South Gate : Recount Confirms Result

A recount Tuesday confirmed the results of the April 12 election for two seats on the South Gate City Council in which Henry C. Gonzalez lost by seven votes to Dorothea Lombardo, according to City Clerk Janet Stubbs. Gonzalez, a councilman for six years and outgoing mayor, had requested the recount, which cost him $330. Lombardo received 1,683 votes while Gonzalez got 1,676. Robert A. Philipp, who finished first in the balloting with 1,909 votes, also received the same total in the recount.

John Sheehy, who was also defeated in the election, picked up two additional votes in the recount. He received 1,410.

Gonzalez says he now intends to go to court to force the city clerk to open absentee ballots that were not counted. Gonzalez says he believes that there are at least 24 such ballots that remain sealed. He says he will go to court to get the alleged uncounted ballots tallied.

Some of the absentee ballots, Gonzalez contends, were dated April 12 but did not reach the city clerk until a day after the election. Gonzalez said he believes that these ballots should be counted. “I think I’m entitled to know how these voters voted,” he said.