Unofficial Election Tally: Rosenthal Is Runaway Top Vote-Getter and La Monte Appears to Have Edged Out Mazza for Other Seat

• At Least 250 Ballots Are Still Uncounted—Enough to Possibly Change the Outcome for Second

BY BILL KOENEKER

With the unofficial tally in, Laura Rosenthal became the clear-cut frontrunner of the ten candidates in Tuesday’s municipal election when two city council seats were up for grabs.

Rosenthal kept a steady lead from the beginning, when the absentee ballots were counted, through the tally of all of the seven precincts, garnering 1607 total votes in the unofficial count.

An exhilarated Rosenthal called it a great victory, “but a better victory for all of Malibu.”

She pointed to her front running status as a clear sign that her message and platform appealed to a wide segment of the community and not just to parents and the so-called school vote.

“We want to keep Malibu a small town, people want that,” she said.

The second place victor was not as clear-cut with Lou La Monte receiving 1235 votes, just 53 more votes than John Mazza, who got 1182 votes.

There is a total of 259 uncounted ballots, including 133 vote by mail ballots that were handed in at polling places and 126 provisional ballots—problem ballots that need possible consultation with the Los Angeles County Registrar Recorder’s office—according to Malibu City Clerk Lisa Pope.

The city clerk said uncounted ballots would be tallied on Wednesday after the Malibu Surfside News went to press. The final unofficial vote count will be posted on the MSN website at www.malibusurfsidenews.com

Nevertheless, on Tuesday night, La Monte jubilantly declared victory for himself, saying, “Everyone else is calling it a victory.”

However, that was not the case in the Mazza and Steve Scheinkman camp where Mazza said on Tuesday night that he would not yet concede defeat.

“He’s got a shot at it,” said Scheinkman, who moments before had been conferring with Mazza about the possibility of the tally of the uncounted ballots overturning La Monte’s lead.

Scheinkman conceded Mazza’s losses on the east end of Malibu, especially the Big Rock area where La Monte is better known. But he claimed if the Big Rock vote was removed, Mazza would hold a 60 to 40 lead over La Monte.

As in most previous elections, the tally of the absentee ballots when the polls closed showed the trend for the rest of the ballot count.

Scheinkman captured 1083 votes, while all of the other candidates fell far behind.

Mike Sidley took 516 votes, while Ed Gillespie received 230 votes. Kofi followed next with 162, five more votes than Harold Greene at 157.

Matthew Katz garnered 90, while Jan Andrew Swift, who did not run a campaign, scored 60 votes.

The city clerk noted that 37.31 percent of the registered voters in the City of Malibu turned out for Tuesday’s election.