Anti-Growth Seal Beach Mayor Wins Big : Election: District 4 voters give Lazlo fourth term by 3-1 margin over real estate broker who favors ‘controlled growth.’

In a contest between two candidates who disagreed on the soundness of the city budget and on growth, District 4 voters Tuesday overwhelmingly reelected the anti-growth incumbent, Mayor Frank Laszlo, over real estate broker Marilyn Spiegel.

Unofficial election results showed Laszlo defeating Spiegel in the College Park East district by a 3-1 margin. Laszlo received 75.2% of the vote, compared to 24.8% for Spiegel.

The election victory for Laszlo returns him to City Hall to begin serving his fourth four-year term on the council. He previously served from 1976 to 1984 before returning in 1988.

“I am surprised at the amount of the victory,” Laszlo said at City Hall, where the ballots were tabulated. “I expected it to be a little closer. I guess the people did not want a change.”

From her home where she awaited election results with her supporters, Spiegel said she was disappointed but excited that her campaign focusing on a weak city budget had brought voters to the polls in an election with only one contested race.

And she agreed with Laszlo that the voters did not want a change.

“It seems hard to believe,” she said. “I think they may be in for a couple of surprises,” she added, referring to the budget.

City Clerk Joanne M. Yeo said that voter turnout was high, with 51.5% of the district’s 3,389 eligible voters casting ballots. District 4 generally includes the northeastern section of the city, between Lampson Avenue and the San Diego Freeway.

Laszlo argued to voters that if Spiegel were elected, the current 3-2 anti-growth majority on the City Council would tip in favor of development.

Laszlo said the growth was particularly crucial in this election contest, as the city begins considering the 212-acre Bixby Old Ranch Golf Course Development plan on the southern edge of the Los Alamitos Armed Forces Reserve Center.

But Spiegel, who calls herself an advocate for “controlled growth,” disputed Laszlo’s assumption that she would represent the development community.

Instead, she faulted Laszlo for not recognizing the seriousness of a looming financial crisis that includes what she called a dangerously low budget reserve fund.

Laszlo said he was aware of the fiscal problems, but he maintained that the budget was steadily improving after undergoing severe cuts this year.

The voters “did not believe the fairy tale that the city is broke,” Laszlo said after the ballots were counted.

Two of the four remaining council seats were scheduled to be on the ballot, but the seats were filled by council appointment because only one candidate had filed to run in each race.

FINAL ELECTION RETURNS

Seal Beach City Council

District 4

100% Precincts Reporting

Votes % Frank Laszio, i. 1,317 75.3 Marilyn Spiegel 433 24.7

* Elected candidate is in bold type.

i denotes Incumbent