Los Angeles Councilwoman Ruth Galanter, a vocal opponent of Marina Place, called on the new Culver City council to "reconsider its precipitous action on Marina Place."
The election parties Tuesday night reflected the candidates' characters and philosophies. Hammons and Measure I advocates converged at the home of initiative sponsor Turner. Smith returned to Veterans Auditorium, the site of her 1986 election celebration. Balkman, the president of an electrical contracting company and the Culver City Lions Club, partied in a ballroom at the Ramada Hotel in Fox Hills.
Even though they had campaigned against it, Balkman and Smith said that they would not tamper with Measure I. Balkman predicted that the height limit would be a "definite obstacle" to developers, but said, "If that's what the voters want, that's what we do. . . . Rules are rules, laws are laws."
Smith said that Measure I's label of " 'people's initiative' appealed to a lot of people who didn't take the time to read it thoroughly (and) were not that aware of the differences between the two (measures)."
"But . . . we can live with that," she said. "I don't think the height limit will be a shock to any developers," she said, considering the development restrictions that exist in many other area communities.
There was some last-minute hassle Election Day, as voters were given flyers from the city clerk's office instructing them to ignore their sample ballots and go strictly by the ballots in the voting machines. Over the weekend it was discovered that the sample ballots were printed incorrectly, with wrong numbers assigned to the measures, City Clerk Pauline Dolce said. The error meant that voters intending to vote yes on either ballot measure would in fact be voting the opposite of what they intended if they followed the sample ballot. But Dolce said there was "no way" the ballots for the 51 machines could have been reprinted in time for the election.
The ballot mistake was just one of a series of surprises before the election. Two weeks before the voting complaints arose of outside influence in the council race, when a carpenters union local based in Los Angeles mailed a letter endorsing Smith and Balkman because of their support for Marina Place. Both candidates decried the letter as unwanted interference in the election.
Shortly afterward, Measure II advocates used names from the Measure I petitions to target a campaign mailer. The petitions were unlawfully released by City Clerk Dolce. The Measure II campaigners also failed to report they had contributions and spending of more than $1,000, in apparent violation of state campaign laws.
Measure I sponsor Pachtman has filed a complaint with the state's Fair Political Practices Commission and has asked the district attorney's office to investigate.
CULVER CITY 17 of 17 Precincts
CITY COUNCIL Two vacancies
Candidate: Vote Jozelle Smith* 2,851 Mike Balkman 2,647 Tom Hammons 2,269
\o7 * incumbent\f7
BALLOT MEASURES
(More than 50% needed for one to pass. Measure 1 is adopted because it received more "Yes" votes than Measure 2.)
1--Shall a measure limiting to 56 feet the height of some buildings in the C-3 (commercial), C-3A (mid-rise commercial), S-1 (studio) and P-D (planned district) zones be adopted?
Preference Vote % Yes 2,544 61 No 1,608 39
2--Shall a measure establishing phasing, traffic, height, site coverage, glare, air flow, shade, shadow, view and vista standards for all non-residential developments in all zones be adopted?
Preference Vote % Yes 2,132 53 No 1,885 47
