Voters Oust Ex-Mayor White : King Retains Top Seat in Baldwin Park

Mayor Leo W. King, a city councilman who was elected mayor last year after he was ousted in a recall election along with then-Mayor Jack D. White, defeated White and another challenger Tuesday to gain his first full term.

White, who was elected to the City Council after the recall, finished third on Tuesday night, behind Frank Mamone, who has made three previous attempts to win the mayoral job. King’s victory retires White, who was the city’s first elected mayor and was in the middle of his fourth term when he was recalled.

King received 1,625 votes, or 47.8% of those cast; Mamone 1,050 votes, or 30.9%, and White 725, or 21.3%.

“I’m elated to have won it outright,” said King, a 14-year council veteran. “This should close the book. . . . That’s what I hope.”

In the race for two council seats, challenger Bette Lowes led the field with 1,435 votes, or 23.8%. Incumbent Richard T. Gibson narrowly edged out challenger Terry O. Hughes for the second seat. Gibson got 1,231 votes, or 20.4%, followed by Hughes with 1,211, or 20%; George T. Archibeque with 937, or 15.5%; Herschel Keyser with 814, or 13.5%, and Eddie J. Brady with 412, or 7%.

King’s election ends a turbulent chapter in Baldwin Park politics that began last March when King, then a councilman, and White, then the mayor, lost their seats in a bitter recall sparked by an unpopular utility tax and a controversial redevelopment project. But just four months after the recall, King was elected mayor and White was elected to the council in a special election to fill the vacancies created by the recall. Neither could legally run in that election for the seats they had lost in the recall.

City Clerk Linda Gair retained her seat by getting 2,457 votes, or 73.1%, to Benita Romero’s 900, or 26.8%.

23% Turnout

Turnout was 23% of the city’s eligible voters. Gair said Wednesday that the signatures of 17 voters still must be verified by the county registrar-recorder before being added to the official tally.

The additional votes wouldn’t change the outcome between Hughes and Gibson but “might make them closer,” she said.

King, 59, a retired county engineer, credited his “open-door” policy with helping him win.

“I’ve tried to see that the public has input,” he said. “And I will continue to do that because the door is open.”

Will Solicit Opinions

King said he will solicit the community’s opinion on various issues, such as a proposed amendment to the city’s General Plan that would limit construction of apartments and condominiums.

White, 54, head of the investigations bureau of the county district attorney’s office, said he plans to remain active in city matters after more than a decade of involvement in city politics.

“The town has been behind me for 10 years,” he said. “I’ll have to go along with (the voters’ decision), reluctantly.”