Hermosa Beach will have a special election after all.
After a two-week period in which environmental activist Stacey Armato had been the only candidate to file papers to run for a vacant city council seat, Trent Larson filed papers Monday afternoon, according to the city clerk’s office. It will be a two-candidate race, as no other candidate has filed.
Larson unsuccessfully ran for one of the two open city council seats in the general election in November, but said he was not discouraged by the result.
“I came out of the last race stronger than I went in,” he said. “When people got to know me, to know who I was, I got real, positive feedback.”
Had Armato remained unopposed, the city council could have nominated her to the council without holding an election, City Attorney Michael Jenkins has said. The cost of the special election, which will be conducted by mail in March 2016, has been estimated at between $50,000 and $70,000.
Larson called the idea that someone should not run in order to save the city money “ridiculous.”
“What if I had pulled papers first?” Larson asked. “Would people be saying the same thing to Stacey?”
Larson praised Armato as a good candidate, and said that the presence of two people with experience in the city’s political scene would make for a campaign focused on issues, rather than personalities.
“I think an election will benefit the community,” Larson said. “The city is going to get the chance to choose between two people of very good character. We are going to be able to get right to the issues.”
The Hermosa council has been a four-member body since the September resignation of Nanette Barragan, who left to pursue a run for Congress in the 44th Congressional District.
