Lack of Signatures Dims Bid for Office

Audie Contreras had intended to be a candidate for one of three open City Council seats in the November election, but the 20-year-old recreation assistant at the local Boys and Girls Club failed to qualify.

Just minutes before deadline Wednesday, Contreras filed his nomination papers, complete with 24 signatures--four more than required. However, six of Contreras the people whosigned his papers are not La Habra residents or are not registered voters, city officials said.

“I’m shocked,” Contreras said Friday. “Most of the people who signed my papers were police. And everyone except one told me they were La Habra residents and voters.”

Contreras said he will be calling all of his supporters to double-check their residency and registration status.

A Fullerton College student, Contreras said he was inspired to run for public office after reading the late President Richard M. Nixon’s autobiography. Nixon “had the desire to do something in life,” he said. “I’d like to be the voice of the youth.”

Contreras lives with his parents and a 16-year-old brother on the east side of La Habra. He joined the neighborhood Boys and Girls Club in 1984 and was honored as the organization’s Youth of the Year for California 10 years later.

He said that he will ask city officials Monday if there is anything he can do to get on the ballot. If not, Contreras said, he will support council candidate Merciline La Porte.

Other candidates for the three open seats are incumbents Steven C. Anderson and Juan M. Garcia; former Mayor John Holmberg; Jeff D. Holley, a data entry clerk; and Jonathan Wiegman, a financial economist.