Jim Dantona

It's all over now: the uncertainty, the stomach-churning ups and downs, the endless speculation, the grim toil of the counters and observers, the high anxiety of the two candidates and their supporters. No longer will an anguished public wake up in the morning wondering who sits on the board of the Rancho Simi Recreation and Park District. It's Kate O'Brien. The Simi Valley engineer defeated her closest rival, Jim Dantona, by all of three votes.

After a series of missteps in her run for mayor of Los Angeles, City Controller Wendy Greuel has hired a senior aide to Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa as her new campaign manager for the final weeks before the May runoff. Janelle Erickson, who is on leave of absence as Villaraigosa's deputy chief of staff, will take over day-to-day management of the campaign. Rose Kapolczynski, who had been playing that role, will stay on as a senior strategist. The replacement of a campaign manager just two months before an election is highly unusual.

Virtually unknown just six months ago, Simi Valley insurance broker Peter Foy held a strong early lead over opponent Jim Dantona in Tuesday's fiercely contested race for Ventura County's 4th District supervisor's seat. Local measures dealing with taxes, land-use policy and school bonds were showing mixed results in early returns. Ventura's effort to raise the local sales tax by half a cent to fund police services was struggling to reach the two-thirds vote needed for approval.

Insurance broker Peter Foy declared victory Friday in his bid for an open seat on the Ventura County Board of Supervisors -- although elections officials continue to count ballots 11 days after the election. Foy said his 734-vote lead is too large for rival Jim Dantona to overcome in the 4th District race with only 3,000 ballots left to be tallied. Of those, about 2,000 are absentee ballots, and 1,000 are so-called provisional ballots cast Nov.

Ventura County ballots were still being counted Wednesday in the volatile race for the 4th District supervisor's seat, with political strategist Jim Dantona ahead of businessman Peter Foy by a razor-thin margin. Dantona led with 50.10% of the vote over Foy's 48.95% after precinct and early absentee ballots were tallied.

The Ventura County Board of Supervisors has lost its most outspoken member, after voters ousted 12-year veteran Judy Mikels and put two men who have never held office in a November runoff for her seat. Mikels, 60, failed to win a fourth term in Tuesday's balloting, finishing third behind Peter Foy and Jim Dantona. Foy, 50, a businessman, polled 38% of the vote, with Dantona, 57, a political consultant, behind him with 33%, in unofficial results.

Real estate broker and political neophyte Tony Cardenas is poised to become the San Fernando Valley's first Latino state legislator after a commanding primary win Tuesday that drew its strength from a last-minute infusion of support by fellow Latino politicians and voters.

Judy Mikels has heard it all before. She's arrogant and inaccessible. She's not supportive of public safety. Each time, the 12-year Ventura County supervisor has beaten back the claims and remained in office. But as her fourth campaign swings into the final weeks before the June primary, Mikels is facing a new line of attack: that she doesn't really live in her Simi Valley district and is coasting through her job.

Insurance broker Peter Foy declared victory Friday in his bid for an open seat on the Ventura County Board of Supervisors -- although elections officials continue to count ballots 11 days after the election. Foy said his 734-vote lead is too large for rival Jim Dantona to overcome in the 4th District race with only 3,000 ballots left to be tallied. Of those, about 2,000 are absentee ballots, and 1,000 are so-called provisional ballots cast Nov.

The state will dispatch auditors to towns and cities across California to scour the books of 18 redevelopment agencies to see how officials have been spending the billions of taxpayer dollars they take in each year to improve blight, state Controller John Chiang announced Monday. The financial probe comes amid a deepening fight over the future of California's 400 redevelopment agencies, which control about $5 billion in property taxes a year. Gov. Jerry Brown has proposed abolishing redevelopment and sending the money instead to counties and school districts.

Ventura County ballots were still being counted Wednesday in the volatile race for the 4th District supervisor's seat, with political strategist Jim Dantona ahead of businessman Peter Foy by a razor-thin margin. Dantona led with 50.10% of the vote over Foy's 48.95% after precinct and early absentee ballots were tallied.

Virtually unknown just six months ago, Simi Valley insurance broker Peter Foy held a strong early lead over opponent Jim Dantona in Tuesday's fiercely contested race for Ventura County's 4th District supervisor's seat. Local measures dealing with taxes, land-use policy and school bonds were showing mixed results in early returns. Ventura's effort to raise the local sales tax by half a cent to fund police services was struggling to reach the two-thirds vote needed for approval.

The Ventura County Board of Supervisors has lost its most outspoken member, after voters ousted 12-year veteran Judy Mikels and put two men who have never held office in a November runoff for her seat. Mikels, 60, failed to win a fourth term in Tuesday's balloting, finishing third behind Peter Foy and Jim Dantona. Foy, 50, a businessman, polled 38% of the vote, with Dantona, 57, a political consultant, behind him with 33%, in unofficial results.

Judy Mikels has heard it all before. She's arrogant and inaccessible. She's not supportive of public safety. Each time, the 12-year Ventura County supervisor has beaten back the claims and remained in office. But as her fourth campaign swings into the final weeks before the June primary, Mikels is facing a new line of attack: that she doesn't really live in her Simi Valley district and is coasting through her job.

It's all over now: the uncertainty, the stomach-churning ups and downs, the endless speculation, the grim toil of the counters and observers, the high anxiety of the two candidates and their supporters. No longer will an anguished public wake up in the morning wondering who sits on the board of the Rancho Simi Recreation and Park District. It's Kate O'Brien. The Simi Valley engineer defeated her closest rival, Jim Dantona, by all of three votes.

As the nation lies mired in legal battles over who will be the next president, the question for Simi Valley is who will be the next parks director. For two days about 20 workers in the basement of the Ventura County Government Center have been steadily recounting votes, minus the lawyers and supercharged rhetoric surrounding the recent presidential recounts in Florida.

As the nation lies mired in legal battles over who will be the next president, the question for Simi Valley is who will be the next parks director. For two days about 20 workers in the basement of the Ventura County Government Center have been steadily recounting votes, minus the lawyers and supercharged rhetoric surrounding the recent presidential recounts in Florida.

After a series of missteps in her run for mayor of Los Angeles, City Controller Wendy Greuel has hired a senior aide to Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa as her new campaign manager for the final weeks before the May runoff. Janelle Erickson, who is on leave of absence as Villaraigosa's deputy chief of staff, will take over day-to-day management of the campaign. Rose Kapolczynski, who had been playing that role, will stay on as a senior strategist. The replacement of a campaign manager just two months before an election is highly unusual.

Real estate broker and political neophyte Tony Cardenas is poised to become the San Fernando Valley's first Latino state legislator after a commanding primary win Tuesday that drew its strength from a last-minute infusion of support by fellow Latino politicians and voters.