Election results

The final numbers are in. The voters have spoken. Corey Calaycay and Larry Schroeder are your winners, and the 2 will be serving on the city council for the next 4 years.

While the numbers aren't the final talley, it's hard to believe that the remaining absentee ballots will change the end result. For a complete count of the numbers, click here.

Calaycay was the top vote getter, earning 3,083 votes or 40.1 percent. "I feel like I've closed one chapter of my life and started a new one," Calaycay said, addressing his supporters at his campaign party.

Schroeder came in second with 2,767 votes or 36 percent. "It's still very surreal," Schroeder said at his home along side friends and supporters. "I want to thank the voters for giving me this opportunity to serve them. I promise I will do the best I can for Claremont."

Former Assistant City Manager Bridget Healy finished in third place, with 1,842 total votes, or 23.9 percent.

Voter turnout was way down this year, with only 4,717 ballots cast. That's only 22 percent of registered voters in Claremont. Compared to around 30 percent over the last few elections, voter apathy appears to have played a role in this election.

The new council members will be sworn in at the next city council meeting on Tuesday, March 10.

Congratulations to the winners! The COURIER hopes they hold true to their campaign promises and hopes they serve the community well.

But enough from me. We want to hear your thoughts and observations on the election. Feel free to post a comment below.

Follow the money

We're in the final stretch before Tuesday's city council election. The 3 candidates turned in another round of financial data last week. Here's a look at how the candidates stand with their money.

Bridget Healy

Contributions received: $4,429 (during the period 1/18/09 to 2/14/09)
Expenditures: $1,487.71 (during same period)
Current Balance: $10,151.14

Corey Calaycay

Contributions received: $2,248
Expenditures: $8,804.03
Current Balance: $7,748.45

Larry Schroeder

Contributions received: $3,718.12 (including a $1,000 loan)
Expenditures: $3,119.09
Balance: $1,038.68

Election issue: the new police station

The new police station is one of the few topics of interest in this election outside of economic issues.

All acting council members and candidates recognize the need for a new station. We've all heard how the place is too small, falling apart and has the technological capacity equivalent to an Amish farm.

The main job of the Police Commission in recent months has been to pinpoint the best location for a new police station and give its recommendations to the city council. PR work for the CPD seems a far cry from the commission's original mandate, but that's a post for another day.

Back in September, the council wasn't sold on the recommendations from the commission when a presentation was made at a council meeting. The Commission recommended 4 possible sites, its top choice being the Corey Nursery location, just south of the city yard.

But the report didn't offer any financial information about the sites, where the city would have to use eminent domain or financing options for the project. All relevant info for a project with a price tag in the range of $25 to $35 million.

Expect a more detailed report at a future council meeting. My guess is the topic won't come up before the election in March.

Here's where the city council candidates stand on the new police station. We snipped the answers out of our Candidate Q&A (see tomorrow's paper).

Do you support the construction of a new police station? If so, where do you think the best location is and why?

Larry Schroeder

I support a practical, more efficient police facility when financing is available, but not a monument like some cities have constructed. The current facility is cramped, does not meet ADA standards, and does not provide adequate locker facilities for female officers. Financing could come from State and Federal economic stimulus packages.

My preference is that the police facility remains at its current location. The City owns the property, there is adequate space, and people are familiar with that location. The police department also operates an impound yard at the current location which produces revenue that offsets some department costs.

Bridget Healy

Yes. The current site is too small and would require building costly parking either above or below ground and possible relocation of operations during construction.

The Corey Nursery location on the far eastern boundary of the city is problematic. The Towne and Baseline site is more centrally located and we own part of the land. Its proximity to the freeway and the City of La Verne works well for the joint jail, dispatch and practice range operations being discussed with La Verne officials. There is also the potential for partnerships with other public agencies such as the LA County Fire Department.

Corey Calaycay

I acknowledge the need for modernized police facilities due to space constraints and structural issues with our existing police station. An important consideration in site selection, especially with the economics we've already discussed, is potential partnership arrangements that will help reduce everyone's costs. An opportunity exists to partner with La Verne. We may also have an opportunity to partner with Los Angeles County in upgrading its oldest fire station (102 on Sumner near Baseline) to construct a joint public safety facility. If this were to be viable, the proposed site near Baseline and Towne would be optimal.

There's good news and bad when being a known quantity during election time

An interesting question came up at Bridget Healy's campaign kickoff party, held in the highly acoustic halls of the Packing House on Sunday.

It came from resident Ken Corhan, whose been following Claremont politics for years.

“There were some tense moments with [city] staff, and you were here for some of that. How would you approach being a council member to avoid those kinds of tensions?” he asked.

Healy responded, “I think the current council has done a really good job of alleviating some of those tensions and working together to improve, and I will continue in that vein. I think it's well prudent when we look at the current council that working together and listening to each other is the key.”

I talked to Corhan after he asked the question. He was referring to the tense political environment after the Landrum shooting in 1999 and what appeared to be an unresponsive city staff to the council's and community's concerns.

He said that he was satisfied with Healy's response to his question. “She seemed to answer the question genuinely,” Corhan said.

Healy is in a unique position in this election. As the former assistant city manager in Claremont for 18 years, she is forever linked in many eyes to the previous regime alongside her longtime colleague Glenn Southard, and all the good and bad that came with it.

Her previous role in the city has earned her a strong support base. Among the crowd of supporters at her event were notable Claremont names like Sandy Baldonaldo, Karen Rosenthal, Helaine Goldwater, Ellen Taylor and Hilary LaConte.

But it might also earn her a dose of dissent. I have heard people saying that a vote for Healy would be a step back into to the past and a move in the wrong direction.

Her supporters would say that having Healy on the council is bringing the best from the past into Claremont's future.

It will be up to the voters to decide on March 3. Make sure you're registered.

Are the Council elections non-partisan? I don’t think so.

Election fever is underway. For all the election junkies out there, the COURIER City Beat will have plenty of coverage, interviews and opinions about candidates and their fight for every last vote in the weeks to come.

Candidate Larry Schroeder kicked things off on Friday by speaking to the Democratic Club of Claremont. Schroeder is a retired finance director for Glendora and Lakewood. As far as his platform, he wants to push economic development, sustainability and responsible budget management.

In 2007, former Councilmember Jackie McHenry, who was running for re-election at the time, made a big stink about the DCC inviting only party-affiliated candidates to speak to their members.

Regardless of what they said, the Democratic candidates in 2007, Linda Elderkin, Sam Pedroza and Michael Keenan, got the club's unofficial endorsement. The same holds true this time around for Schroeder. They're Democrats after all, and the DCC wants Democrats in positions of power.

“You have to take into account a person's party and their ideas on various things,” said DCC President Bob Gerecke at Friday's event. “We don't give endorsements, but we urge our members to support fellow Democrats because we share the same ideals.”

The problem, according to McHenry, is that city council elections are supposed to be non-partisan. McHenry said her political leanings are plenty liberal, but as a registered Independent, she never got invited by the DCC to share her positions with potential voters.
In any event, the other candidates, Corey Calaycay (Republican) and Bridget Healy (Independent), were not invited to speak at the DDC lunch. They will have their campaign kickoff events on Sunday. Calaycay at the Claremont Place from 2 to 4 p.m. and Healy at the Claremont Forum in the Packing House from 3 to 5 p.m.

Schroeder will have his kickoff event at his home at 619 N. Indian Hill Boulevard. It's also on Sunday from 3 to 5 p.m. I will try to be at all 3 places at once.

As the least known of the 3 candidates, Schroeder will have his work cut out for him. To be successful in this election, he may need the wisdom offered by his fortune cookie from Captain KJ, where he spoke to the DCC at their monthly meeting.

“Cut through organizational impediments and get some real work done.”

For complete stories on Schroeder, Calaycay and Healy's kickoff events, be sure to pick the Wednesday, Jan. 14 edition of the COURIER.