A Vote for Democracy

It’s all over now: the uncertainty, the stomach-churning ups and downs, the endless speculation, the grim toil of the counters and observers, the high anxiety of the two candidates and their supporters.

No longer will an anguished public wake up in the morning wondering who sits on the board of the Rancho Simi Recreation and Park District.

It’s Kate O’Brien.

The Simi Valley engineer defeated her closest rival, Jim Dantona, by all of three votes.

The matchup provides an interesting counterpoint to another tight November contest.

In Ventura County, the recount was smooth and businesslike. There were no chads dimpled, pregnant, swinging or hanging; the machines used here punch out tiny rectangles with a clarity that even the most imaginative attorney would have a tough time questioning.

The process was quick; after 20 county workers spent a week to work their way through most of the ballots, Dantona conceded. The new numbers weren’t encouraging--he was behind by five votes instead of three--and he didn’t want to keep ponying up the $1,200 daily fee for the county’s trouble.

With the recount incomplete, the totals from election day held: 17,310 votes for O’Brien and 17,307 for Dantona.

“Unlike the presidential election, we tried to show a little class and style,” said Dantona, a 28-year-old benefits administrator.

Of course, the stakes were a bit lower. Park board members might dictate when the sprinklers go on but not when the missiles go off.

Even so, the request of an aggrieved candidate in an oh-so-close election was taken with appropriate seriousness and the process for naming the winner was conducted with appropriate efficiency.

And like all the other elections that are held without contest, protest, or post-balloting brouhaha, it affirmed democracy’s most basic principle.

You think your vote doesn’t count?

Just ask Jim Dantona.