Dantona Concedes Parks Race

A month after the election, the fight over a seat on the Rancho Simi Valley Parks District has quietly come to an end.

Candidate Jim Dantona, who demanded a recount after shelling out more than $20,000 on the campaign and then losing the election by three votes, conceded Monday, saying he had seen the “writing on the wall.”

He said he planned to call his opponent, Kate O’Brien, and congratulate her.

“We worked too hard to simply walk away,” said Dantona, 28. “I owed it to the people who supported me and encouraged me to conduct a recount.”

The hand recount had been taking place in the basement of the Ventura County Government Center since Tuesday. About 20 counters had been sorting through the ballots. Each day they worked cost the Dantona campaign about $1,200.

“We were still behind by five votes and getting to the end of the precincts, and the numbers weren’t changing,” Dantona said, explaining why he stopped the effort with about 20 precincts to go. “We could go another two days, but it wasn’t worth the financial gamble.”

Since the recount wasn’t completed, the vote stands as it was on election day at 17,310 to 17,307.

Dantona, a benefits administrator for a marina management firm, said he didn’t want to prolong the agony when the end looked certain.

“Unlike the presidential election, we tried to show a little class and style,” he said.

Dantona had gone all out trying to win the rather obscure office of park district director. He attended park board hearings, interviewed residents to see how they would use the parks, and in the end he spent about $28,000, including the recount tab.

His father, Jim Dantona Sr., is a veteran political consultant, having worked for Gov. Gray Davis when he was state controller and helping U.S. Rep. Joe Kennedy Jr. run his campaign in Massachusetts. The elder Dantona said he hoped to see his son get his foot in the door politically, and the parks district was a place to start.

Meanwhile, O’Brien, an engineer, has said she spent nothing and did no campaigning at all. When asked why people voted for her, she said she didn’t know. One of her supporters, former Simi Valley City Councilwoman Sandi Webb, said it might have been because O’Brien was the only woman running for the office.

O’Brien could not be reached for comment about her opponent’s decision to end the recount.

Dantona said he will still attend park board meetings and will look for other political opportunities.

“If I see a place where I can be of use, I won’t shy away from running again,” he said. “I still think the park board was worth it. I think people can now see that the board can really make a difference to their lives.”