La Crescenta Voters Choosing 1st Town Council

Nine representatives and three alternates will be elected today as the first members of a town council serving La Crescenta.

Optimistic council organizers said they are hoping that at least half of the about 8,000 eligible voters will turn out for the election. All residents age 18 and over are eligible and need not be registered with the Los Angeles County registrar of voters, said Patty Steur, co-chairman of the council formation committee.

“We feel the voter turnout will be a statement of community interest,” Steur said.

Twenty-eight candidates are competing for seats on the council, which will serve as the foothill community’s first quasi-government board. While the council will not have the power to make or enforce laws, it is expected to serve as an advisory board to county officials and as the voice of the community.

20,000 Residents

About 20,000 people live in the unincorporated mountainside community at the base of the San Gabriel Mountains between Glendale and La Canada Flintridge. At the suggestion of County Supervisor Mike Antonovich, residents have been working to organize the council since last summer. Altadena, also a part of Antonovich’s sprawling territory, formed a similar council 12 years ago.

Three candidates and one alternate will be elected in each of three U.S. Census tracts in La Crescenta.

Two of the four polling places will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.--Crescenta Valley High School, 4400 Ramsdell Ave., and Crescenta Valley sheriff’s station, 4554 Briggs Ave. Ballots may also be cast between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. at two chambers of commerce--Crescenta Valley at 3131 Foothill Blvd., Suite M, and Montrose-Verdugo City, 3808 Ocean View Blvd.

Ballots will be transported by sheriff’s deputies and tabulated by hand tonight at the sheriff’s station by about 30 volunteers, council organizers said. Candidates and their supporters have been asked to meet at a restaurant, On The Boulevard, 3023 Foothill Blvd., where updated results will be posted regularly after 8:30 p.m.

March 16 Installation

Election winners will be formally installed at a ceremony led by Antonovich at 7 p.m. March 16 in the cafeteria at Crescenta Valley High School. The council is scheduled to meet regularly on the third Thursday of every month at the Crescenta Valley County Park Recreation Center at Honolulu and Dunsmore avenues.

Candidates in each of the three census tracts in the area generally between Pennsylvania Avenue and Ocean View Boulevard are:

Tract 3001, north of Orange Avenue: William C. Bening, Bruce E. Campbell Jr., Thomas M. Johnston, Jillayne D. Larson, Don Lawrie, Glynn B. Martin, Judy Tejeda and George E. Wadey.

Tract 3002, between Foothill Boulevard and Orange: Charles K. Beatty, William Beavers, Joseph Grosch, Margaret A. Klug, Ruth E. Knowlton, Debbi L. Meadows, Robert B. O’Neil, Bob Schell, Christopher R. Thomas and Larry Walter.

Tract 3005, south of Foothill to Montrose and Honolulu avenues: Brett Joseph Brauneisen, James Carl Gilchrist, Dave Hale, Lawrence Don Hogue, Anthony P. Hurtado, Jack Kashirsky, Larry Lousen, Sharon Martin, John A. Montanio and Daniel J. Rendler.