Backers Hope for Recount : Slow-Growth Measure Defeated in Seal Beach

A slow-growth ballot measure in Seal Beach that was trailing by a single vote was declared defeated by 14 votes Thursday after a tally of countywide absentee ballots, a spokeswoman for the county registrar of voters said.

Proponents of Measure F--the so-called traffic initiative, similar to the countywide slow-growth initiative that was defeated in Tuesday’s balloting--vowed Thursday to seek an official recount if they can raise enough money in the next two weeks to pay the cost.

The group, which raised less than $400 for its campaign before Tuesday’s election, will need $250 a day for the recount, which must be done by the registrar’s office by hand, according to Barbara Rountree, a leader of the slow-growth group.

“We have friends who have been calling today and they are offering us money,” Rountree said Thursday. “They are very concerned.

“Seal Beach is a very proud little city. And we are unique in that we are such a small-town community. The people really rally when they see that developers are beginning to close in on us.”

Measure F had trailed by 5,003 to 5,004. When the registrar’s office finished tallying 7,789 absentee ballots from throughout the county Thursday afternoon, the outcome was 5,091 votes, or 49.9%, in favor and 5,105, or 50.1%, against, Assistant Registrar of Voters Rosalyn Lever said.

Lever said it will probably take two weeks before the votes can be certified.

The Seal Beach measure would have tied growth to the ability of developers to meet strict traffic, flood control, parks and public safety standards.

Seal Beach Mayor Joe Hunt, who had joined the majority of the City Council in opposing the initiative, said Measure F was poor legislation because it was patterned after a measure designed for the south Orange County and did not address the specific needs of their coastal city.

“I’m in favor of sensible growth and traffic controls, but I didn’t think it was a good course for the city to take,” he said. “I will certainly be working with those people who want those kinds of controls to see that Seal Beach can achieve the objectives.”

Hunt also said the measure was too vague, and that the city could have been taken to court had it passed, action that would be time-consuming and costly.

One of the principal arguments against the measure, according to City Manager Robert Nelson, was the unanswered question of how much it would cost the city to comply with its demands. Only $400,000 of the city’s current $13.9-million budget is earmarked for capital projects.

Frank Laszlo, the only City Council member who supported the measure, said it lost because his group was not allowed to pass out information at Leisure World, a gated community of about 9,000 senior citizens. He said City Council members who opposed the measure were allowed to distribute information there.

“I am disappointed that we lost, but the margin was so narrow that it showed that many of the citizens are concerned with traffic in our city,” Laszlo said. “I have a hunch that most of the city outside Leisure World supported the traffic initiative and they are the ones who are driving in the traffic all day.”

The new tallies did not have as much effect on other ballot measures. In San Clemente, voters on Tuesday handily passed their second slow-growth measure by a two-thirds margin. The new tally showed 6,811, or 63.6%, in favor, to 3,904, or 36.4%, against.

Measure A, the countywide slow-growth initiative, ended up Thursday with 211,787 votes, or 44.4%, in favor, to 265,235, or 55.6%, against.