and 30 of Parton’s disappeared, including many they contend were on private property. Both Colin and Parton said the signs were removed by people connected with Mona’s campaign.

Mona denied knowing anything about his opponents’ signs being removed and said 10 to 20 of his signs were missing as well. “They even stole one off my front yard, which really made me mad,” he said.

Redondo Beach Police Lt. Jeff Cameron said the Police Department did not receive any complaints about signs being removed from private property, but he said a district resident reported last Sunday having removed signs from utility poles and public property.

City law prohibits posting political signs on utility poles and public property, so the violations occurred when the signs were put up, not taken down, Cameron said.