Antelope Valley Elections

A federal appeals court has cast a cloud of uncertainty over a March 2 special election for a state Senate district in the Antelope Valley by agreeing to hear a challenge by Latinos over who should be eligible to vote. In a ruling late Thursday, a panel of the U.S.

Victor Reichman lost a contentious race for an Antelope Valley judgeship in 1994. Now, six years later, he has won a cash consolation prize. Reichman, a veteran court commissioner, received a $110,000 settlement last week in an unusual lawsuit that pitted him against a radio talk-show host who in the heat of a judicial election campaign contended that Reichman released rapists from jail early.

The quality of water and its availability are the most common concerns of the 27 candidates seeking election to five water boards on Tuesday. Crescenta Valley Water District Voters in the Crescenta Valley County Water District will select three of six candidates vying to serve on the district's five-member board of directors. The district sets water and sewer rates for La Crescenta, Montrose and portions of La Canada Flintridge. Two veteran members are resigning, leaving only Robert E.

Victor Reichman lost a contentious race for an Antelope Valley judgeship in 1994. Now, six years later, he has won a cash consolation prize. Reichman, a veteran court commissioner, received a $110,000 settlement last week in an unusual lawsuit that pitted him against a radio talk show host who in the heat of a judicial election campaign accused Reichman of releasing rapists from jail early.

Victor Reichman lost a contentious race for an Antelope Valley judgeship in 1994. Now, six years later, he has won a cash consolation prize. Reichman, a veteran court commissioner, received a $110,000 settlement last week in an unusual lawsuit that pitted him against a radio talk show host who in the heat of a judicial election campaign accused Reichman of releasing rapists from jail early.

Voters in rural Acton and Agua Dulce overwhelmingly approved plans to open a local high school, while an Antelope Valley hospital board member who was recalled only last April won back his seat, finishing as the top vote-getter. Those were the highlights from Tuesday's general election for local contests held in northern Los Angeles County communities, according to semi-official election results released Wednesday by the county registrar-recorder's office.

Hunt Braly, longtime aide to state Sen. Ed Davis (R-Santa Clarita), said Wednesday that he will campaign for the Republican nomination in a proposed new Assembly district encompassing the Santa Clarita and Antelope valleys. Braly, 36, spent about $250,000 in a bitter 1990 primary-election battle against veteran GOP Assemblywoman Cathie Wright of Simi Valley.

Four months after being hit by some of the worst flooding in years, voters in the Antelope Valley will be asked what agency should oversee flood control in the area, and Lancaster voters will also decide whether they want to pay for improvements to the current system. Advisory Measure B on Tuesday's ballot will ask residents of the Antelope Valley whether they want to join the county's flood control district, form a new one or reject both options.

Dozens of candidates will compete for seats in school board and community college districts in the Santa Clarita and Antelope valleys Nov. 5 in an election that also will determine the fate of a $20-million bond measure to build new schools in Valencia and Newhall. Voters in Westlake Village and Agoura Hills will elect city council members, and seats on various water districts also will be decided.

Victor Reichman lost a contentious race for an Antelope Valley judgeship in 1994. Now, six years later, he has won a cash consolation prize. Reichman, a veteran court commissioner, received a $110,000 settlement last week in an unusual lawsuit that pitted him against a radio talk-show host who in the heat of a judicial election campaign contended that Reichman released rapists from jail early.

Capping an unusually costly and contentious campaign, three challengers took an early lead Tuesday in the race for the Newhall County Water District board, a small entity that provides water to about 10% of the Santa Clarita Valley. With more than a third of the votes counted, Tom Campbell, Barbara Dore and Val Thomas led Edwin Dunn, Lynne Plambeck and David Rapoport, all of whom are completing their first four-year term on the five-member board.

Peggy Freeman, former director of a Val Verde health and social service center for the poor, has joined several other Republicans in the race for the 38th Assembly District seat that is being vacated by Paula Boland (R-Granada Hills) next year. Freeman, 55, served as executive director for the Samuel Dixon Family Health Center from 1991 to 1994.

Residents of this city will decide in November whether they want to directly elect their mayors. Currently, the post of mayor is rotated annually among the five Lancaster City Council members. But Monday night, by a 3-2 vote, the council decided to put the matter before the voters. "Let's just put it in their hands and let them decide," said Councilman George Runner.

Lancaster City Councilman George C. Runner will announce today that he is a candidate for the state Assembly seat to be vacated next year by William J. (Pete) Knight (R--Palmdale). Runner, who administers a private Christian school and has served on the council since 1992, confirmed Wednesday that he will officially announce his candidacy at a news conference. Runner shares many of the conservative views of the other declared candidate, public school board member Billy A. Pricer.

With two seasoned Republicans announcing they will go head-to-head in a state Senate contest next year, local figures are beginning to join in the political sport of musical chairs in the Antelope Valley. Former state Sen. Phil Wyman (R-Hanford) and Assemblyman William J. (Pete) Knight (R-Palmdale) declared that they will compete for a chance to represent the strongly Republican 17th Senate District. State Sen.

A reform candidate has toppled the president of the powerful Castaic Lake Water Agency board, but two incumbents held onto their positions. * Research scientist Randall Pfiester--who said during the campaign that the board didn't do enough to make the public aware of its actions--won 54.9% of the vote Tuesday to beat 13-year incumbent Mary Spring. Pfiester, who unsuccessfully campaigned for the City Council in 1992, said he had not expected to win the water board race.

Climaxing a costly campaign and a year of turmoil, Antelope Valley voters will decide Tuesday whether to recall two publicly elected members of the board that governs Antelope Valley Hospital Medical Center in Lancaster, the largest hospital in the region. Incumbents Steve Fox and Anne Brouillette, elected to four-year terms in November, 1990, maintain that they have fought wasteful practices, such as $5,000 spent on a goodby party for two departing hospital board members.

Capping an unusually costly and contentious campaign, three challengers took an early lead Tuesday in the race for the Newhall County Water District board, a small entity that provides water to about 10% of the Santa Clarita Valley. With more than a third of the votes counted, Tom Campbell, Barbara Dore and Val Thomas led Edwin Dunn, Lynne Plambeck and David Rapoport, all of whom are completing their first four-year term on the five-member board.

The way irate Lancaster officials see it, county supervisors have stuck them with a $32,000 tab for a meaningless ballot measure. Earlier this year, the City Council approved a Nov. 8 ballot measure to ask residents if they would be willing to pay a property tax increase to support expanded local library services. Lancaster's library, which is operated by the county, is open only four days a week. But now it seems the tax might not be necessary.

The campaign manager for defeated council candidate Jill Klajic on Wednesday requested a recount of election results that had Klajic losing by a mere 16 votes. Skip Newhall said he asked for a second vote count because Klajic's supporters "would always wonder 'what if?' " Klajic, 47, conceded that the recount may turn out to be "an act of futility."