New Face on the City Council : Politics: In a largely uneventful election, David Sanchez narrowly wins the right to fill the seat vacated by the mayor.

In an election that both sides conceded was virtually without issues, a county construction project manager squeaked past a Caltrans highway maintenance worker Tuesday to win a seat on the South El Monte City Council.

With all seven precincts reporting, David Sanchez, 31, was the winner over Richard Angel, 44, by a slim 23 votes. The count was 483 to 460, with 15 unverified absentee votes yet to be tallied.

By winning the election, Sanchez wins the right to fill the seat vacated in February by Mayor Stan Quintana, who was removed in a recall election after falsifying a police report connected with a hit-and-run accident and being accused of cronyism and wastefulness.

Sanchez faces another election next April, when Quintana’s term expires.

The largely uneventful election saw both candidates expressing doubts about community redevelopment projects and supporting new programs for children. Both maintained they were independent of the current City Council.

“These tend to be very personal elections,” said one Sanchez supporter, commenting on the lack of debate between the two candidates. “They’re won over the back fence.”

Sanchez’s supporters sought to inject some controversy into the election by questioning Angel’s claim to being independent, saying that his six years in city government as a member of various commissions made him the “City Hall candidate.”

But Angel, whose campaign committee was composed entirely of family members, continued to assert his lack of ties to incumbent councilmen.

Sanchez attributed his victory to hard work by himself and his committee, the same group that orchestrated the recall campaign against Quintana. “I canvassed the whole city, knocked on every door,” he said.

Angel’s wife, Rosa, who managed his campaign, expressed pride in her husband’s showing. “It was really just my husband and me in this,” she said. “I think we did just fine.”

Though 20% of the city’s 4,709 registered voters voted, a relatively high proportion for a special election, both sides expressed frustration at their inability to get out the vote in a city beset by scandal and political feuding. “People don’t believe in government anymore,” said Rosa Angel. “They’re battered from the past.”

Added Julia Stucka, who ran Sanchez’s get-out-the-vote effort: “People aren’t interested anymore. No matter who’s running, it’s the same.”

At City Hall, where supporters of both candidates gathered Tuesday evening to await results, Angel held a lead after the votes from all seven precincts were counted. But a 95-54 majority in absentee ballots gave Sanchez the election.

Members of the Sanchez committee acknowledged that passing out applications for absentee ballots was part of their strategy. “We knew that some people wouldn’t come out for a little election like this,” said Sanchez supporter Nick Oropeza. “But if we could give them something to mail, we knew they’d vote.”

ELECTION RETURNS

* SOUTH EL MONTE

* City Council

7 of 7 Precincts Reporting

VOTE % David Sanchez 483 51 Richard Angel 460 49