Santa Clarita / Antelope Valley : ELECTIONS / SANTA CLARITA CITY COUNCIL : Klajic Will Ask for Recount if She Can Raise $500

Maybe the City Council race here isn’t over after all.

Jill Klajic, ousted from her council seat by 16 votes, now says she will call for an electronic recount if her supporters can raise the $500 fee.

Klajic, 47, originally said she didn’t want a recount of the close tallies. But she said Tuesday she was persuaded by campaign supporters who complained they’d always wonder who really won if a second count wasn’t conducted.

H. Clyde Smyth, who at last count had edged Klajic by 3,804 to 3,788 votes, was sworn in Tuesday night, along with returning incumbents Jo Anne Darcy and Carl Boyer.

Despite having to wait 36 hours beyond election night for the counting of outstanding absentee ballots to see if his slim lead held, Smyth, who now faces the possibility of having the seat yanked out from under him, said he doesn’t oppose a recount.

“I have no difficulty with this,” said Smyth, 62. “I’ve spent my whole life touting the democratic process. I believe in the system and the system provides the recount mechanism.”

Anyone seeking a recount has five days from when election results are certified--in this case Tuesday night--to request a recount.

Klajic’s supporters say they’ll be able to raise $500 in the next four days without difficulty. “Oh, yeah, that would be easy,” said Skip Newhall, Klajic’s campaign manager.

Klajic is more skeptical about raising the funds.

“I told them, ‘You couldn’t raise enough money for me to get elected, how are you going to raise enough for a recount?’ ” Klajic said.

If Smyth keeps his newly acquired seat, he is expected to have a less confrontational style that his predecessor.

Klajic often represented a different viewpoint from the other council members--most notably she supported a growth-control initiative that would have allowed a maximum of 475 new housing units a year for the next decade. The other four council members opposed the measure, largely because it took the decision-making out of council hands.

The popular Smyth retired from the William S. Hart Union High School District in 1992, after more than 16 years as its superintendent.

He said he is concerned about Santa Clarita’s budget and believes public safety, transportation and keeping businesses healthy are important challenges for the council.

“(I hope to) be a part of a group of five people who can disagree without being disagreeable and who can work together to move forward, and with that we can solve problems,” Smyth said.