SAMSON to Ask Recount on Measure C : Coalition, Which Lost by 260 Votes, Was Spurred by Sumner Bid

Supporters of a proposition that would have changed local government in Santa Ana said Wednesday that they will demand a recount of last week’s election, which they lost by 260 votes.

Jim Lowman, spokesman for the Santa Ana Merged Society of Neighbors, a coalition of citizens groups that backed Measure C, said the group would pay a fee to the registrar of voters to check the more than 22,300 ballots cast. Lowman said the group had been considering a recount and decided on it when they gained about 20 votes in absentee ballots counted after the unofficial final results.

“In looking at the Sumner thing, we were encouraged to give it a try,” Lowman said. Orange County Democratic Party chief Bruce Sumner was at first named a winner in his write-in campaign against Lyndon H. LaRouche follower Art Hoffmann in the 40th Congressional District Democratic primary, then lost out in a subsequent tally and is now seeking a recount.

Measure C called for ward elections (Santa Ana council members represent wards but are elected on a citywide vote) and a directly elected mayor who is currently appointed by a vote of the council.

Michael Metzler, Santa Ana Chamber of Commerce executive director and a spokesman for the political action group that fought against Measure C, said he believed that a recount would produce only a “negligible” change. The election process in Santa Ana, he said, went very smoothly.

“And I don’t think you can draw a parallel with what’s happening in a write-in election,” he said of Lowman’s reference to the Sumner issue. “That’s a very different type of election.”

The recount will probably cost about $1,000, according to Shirley Deaton, chief deputy registrar of voters. SAMSON will pay the fee if the result does not change, but the county will pick up the tab if the outcome is affected. Deaton said the current vote count--11,476 no to 11,216 yes--is still unofficial.

Lowman pointed out that SAMSON has already published notices of intent to circulate petitions in an attempt to put the proposition on the November ballot. Meanwhile, Mayor Dan Griset said he will propose that a proposition for a directly elected mayor only be put on the November ballot.

Metzler said the chamber, which formed a political action committee for the first time to fight the measure, would probably not change its position. However, he added, the chamber’s board of directors is mainly opposed to the ward system and has expressed some interest in the prospect of a directly elected mayor.