Local Elections Attract Only a Trickle of Voters

Two weeks after going to the polls for the statewide primary election, voters in a dozen Los Angeles County communities returned Tuesday--in numbers considerably lower than those posted during the poorly attended March 26 election.

With some notable exceptions, incumbents and high-profile candidates won the day.

The widely predicted low turnout--just 8.5% in Long Beach--was blamed primarily on the election coming so soon after the primary, which even with a presidential nomination on the ballot drew just 34% of registered voters in Los Angeles County and 40% statewide.

In several city council races, the debate over development played a key role during the campaign.

In Malibu, the race for three of five City Council seats revolved around the community’s history of sharp restrictions on development. Slow-growth incumbents Joan House and Carolyn Van Horn won reelection and were joined by ideological soul mate Walter Keller, who was seeking a return to the council after being ousted two years ago.

In Santa Clarita, where a dozen office-seekers sought two City Council seats, incumbent Jan Heidt held on to her post and former Mayor Jill Klajic made a political comeback by winning the council seat she lost by 15 votes in the 1994 election.

Klajic saw here victory as a clear one for environmentalists. “This valley is not for sale,” she said after the ballot.

In Long Beach, energy executive H. Delano Roosevelt, the grandson of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, led all challengers in District 4, but failed to win a clear majority and must face Dennis Carroll in a June runoff. In District 6, incumbent Doris Topsy-Elvord beat challenger Richard Harris. In District 8, incumbent Jeffrey Kellogg held a comfortable lead over Ray Grabinski with nearly all precincts reporting.

In Sierra Madre, where two City Council seats were up for grabs, Doug Hayes ran away with the race and incumbent Orville “Lee” Cline lost to Bart Doyle by 10 votes.

The High Desert city of Lancaster held its first-ever mayoral election, voting to fill a post that had previously been passed from one City Council member to another.

Frank Roberts, 64, now a member of the Lancaster City Council, won the historic vote. He will continue to sit on the City Council, which will remain a five-person group.

A number of cities also asked for voters’ thumbs-up or thumbs-down on a host of measures and propositions, which affect such policies as utility taxes, recycling plans and whether some municipal offices should be appointed posts.

In Arcadia, voters rejected a proposal to change the elected post of city clerk to an appointed position. Arcadians also turned back a proposal that would make the public library comparable to other city departments by making the librarian subject to appointment or removal by the city manager.

Times staff writers David Colker, Jeff Leeds and James Rainey, and correspondents John Cox, Richard Winton and Danica Kirka contributed to this report.