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O'Neill
makes mayoral history
By Kristen Force
Summer On-line Forty-Niner
Long Beach Mayor
Beverly O'Neill made history last week by becoming the first
person in the country to win the highest elected position
in a major city through a write-in campaign.
With an approval rating of over 80 percent going into the
election, O'Neill had a good indication that her constituents
wanted to keep her for an unprecedented third term.
After receiving 16,469 votes, or 46.8 percent of the total
votes cast, O'Neill was able to see her hard work and dedication
pay off.
"I am delighted about the results," O'Neill said.
"It shows we have a great community that is able to pull
off a write-in."
A write-in campaign was required because the city's term limits
law denies a two-term incumbent to have his or her name appear
on the ballot. Unlike most cities though, Long Beach does
allow a termed-out elected official to run a write-in campaign
for an additional term.
O'Neill's campaign strategy was to educate voters about how
to properly fill out a ballot for a write-in candidate.
O'Neill's competition included Vice Mayor Dan Baker and businessman
Norm Ryan, with Baker's name the only one to appear on the
ballot.
Some speculated that only one name on the ballot could have
hurt Baker because voters assumed he was guaranteed the position,
but Cal State Long Beach political science associate professor
Paul Schmidt disagrees.
"The form did not affect voters," Schmidt said.
"This was the third election in three months and voters
are fatigued. They are just not motivated to keep voting."
Baker finished with 12,702 votes, earning 36.1 percent of
the vote. Despite the several thousand votes still to be counted,
Baker conceded that his chances for a victory are slim.
"The vice mayor called and congratulated the mayor [on
Wednesday morning]," said Mark Taylor, Baker's campaign
manager.
Ryan was on the primary ballot, but after finishing third,
he was not eligible to have his name on the general election
ballot. He sued, contending that the ballot needed at least
two names, but a judge rejected the argument.
As a tax-cut advocate, Ryan chose to continue his campaign
as a write-in candidate, focusing on fiscal reforms and challenging
his opponents' track records.
Ryan's presence in the race kept O'Neill from receiving more
than 50 percent of the final vote, making her the first elected
Long Beach mayor to win without the majority vote.
The results of this election are unlikely to be repeated again,
according to Schmidt.
"This was a special event with a particular personality,"
Schmidt said. "It is unlikely that anyone else would
be able to pull this off."
The current term limits law was passed in 1994, giving termed
out incumbents the opportunity to run a write-in campaign
for a third term. Incumbents are restricted to only one additional
term.
"The theory was to make an exception in exceptional circumstances,"
Schmidt explained. "I don't think the writer ever expected
this to happen."
O'Neill's plans for the coming term are to continue the projects
she has been working on during the past eight years.
"[My goals is] to continue the momentum and have the
fiscal resources for the quality of life we need," she
said.
Since her election to office in 1994, O'Neill's focus
has been on international trade, tourism, emerging technologies
and retail and neighborhood development.
The effectiveness of the city's police force was an issue
for all the candidates and O'Neill has proposed to increase
the ratio of officers to citizens to 2-to-1,000.
The runoff appeared to be a success for voters after a number
of complaints arose from the primary election in April.
Voters found the felt tip markers used for write-in candidates
to be messy, changes in polling places due to redistricting
were difficult to find and some campaign volunteers were closer
than the legally mandated 100 feet from polling places.
Measures taken to correct the problems included the establishment
of a pool of city workers to fill in for volunteers who did
not show up, the formation of a police task force to enforce
election laws and the purchase of small American flags to
clearly mark the polling locations.
To accommodate the tallying of two write-in candidates on
the ballot, the city clerk's office had to create a new counting
procedure. City officials estimated that it would take up
to a week to have an official total of the votes.
Nearly 20,000 absentee ballots were mailed in and each must
be verified with signatures on county voter registration records
before the vote can be counted.
Absentee voters accounted for almost half of the voters in
the runoff election but city officials were able to get a
head start on the count before polls closed on election day.
The fifth district had the highest voter turnout, with 27.0
percent. This district borders the north side of Cal State
Long Beach.
The overall turnout for the city of Long Beach was 18.1 percent,
or 38,048 voters.
O'Neill was elected to the U.S. Conference of Mayors Advisory
Board in 1999. In 2001, she was elected a trustee of the USCM
and is also the president of the League of California Cities.
Baker will continue to serve as vice mayor and as Second District
councilman for two more years.
He represents the area between Alamitos and Redondo Avenues
south of Tenth Street, downtown Long Beach south of Broadway
and the Port of Long Beach.
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