Incumbents Savor Year of the Walkover

Maybe it’s the negative campaigns and the big bucks needed for even the smallest campaign that are driving challengers away. Or maybe local incumbents are simply doing a good job.

But in any case, several elected officials--including Monrovia Mayor Robert Bartlett and two Pasadena councilmen--are finding themselves already reelected because they will appear on upcoming ballots unopposed.

In La Verne, the entire election is canceled due to lack of opposition, City Clerk Cynthia Hamm said. La Verne Mayor Jon Blickenstaff is seeking his eighth two-year term and faces no challenger in the March 4 election. Neither do councilmen Thomas Harvey and Dan Harden.

Pasadena Councilman Chris Holden, slated to become the next mayor, was to face the same challenger in the March election as he did four years ago. However, challenger Robert Edwards failed to submit the required 25 registered voters’ signatures, officials said Tuesday.

“He submitted 28 signatures on his nomination papers, but four of them weren’t registered and another lived outside the district,” City Clerk Jane Rodriguez said.

Incumbent William Crowfoot, who in his first term made a dramatic career change from high-priced lawyer to local schoolteacher, also won’t face a challenger in his bid for reelection. In 1993, Crowfoot won a bitterly contested battle for a seat designed to increase Latino representation in Pasadena after spending more than $30,000 of his own money. Crowfoot, who grew up in Puerto Rico and speaks fluent Spanish, beat a Latino lawyer.

Meanwhile, in Monrovia, Bob Bartlett will get his fifth two-year term as mayor. Joining him will be City Clerk Linda Proctor, who will also get another term in office without opposition.

In other cities, clerks and treasurers also face no opposition. In South Pasadena, City Clerk Jeannine Gregory and Treasurer Victor Robinette return as do full-time San Gabriel City Clerk Cynthia Bookter and Treasurer John Janosick. Similarly, Covina City Clerk Mary Jo Southall, who oversaw a series of controversial recall efforts, faces no opposition.

But in some cities such as Azusa, where Cristina Cruz-Madrid is leaving the council to challenge Mayor Stephen Alexander, elections are expected to be bitterly contested.

Meanwhile, the filing deadline has been extended in a number of cities until later today because of officials opting not to seek reelection. Among the most prominent: veteran West Covina Councilwomen Nancy Manners, Baldwin Park Mayor Fidel Vargas and Pasadena’s District 7 Councilman William E. Thomson Jr., a 16-year incumbent.

The departures cut across the San Gabriel Valley. In Monrovia, Councilwoman Phylliss McCarville exits after a long stint that included a failed bid for mayor. Meanwhile, South Pasadena Councilman Dick Richards is retiring after a seven-year council career that included a year as mayor. In neighboring San Marino, Councilman Bernie LeSage is also departing, while at the other end of the valley, Claremont councilwomen Judy Wright and Judy Cody are leaving public office.