San Fernando city residents cast their ballots in the March 5 primary to choose a new city councilmember to fill a seat that has been vacant since the death last October of Cindy Montañez, a longtime San Fernando public servant, leading environmentalist and former state legislator.
Meanwhile in Glendale, numerous candidates hoped to hold their seats against several challengers on the Glendale City Council, Glendale Unified School District Board and Glendale Community College Board.
The L.A. County registrar’s office released its first post-election day update on Wednesday, March 6. Ballots are still being counted. In some races, the final results may not be known for several days or weeks.
Here’s a look at where the races stood in San Fernando and Glendale shortly after 4:30 p.m. Wednesday.
San Fernando
The winner in this three-way race will win outright and serve on the five-member San Fernando City Council, becoming a major voice in local issues.
Victoria Garcia, a construction law attorney, continued to hold onto her lead with 41.6% of the vote. Sylvia Ballin, a former council member and former mayor of San Fernando, had 32.6%. Sean M. Rivas, who was appointed by the mayor to the San Fernando Planning Commission, had 25.8%.
Garcia, who ran unsuccessfully for the City Council in 2022, said Wednesday evening that she was “cautiously optimistic” about her chances of winning a seat this time.
“I’m excited about the position I’m in. It’s definitely easier to be leading, but I do know that a lot of our residents mail in their ballots. I’m not sure how that might change” the results as more ballots are counted, she said.
If elected, Garcia said the first thing she wants to do is work with the city manager and police chief to hire more personnel to address public safety.
“I believe we have the budget for (it). I heard from a lot of people that safety is their primary concern,” she said.
Ballin said in an interview Wednesday afternoon, shortly before the registrar’s update, that the race “isn’t over ‘til it’s over.”
“I have some pretty good experience where you think you might be on the losing end and then you win (or vice versa),” said Ballin, who served for more than a decade on the council.
“Bottom line: I’m very grateful for my support team and the community that supported me. And I’m feeling very positive.”
She said she hopes to be reelected because when she previously served on the council, it was during a time of fiscal woes. Now, she said, the city is in a better position financially, and she wants to help decide how the city should spend its money.
“Now we have a nice, healthy budget, I want to get to make decisions as to where that money is spent,” she said.
Glendale
In Glendale races, incumbent Ardy Kassakhian led with 21.7% and Vrej Agajanian was in second place with 18.4% for the two at-large seats on yhr Glendale City Council. The two were followed by five other candidates including Vartan Gharpetian with 17.8%. Only 246 votes separated the second and third place candidates.
Next in line were Karen Kwak with 13.1%, Denise Miller with 12.2%, James Clarke with 12.1% and Andre Haghverdian with 4.7%. The two candidates with the most votes in the final tally will win council seats.
In the race for two open seats on the Glendale Unified School District Board, Telly Tse led in Area A with 52.6%, followed by Jordan Henry with 37.7%, and Shant Kevorkian with 9.7%.
In Area E, Aneta Krpekyan was ahead with 55.6%, followed by Neda Farid with 44.4%.
The Glendale Community College board races included Trustee Area 1, where Harry Leon challenged incumbent Desirée P. Rabinov, the GCC board vice president; and Trustee Area 5 where incumbent Sevan Benlian, the GCC board president, faced challenger Armine Pogosyan.
Challenger Leon was ahead with 51.1% and incumbent Rabinov had 48.9% in the close Trustee Area 1 race. In Trustee Area 5, incumbent Benlian was ahead with 62.1%, and challenger Pogosyan had 37.9%.
Also in Glendale, voters appeared to be approving Measure A, which would update how the city awards contracts, with a 59.4% “yes” vote.
Marianne Love contributed to this story.
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