LOCAL : Proponents of Laguna Hills Cityhood Rule Out Recount

Cityhood proponents in Laguna Hills today were considering their options after Tuesday’s slim 284-vote defeat, but spokesmen said they had in essence ruled out a recount.

“It is a tough way to lose by such a small margin,” said Ellen Martin, who co-chaired the cityhood campaign in the Laguna Hills area outside Leisure World, the retirement community, which apparently voted heavily against the proposal.

A whopping 60% of the voters cast ballots Tuesday after a heated campaign in which both sides aggressively sought votes up to the last minute.

Wally Bjornson, president of Leisure World Against Cityhood, said immediately after the Registrar of Voters announced the 8,701-to-8,985 unofficial ballot count that he was worried the opposition might call for a recount.

However, Joel Lautenschleger, one of the leaders in the cityhood movement, said today: “At this time we are not considering a recount. The chances of there being a mistake are too small.”

And Martin said she doubts that the group will try to resubmit the incorporation plan in its current form to voters. “We are regrouping. We have to talk about the options,” she said.

Dale White, who chaired an earlier effort to form a Saddleback Valley City--a proposal that was soundly defeated at the polls last November, said, “We need to stop and evaluate before we spend another dime” on incorporation elections in the Saddleback area, which includes Laguna Hills. White said she believes that the high voter turnout Tuesday, however, shows that there is considerable interest in incorporation among people in Laguna Hills who live outside Leisure World.