PALMDALE – Voters prevailed at the polls on Tuesday despite a voting rights lawsuit that “caused immeasurable confusion and angst among our residents,” the City of Palmdale announced on Thursday. Palmdale voters this week re-elected Mayor Jim Ledford and Councilmember Tom Lackey, while selecting new Councilmember Frederic Thompson. According to the city’s Communications Manager, John Mlynar, “The next step in the process is for the Court of Appeals to handle the certification of the election, which will most likely happen in December or January.” Thompson, a retired community college dean who formerly served on the Palmdale Planning Commission and Palmdale School District board, became the first African-American to win a City Council seat – but not the first minority candidate to win a citywide election, the news release stated. “They voted for me on Tuesday for the same reasons they voted for me over thirty years ago: I understood the voters’ issues, I made myself known in the community, I had the support of other community leaders, I put the work in to get my message to the voters, and I ran an effective campaign,” stated Thompson. Meanwhile, the city is awaiting the decision of the Superior Court judge as to the remedy for the original ruling in the voting rights case. “Undoubtedly we will appeal that decision as well,” Palmdale City Attorney Ditzhazy said in the release. “We believe our residents – all of them – are best served by an election process in which the voters have full say over all the candidates, rather than in a district situation where voters have their say over one candidate, while four other councilmembers have power over them.” For a full reading of the city’s news release, access the unedited version at cityofpalmdale.org/community/press.
Politics Magazine
