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Councilmember Lana Negrete and Mayor Caroline Torosis led the race for three Santa Monica City Council seats in early returns Tuesday night. First-time candidate Ashley Oelsen held the third spot.
Negrete had 9,728 votes (16.31%) and Torosis had 9,248 (15.51%), according to the first Los Angeles County election-night bulletin, released at 8:31 p.m. Oelsen, an environmental activist backed by the city's police and firefighter political action committees, had 8,317 votes (13.95%).
Doug Trussler was fourth with 7,400 votes (12.41%), 917 behind Oelsen. Rent Control Board Chair Danny Ivanov had 6,787 votes (11.38%) and Brett Morrow had 6,747 (11.32%).
Twelve candidates ran for the three four-year seats.
The early count split the two main slates. Santa Monicans for Renters' Rights endorsed Torosis, Ivanov and Morrow, but only Torosis was in a winning position. Negrete and Trussler ran together as a rival slate with backing from public safety unions and the Believe In Santa Monica group.
Brock, who is trying to return to the council, was seventh with 4,249 votes (7.13%). Rent Control Board member Ericka Lesley had 2,289 votes (3.84%). Derrick Townsend had 1,997 (3.35%), Eli Gill had 1,789 (3.00%), Lindsay Davis had 549 (0.92%) and Wade Kelley had 528 (0.89%).
Measures
The early count had four of the five city ballot measures passing. A parcel tax for local schools was failing.
Measure ES had 47.02% yes and 52.98% no. It would charge a $495 tax on each taxable parcel, adjusted each year for inflation, and raise about $12 million a year for Santa Monica public schools. Qualifying seniors, affordable housing, nonprofits, religious groups and schools would not pay it. The Santa Monica-Malibu Classroom Teachers Association, the Santa Monica Chamber of Commerce and the district's PTA council supported it. Opponents included Northeast Neighbors and the Wilshire Montana Neighborhood Coalition.
Measure TT, which keeps current hotel tax rates and lets the council set "Major Event Periods" when the tax applies to some long corporate stays, had the most support at 73.20%.
Measure RR had 70.68% yes. This charter amendment would bar evictions for unpaid rent when a tenant owes less than one month of the average fair market rent for Santa Monica ZIP codes, as set by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Measure VV had 61.35% yes. It would extend eviction protections to tenants renting single-family homes and condominiums. It would also require landlords who evict a tenant from a non-rent-controlled unit to move in themselves to move in within 60 days and live there for at least two years.
Measure GG had 59.42% yes. Its charter changes would affirm the city's just-cause eviction laws, let Rent Control Board commissioners serve up to three terms and raise the cap on rent-control registration fees each year.
Rent Control Board
Sue Himmelrich led the Rent Control Board race with 13,553 votes (30.23%). Incumbent Kurt Gonska had 12,240 (27.30%) and Heather Thomason had 10,338 (23.06%). Soledad Marcial (10.30%) and Zoë Muntaner (9.11%) trailed. Three seats are open.
Schools
Incumbent Alicia Mignano led the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District Board of Education race with 24.30%. Robbie Staenberg had 22.51%, incumbent Laurie Lieberman had 21.64% and incumbent Stacy Rouse had 20.97%. All four were in position to take the four open seats, and Harry Leshner trailed at 10.58%.
Incumbents Sion Roy (24.31%), Tom Peters (22.77%) and Luis Barrera Castanon (21.21%) led the Santa Monica College Board of Trustees race. Kera Blades-Snell had 18.93% and Oscar de la Torre had 12.79%. Four seats are open.
The county will keep counting vote-by-mail and provisional ballots in the coming days and weeks. Results will be certified later this month.