Voters Head To Polls Next Tuesday To Pick City, School Leaders in Southeast LA County

By Brian Hews

Voters in several Southeast Los Angeles County cities will be heading to the ballot box next Tuesday, November 5^th to elect several new city council members, as well as a cadre of school board members.

Known as the 2013 Consolidated Election, more than 1.7 million registered voters throughout the sprawling county will be deciding the fate of 519 candidates who are seeking 114 different elected offices.

Locally, voters will be decided school board seats in the ABC Unified School District, Bellflower Unified School District, Norwalk-La Mirada Unified School District, Downey Unified School District and in the Montebello Unified School District.

Voters will also be electing city council members in Artesia, Hawaiian Gardens and Pico Rivera.

Polls open at 7 a.m. and close at 8 p.m.

“As the largest and most diverse County electoral jurisdiction in the nation, staging an election across 4,000 square miles and in 12 different languages requires a high level of coordination. The staff of the Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk is fully committed to providing voters with fair, accessible and transparent election services,” said County Registrar Recorder Dean Logan.

Here is a look at the different elections in surrounding areas:

Artesia City Council

Voters will be electing three city council members. Seeking seats are incumbents Sally Zuniga Flowers, Victor Manalo and John Lyon as well as challengers Ali Taj, Melissa Ramosa, and Manu Patel.

Hawaiian Gardens City Council

Incumbent City Councilmembers Barry Bruce, Reynaldo “Rey” Rodriguez and Michi Oyama Canada are facing a stiff challenge from Mariana Rios, Phil An, Adrian Avelar, Valerie Mason and Priscilla Kwan.

Pico Rivera City Council

Only three candidates are vying for two seats on the Pico Rivera City Council including incumbents David Armenta, Gustavo Camacho, and challenger Adrian Diaz.

ABC Unified School Board

Five names will be appearing on the ballot for three seats on the ABC Unified School District Board of Education.  Incumbents Lynda Johnson and Olympia Chen will be facing challengers Ethan Robinson and Soo Yoo.  Candidate Daniel Fierro will also be on the ballot, but drop his active campaign a few weeks ago.

Montebello Unified School Board

Voters in the Montebello, Commerce, Bell Gardens and East Los Angeles area will be electing four school board members in two different elections.  Running for a full four year terms are incumbents Hector Chacon, Geri Guzman and Appointed Incumbent Benjamin Cardenas. The lone challenger is Lani Cupchoy.  Also, voters will be asked to fill an unexpired two year term due to the resignation of past board member Ed Chau.  Running is Appointed Incumbent Paul Montoya and challengers Edgar Cisneros, and CJ Salgado.

Norwalk-La Mirada Unified School Board

Seven candidates are running for four seats including incumbents Ed Hengler, Darryl Adams, Margarita Rios, and Ana Valencia, as well as three challengers in Sean Regan, Salvador Limon and Mark Owen White.

Downey Unified School District

Voters in Downey will be voting for three seats in district boundary elections.  Running in Area 1 is incumbent Martha Sodetani and one lone challenger in Victor Manuel Malagon.

In Area 5, Incumbent Nancy Swenson is squaring off against challenger John N. Anagnostou.

In Area 7, Incumbent Barbara Rae Sampari is up against three challengers in Betty Luz Monroy, Leslie Jane Valencia and Bertha Rath Valenzuela.