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Compton Voters Reject Big Pay Raises for Officials : Elections: Newcomers Villicana, Streator and Little win Pasadena council seats. Vote is tight on Pomona card club proposals.

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SPECIAL TO THE TIMES

Voters in Compton--where residents are among the county’s poorest--overwhelmingly defeated proposals to give large pay increases to the mayor and City Council members.

Unofficial final results showed the pay raise measures losing by margins of more than 4 to 1. Also in Compton, two council incumbents seeking reelection were forced into runoffs by failing to win more than 50% of the vote.

In Pomona, tight races developed over two proposals--one to allow card clubs in the city and one to ban them in the future. The proposal to allow card clubs was losing by a narrow margin with most of the vote counted. The proposal to prohibit future card clubs was too close to call.

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In Pasadena, where voters chose three new City Council members, the winners included former county probation officer Joyce Streator in the 1st District. She defeated Saundra L. Knox, who was supported by controversial outgoing Councilman Isaac Richard.

The other winners were neighborhood activist Paul Little in District 2 and attorney Ann-Marie Villicana in District 6.

Pasadena will embark on a new political era with the departure of Richard and two other council members--Rick Cole and Kathryn Nack. The trio decided not to seek reelection.

The departure of Richard is expected to bring an instant calm to the notoriously contentious, seven-member City Council. Richard, 37, was censured three times during his four years in office for swearing at city officials and disrupting a council meeting. He also was placed on probation this year after pleading no contest to two misdemeanors stemming from a tirade after a minor traffic accident.

The volatile councilman has marked his final days with characteristic rancor. Richard recently admitted taking down some of Streator’s campaign signs. He also fought over the placement of a campaign sign with Streator’s brother, who suffered a broken nose in the scuffle.

The candidates in Tuesday’s runoffs were the top finishers in a March 7 primary.

In Compton, voters were asked to give their mayor and four council members full-time status and pay them annual salaries of $80,000 and $60,000, respectively. The five part-time officials now earn $24,000 annually.

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In Pomona, a city with high unemployment and chronic poverty, city officials have argued that gambling would generate as much as $10 million a year for municipal coffers.

But opponents contended that card clubs also bring crime. The campaign over the measure turned ugly this month when a political action committee put out a mailer saying a Chinese American businessman proposing a card club would invite Asian organized crime into Pomona.

The group that sent the flyer was funded largely by existing Southern California card clubs. The businessman targeted by the mailer blasted it as “racist character assassination.”

Times staff writers Denise Hamilton and Rick Holguin contributed to this story.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

EDITION-TIME ELECTION RETURNS

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

ARCADIA

Arcadia Board of Education

19 of 19 Precincts Reporting

CANDIDATE: VOTE (%) Min Mey Chang: 1,340 (8.76) Maryann Gibson *: 4,336 (28.35) Michael D. Lamb*: 3,479 (22.75) John R. McClain: 3,501 (22.89) John T. Wuo: 2,635 (17.23)

COMPTON

36 of 36 Precincts Reporting

City Council

(In each race, the two top finishers will meet in a runoff if no candidate wins more than 50% of the vote.)

District 1

CANDIDATE: VOTE (%) Alfonso (Al) Cabrera: 238 (5.1) Walter Goodin: 422 (9.1) Ronald J. Green*: 2,053 (43.9) Toi Jackson: 187 (4.0) Stephen J. Randle: 531 (11.4) Gorgonio Sanchez Jr.: 583 (12.5) Delores Zurita: 659 (14.1)

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District 4 Richard Bonner: 554 (11.9) Lorraine Cervantes: 870 (18.6) Fred Cressel: 1271 (27.2) Jane D. Robbins*: 1,978 (42.3)

Measure A

(Advisory) Construction of a state prison in Compton.

CANDIDATE: VOTE (%) Yes: 625 (12.9) No: 4,195 (84.1)

Measure B

Full-time mayor, $80,000 annual salary.

CANDIDATE: VOTE (%) Yes: 859 (18.0) No: 3,909 (82.0)

Measure C

Full-time council, $60,000 annual salary.

CANDIDATE: VOTE (%) Yes: 650 (13.6) No: 4,124 (86.4)

PASADENA

City Council

District 1

9 of 9 Precincts Reporting

CANDIDATE: VOTE (%) Saundra L. Knox: 851 (37.5) Joyce Streator: 1,416 (62.5)

District 2

7 of 8 Precincts Reporting

CANDIDATE: VOTE (%) Paul Little: 1,261 (73.2) Mark R. Nay: 461 (26.8)

District 6

11 of 11 Precincts Reporting

CANDIDATE: VOTE (%) Ann-Marie Villicana: 1,691 (51.4) William J. York Jr.: 1,600 (48.6)

Pasadena Board of Education

Seat 4

88 of 89 Precincts Reporting

CANDIDATE: VOTE (%) Jacqueline Jacobs: 6,750 (53.6) Delano Yarbrough: 5,827 (46.4)

POMONA

25 of 28 Precincts Reporting

Proposition A

Allow two card clubs to operate

Yes: 3,545 (48.3) No: 3,802 (51.7)

Proposition A-1, Advisory

Permit card club at Reservoir Street and Walnut Avenue

Yes: 3,431 (47.4) No: 3,806 (52.6)

Proposition A-2, Advisory

Permit card club on L.A. County Fairgrounds.

Yes: 3,308 (45.8) No: 3,920 (54.2)

Proposition A-3, (1) Advisory

Use money raised by card clubs to:

Increase police services

Yes: 5,222 (76.8) No: 1,578 (23.2)

Proposition A-3, (2) Advisory

Enhance youth programs

Yes: 4,741 (71.8) No: 1,866 (28.2) Proposition A-3, (3) Advisory

Promote economic development

Yes: 4,770 (72.3)

No: 1,827 (27.7)

Proposition A-3, (4) Advisory

Expand neighborhood revitalization programs

Yes: 4,848 (73.5) No: 1,747 (26.5)

Proposition B

Prohibit card clubs

Yes: 3,550 (50.2) No: 3,520 (49.8)

Proposition C

Prohibit contracting for police services

Yes: 4,465 (65.0) No: 2,405 (35.0)

* Incumbent

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