Voters Give Incumbents Another Term

Torrance voters indicated Tuesday that they were content with the status quo as they reelected three veteran City Council members, a mayor, a city clerk and a treasurer.

With all 29 precincts reporting late Tuesday, Marcia Cribbs and Jack Messerlian each won a second term on the council. Five-term City Councilman Dan Walker, who left the council after 18 years in 1992 and returned in 1994, won a sixth term on the seven-member council.

Mayor Dee Hardison, City Clerk Sue Herbers and Treasurer Linda Barnett ran unopposed.

David Hill, 26, the lone outsider to seek one of three open City Council seats, was defeated in the at-large election, capturing about 15% of the vote. The three top vote-getters--Cribbs, with 30% of the vote, Messerlian with 30% and Walker with 25%--were the victors.

With more than 141,000 residents in the fourth-largest city in the county, Tuesday’s municipal election was unusually quiet. But with all seven council members being forced from office by term limits in 2000 or 2002, political analysts say the next election will be the one to watch.

Critics of Hill had blasted the newcomer for wasting taxpayer dollars by running for public office with little experience.

But Hill said his experience as a former Marine in Somalia and as a member of the student senate at Cal State Northridge qualified him for the job.