Signal Tribune Newspaper

Signal Hill City Clerk Kathee Pacheco announces the results of the election Tuesday night.

BY NICK DIAMANTIDES
Staff Writer

According to unofficial election results, all three Signal Hill City council incumbents that were running for reelection won the race. The city’s general municipal election took place Tuesday night. About 30 people gathered in the council chambers of city hall to wait for the results. At about 9:30pm, City Clerk Kathee Pacheco announced the tally. Mike Noll had 563 votes, Ellen Ward had 514, Edward Wilson had 478 and challenger Edward Villanueva had 411.
Pacheco said those numbers would change slightly after a small number of absentee and provisional ballots were confirmed.
“I feel very privileged, and I am very excited about getting reelected, and I am glad the election is over,” Noll said. “It was a lot of hard work.” He added that he was looking forward to a few days of relaxation and then continuing to do the kinds of things the council has done for more than a decade.
Ward, who became the city’s new mayor last night, said she too was very glad to be reelected. “It was a very clean campaign,” she said. “Edward Villanueva did a good job.” Like Noll, Ward said she was looking forward to continuing the projects the council has initiated in the past few years, but she said as mayor she will do some new things.
“I am going to start neighborhood cleanups,” she said. “I am going to ask for stricter enforcement of the dogs on leashes ordinance, and I am going to insist that people clean up after their dogs.”
Wilson said he was also glad to be reelected. “I am honored to be able to serve the residents of Signal Hill again,” he said. “Now its time to get back to work on economic and environmental issues as well as continuing to go forward with plans to build a new police station.”
Villanueva took his defeat in stride. “I will continue to stay active in the Historical Society, Friends of the Cultural Arts and Friends of the Signal Hill Library,” he said. “Part of the reason I ran was to be able to make a bigger impact on the community, but I will just keep doing what I can to make Signal Hill a better place to live.”
Villanueva noted, however, that he was disappointed with the low voter turnout. According to statistics that Pacheco released, out of Signal Hill’s 5,280 voters, only 863 actually voted– a 16.3 percent voter turnout.