Hermosa Beach elections results continue to elude officials after a group of citizens requested a recount by Los Angeles County Registrar’s office on Tuesday morning. Newly elected City Council members were expected to be sworn in during Tuesday’s council meeting, but now officials are unsure of  the next step.
“Any registered voter who votes in the election has the option to ask for a recount,” said Jeff Duclos, an incumbent City Councilperson and a candidate on the cusp of non-reelection after the most recent vote tallies.
In early counts, Duclos  finished in second place for one of three open council seats. After provisional ballots were counted he fell to fourth. “We’ve seen a lot of strange elections in Hermosa Beach,” he said. “…I think this election goes beyond strange. At least in some people’s minds, they want a clearer sense of what has transpired here. People are just going to take a closer look.”
Duclos’ campaign manager Larry Fox explained in an email that the recount will cost over $5,000 a day and is estimated to take three days.
“We are going to proceed a day at a time and see how the votes are trending in certain precincts after one day of counting,” Fox wrote. “We will either stop there or move ahead with the full recount. If we are successful at the end of the count and Jeff winds up in the top three after all, the County pays us back. If the results remain the same, we will be out whatever we have spent.”
City Council Candidate Carolyn Petty, who originally held onto the third position by only two votes in initial counts, was bumped to fourth during the next count and then  placed second after the final count.  Candidates Nanette Barragan and Hany Fangary came in first and third, respectively, in the last tallies.
Petty expressed confidence the numbers will stay the same.
“The assumption is that the vote is valid, which we think is a very valid assumption,” she said. “We’re moving forward having 100 percent confidence that the votes are valid, and anything beyond that – well, we’ll see what happens. If people want to spend a lot of money it’s absolutely their prerogative.”
City Manager Tom Bakaly said that Tuesday’s city council meeting will go forward as planned.
“At the beginning of the meeting the mayor will ask the city attorney for a summary of options on what to do next, and [the City Attorney] and the city staff are of the opinion that the code is clear that you shall appoint  the new council,” said Bakaly. “The new council will then need to decide how much work they want to do while the recount is underway.”
The Hermosa Beach City Clerk said that the recount will begin on Dec. 3 and if votes are challenged could potentially continue until Dec. 9.
