The Changing Faces of City Hall

Until the March 3 municipal election, a woman had never been elected to the La Verne City Council, and now it has two, Donna Nasmyth and Robin Carder.

Once La Verne voters overcame the shock of not seeing retiring Mayor Jon Blickenstaff’s name on their ballots, they clearly carried out their electoral duties in a race that lacked controversy or any significant hot-button issues.

Running unopposed, Mayoral candidate and Councilmember Don Kendrick was elevated to Mayor, receiving 2,939 votes from the total of 1,676 absentee ballots cast and 1,881 voters who actually went to the polls.

Donna Nasmyth, an appointed City Council incumbent, and one of four candidates vying for two open council seats, was the top Council vote-getter on Tuesday, March 3, with 2,174 votes (35.3%), making her the first woman ever elected to the La Verne City Council.

Most of the election suspense came down to the race between Robin Carder and Charlie Rosales, a result decided by 59 votes. The final tally, not determined until Friday, March 6, four days after the March 3 election, showed Carder with 1,520 votes, or 24.7%, and Rosales with 1,461 votes, or 23.7%. As a result, Carder became the second woman elected to the La Verne Council in the town’s history, and the second in one week.

Norm Faustini finished with 995 votes, or 16.1%.

A canvass of the official results will be presented at the upcoming La Verne Council meeting on March 16, 2009.