Malibu : Candidate Recuperating

A contender for a contested fifth seat on Malibu’s future City Council who suffered a mild stroke last week was said to be in good condition after being released Monday from Santa Monica Hospital.

John J. Merrick, 71, a retired Municipal Court judge, was resting comfortably at home after his release from the hospital, his wife, Marge, said.

Merrick was said to be trailing slow-growth activist Missy Zeitsoff by a single vote Monday for a spot on the five-member council, with an unknown number of absentee and write-in ballots from last week’s incorporation election yet to be counted.

A spokesman for the Los Angeles County registrar-recorder’s office said that an update of the vote will be provided today but that it may be June 26 before the winner is known.