Recount Curbed; Berkeley Mayor Apparently Wins

By the narrowest of margins, Mayor Loni Hancock appeared to retain her job as head of one of the nation’s most liberal cities after a court ruling Thursday that limits the number of absentee ballots that can be counted.

If the ruling stands up to appeal, Hancock will have defeated challenger Frederick D. Weekes, a moderate Democrat, by 77 votes out of more than 35,000 ballots cast in the Dec. 4 runoff election.

As a last resort, Weekes had filed suit to force the city to count an extra 386 absentee ballots that arrived after Election Day because of a delay in processing applications. Weekes won 60% of the vote among the 6,762 absentee ballots that were counted.

But Alameda County Superior Court Judge Howard L. Schwartz said that, although he sympathizes with Weekes’ concerns, the law states that only absentee ballots that arrive by 8 p.m. on Election Day will be counted. By Thursday evening, however, Schwartz issued a three-day stay of his ruling to allow Weekes time to see if a higher court will hear his appeal.

“Regretfully, the court has no power to avoid the disenfranchising consequences to some voters in this case,” Schwartz said in a 16-page ruling. “The court cannot invalidate, nor by implication, validate, absentee ballots on speculation or possibilities.”

Hancock’s supporters greeted Schwartz’s ruling with hugs and cheers in the packed courtroom. For many of them, the mayor’s race was the one bright spot in an election that saw the “progressive” Berkeley Citizens Action party lose control of both the City Council and the rent control board. The mayor’s reelection to a second four-year term indicates the city probably will stay on its liberal political course, observers said.

“Berkeley is forever going to stay a progressive city with an active populace,” said Marty Rabkin, a spokesman for Hancock, who was out of town Thursday. “I don’t see it moving to the right.”

Weekes said he was “terribly disappointed by the results,” but vowed to run again for the mayor’s office. He argued that the narrowness of Hancock’s victory sends a message to City Hall that voters disagree with such liberal policies as adopting sister cities in the Third World.

“The city is divided,” Weekes said. “But the moderate-independent forces are here to stay. We’ll come back next time. And (Hancock) will have to move more in our direction.”

On a street corner in downtown Berkeley, news of the election’s outcome elicited mixed reactions from lunch-time pedestrians.

“Thank heavens!” said painter Leonard St. John. “Loni is a fair candidate. She’ll be good for all those who are living well because of rent control.”

But Gabriel Breitzke, a UC Berkeley staff member, said: “I’m really sorry for the city of Berkeley. A city that has sister-city relations all over the world but can’t fill its own potholes is in bad shape.”

Running on a platform of promises to attend to the city’s more basic needs, Weekes forced Hancock into a runoff after the mayor barely missed getting enough votes to win the November general election outright. Both candidates then hired high-powered political consultants and waged a largely negative campaign.

Weekes’ campaign slammed Hancock for mismanaging the city. At one point, he sent out a flyer riddled with holes to suggest the gaps in her programs.

Hancock’s campaign responded by suggesting that Weekes would be beholden to real estate interests, which oppose the city’s tough rent control law and contributed to his campaign.

“Both sides took it very seriously. Both sides ran very strong campaigns,” said council member Nancy Skinner, a Hancock ally.