Runoffs Will Settle Redondo Mayoralty and 2 Council Races : Elections: Newcomer Joseph Dawidziak ousts council incumbent and former Mayor Barbara Doerr.

It was a generally bad night for incumbents in Redondo Beach’s municipal election Tuesday, especially for veteran City Council member Barbara Doerr.

In the election’s major surprise, Doerr mustered only 46% of the vote, losing her City Council seat to newcomer Joseph Dawidziak, who received 54%.

“Yeah, I was surprised,” said Doerr, who has served 12 years in office, eight of them as mayor. “I would have thought it would be closer.”

None of the incumbents, including Mayor Brad Parton, won a race outright.

The May 11 runoff elections will pit Parton against former Councilman Ron Cawdrey, City Councilman Terry Ward against newcomer Robert Pinzler in District 4, and Rick Abelson against Greg Hill in District 2, in which two-term incumbent Kay Horrell was barred by term limits from seeking reelection.

Jerry Goddard narrowly won the city attorney post. Propositions to raise the utility users tax by 1% and to pay school board members $240 monthly failed. Three other measures, including changing the name of the city school district, passed.

Here is a look at the results from Tuesday’s election:

Mayor

Parton captured the most votes out of the field of five candidates but not the majority needed to avoid a runoff. Still, the mayor said he did “pretty good” in netting 43% of the vote, compared to Cawdrey’s 28%.

Parton said he plans to run on his record, which he said includes advocating a streamlined city government and budget and leading the effort to adopt curbside recycling.

Although criticized for his ties to right-wing Christian groups in his losing state Assembly campaign last year, Parton said issues from that campaign were not a factor in this one.

“I think it got me a few negatives, but I think overall I campaigned based on my track record in Redondo Beach and based on Redondo Beach issues,” Parton said Wednesday.

The incumbent said he would fight against any further attempts to raise taxes, refusing to “jump on the bandwagon” he said is being lead by Cawdrey, who favored the proposed utility tax hike.

The city is projecting at least a $1.5-million shortfall in next year’s budget.

Cawdrey said he was disappointed at his showing in Tuesday’s vote. He said a leg injury prevented him from doing as much campaigning as he would have liked but added that he is now recovered.

If elected mayor, Cawdrey said, he would focus on getting a teen center built and speeding up the rebuilding of the pier and the construction of a city library. Both projects have been held up for years.

“It doesn’t make any sense to me, these delays,” Cawdrey said.

Cawdrey said he does not have a strategy for campaigning in the runoff. During the campaign he vowed to retain City Hall jobs and backed the ballot proposition to raise the utility user taxes.

Council Races

Doerr was frank in explaining how she lost her seat: “We ran a real low-key campaign, and there was sort of a twist in the end with hit pieces on Friday and Saturday.”

Although she stopped short of singling out anyone for the critical flyers, Doerr said she was hurt by the police officers and firefighters unions’ endorsement of her opponent.

Doerr, who had sought a second four-year term and had been mayor for eight years before joining the council, said she decided to lay low because she believed the community already was aware of her positions on an array of issues.

“I guess that was not really true,” said Doerr, who brushed aside suggestions that her heart was not in the campaign. “People come and go.”

Doerr, who does not plan future runs for office, said she and the other incumbents were also hurt by anti-incumbent fever.

“We all get extremely frustrated and want change,” Doerr said, “but changing someone doesn’t always help, and potentially you can end up with people who are worse. Decisions should always be on issues and performance.”

Dawidziak said he knew all along he would prevail, claiming that, beyond a core of supporters, Doerr was not popular among most voters in the district who saw the councilwoman as part of a procrastinating, bickering council in need of new blood.

All along, the small business owner said, local pundits believed Doerr would run unopposed. But Dawidziak believed voters were not satisfied with Doerr’s performance, so he decided to run against her.

Dawidziak, who will take office on April 1, said he will focus on ensuring quality businesses are established on the pier and improving the marketing of the city.

In District 4, Councilman Terry Ward garnered 42% of the vote and will face a runoff against Robert Pinzler, who received 35% of the vote.

Ward said he failed to win outright because he did not work hard enough at campaigning.

“I was frankly disappointed I did not take it on the first ballot,” Ward said. “I could have worked harder, and in the runoff I will pull out all of the stops.”

Ward said his top concern is controlling city spending, although the incumbent said he would explore ways to give city employees a cost-of-living increase without raising taxes.

Pinzler, a marketing consultant, said he would continue his attempts to capitalize on anti-incumbent feelings in the district. He said Ward has been unresponsive to voters’ concerns that the city is overdeveloped.

“They (residents) just kind of throw their hands up to the sky and say, ‘Look at all the people and the noise and look at all of this stuff that’s been allowed to happen,’ ” Pinzler said.

In District 2, top finishers Rick Abelson and Greg Hill will square off in the runoff. Abelson got 29% of the vote to Hill’s 23%.

Hill, a gas company manager, said he was “pleasantly surprised” at his showing and planned to work hard to win the seat in the runoff. He said the city should look into privatizing some services, but he would not specify which ones until he studies the issue further.

Abelson, a city planner and chair of the Redondo Beach Harbor Commission, could not be reached for comment. He had campaigned on promises to pay close attention to the pier and harbor.

City Attorney

Jerry Goddard narrowly averted a runoff, defeating three other candidates for the office of city attorney. Goddard received 50.3% of the vote, while closest challenger Marilyn Wiczynski got 23.3%.

Goddard, an assistant superintendent of personnel and legal counsel for the South Bay Union High School District, has no previous experience with a city legal department. Goddard said he would work to control lawsuit costs but added he has no specific plans to pursue in office.

“I did not run on a reform ticket,” Goddard said. “I want to work with the existing staff to do the most efficient job possible for the City of Redondo Beach. It’s not a situation where I’m going to make any changes the first week.”

Goddard, who will take office on April 1, served as a city councilman from 1977 to 1985. He unsuccessfully ran for mayor in 1985.

Propositions

Redondo Beach voters sent a clear message--no new taxes--by soundly rejecting Proposition A, a utility users fee that would have cost the average homeowner an extra $1.25 a month.

The measure, which garnered 44% of the vote, would have taxed telephone, gas, electricity, waste and cable television services. It would have raised an estimated $840,000 in General Fund revenues for the cash-starved city, which is facing a $1.5-million shortfall for next year’s budget. “No” votes accounted for 56% of the tally.

Mayor Parton, who opposed the fee hike, said the city budget should be streamlined further before new taxes are levied. His runoff opponent, former City Councilman Cawdrey, backed the tax.

City voters also shot down Proposition C, which would have paid board members of the newly formed Redondo Beach Unified School District up to $240 a month for their services. The measure lost 53% to 47%.

The other three propositions on the city ballot easily won.

* Proposition B, which will change the name of the Redondo Beach School District to the Redondo Beach Unified School District.

* Proposition D, which will change wording in the City Charter regarding absentee voters to conform with state law.

* Proposition E, which will amend the City Charter to allow the Board of Education of the newly formed Redondo Beach Unified School District to stagger its members’ initial terms of office.

Times correspondent Martin Miller contributed to this report.

REDONDO BEACH ELECTION RESULTS

Counting of late and absentee ballots could alter the outcome in some races.

OFFICES

Mayor

28 of 28 Precincts Reporting

CANDIDATE VOTE % Chris Boyle 464 6.7 Ron Cawdrey 1,883 27.2 Dean T. Francois 747 10.8 Brad Parton* 3,092 44.6 Robe Richester 743 10.7

City Attorney

28 of 28 Precincts Reporting

CANDIDATE VOTE % Jerry Goddard 3,323 50.3 Larry W. Peterson 902 13.6 Stuart Scudder 841 12.7 Marilyn Wiczynski 1,540 23.3

City Council

District 1

7 of 7 Precincts Reporting

CANDIDATE VOTE % Joseph C. Dawidziak 895 54.1 Barbara Doerr* 757 45.9

District 2

6 of 6 Precincts Reporting

CANDIDATE VOTE % Rick Abelson 482 28.9 Bob DeLoyd 17 1.0 Stephen Garfield 34 2.0 Harold S. (Hal) Hawkins 190 11.4 Greg Hill 377 22.7 Bill MacAlpin 94 5.6 Vanessa Poster 288 17.3 Sal Princiotta 182 11.0

District 4

4 of 4 Precincts Reporting

CANDIDATE VOTE % Robert Pinzler 330 35.0 Eva Snow 212 22.5 Terry Ward* 401 42.5

NOTE:

In all races, if no candidate wins more

than 50% of the vote, the top two

meet in a runoff.

* Denotes incumbent

BALLOT MEASURES

Proposition A

Shall the city raise its utility users tax by 1% to help pay for city services?

28 of 28 Precincts Reporting

MEASURE VOTE % Yes 2,997 44.1 No 3,796 55.9

Proposition B

Shall the city amend the City Charter to change the name of the Redondo Beach City School District to the Redondo Beach Unified School District?

28 of 28 Precincts Reporting

MEASURE VOTE % Yes 5,435 82.3 No 1,172 17.7

Proposition C

Shall the city change the City Charter to allow members of the newly formed school board to receive up to $240 a month in compensation for their services?

28 of 28 Precincts Reporting

MEASURE VOTE % Yes 3,047 47.0 No 3,435 53.0

Proposition D

Shall the city amend sections of the City Charter pertaining to absentee voters to conform with state law?

28 of 28 Precincts Reporting

MEASURE VOTE % Yes 3,858 62.9 No 2,269 37.1

Proposition E

Shall the city amend the City Charter to allow the board of education of the newly formed Redondo Beach Unified School District to stagger its members’ initial terms of office?

28 of 28 Precincts Reporting

MEASURE VOTE % Yes 4,409 68.9 No 1,994 31.1