By CHRISTIAN MONTERROSA | Reporter
Over 1,000 Palisadians voted in the recent Pacific Palisades Community Council elections, according to the PPCC Election Committee, with a vote count of 1,034.
“We had the second largest voter turnout in PPCC history,” the committee said in an election report, with 1,200 voters setting the record in 2016. “We commend all the candidates and thank the Palisades community for participating in this election.”
The committee attributed the lower turnout to there only being two contested seats instead of four.
At-large Representative Alan Goldsmith beat out John Padden by 96 votes with a total of 565, according to the report. In Area 2, also known as The Highlands, Steve Cron pulverized his opponent Adam Handler by 232 votes, with a total of 335.
The vote count process took place in the presence of election committee members Bill Bruns, Richard Cohen and Richard Blumenberg, according to the report, along with PPCC Chair George Wolfberg and advisors Chris Spitz and Heather Cohen.
“Each questionable ballot was inspected by every member of the committee and discussed by the group,” the report said. “Every decision concerning each ballot was unanimous and decisions were based strictly on the bylaws.”
Going forward, the committee also plans make changes to the process, like establishing “reasonable guidelines for the conduct of election campaigns by the candidates, and for dealing with misconduct.”
During the election, a fake social media account went on a smear campaign of Area 2 representative-elect Cron, and a violation of the rules by Handler drew a letter of condemnation from the election committee, but no action was taken.
In addition, the committee will seek to eliminate a voting “help session,” which drew zero attendants this year, and shorten the election period from three weeks to two.
The next PPCC meeting is set to take place on Sept. 27.
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