Photo: FLLewis / Media City G — Re-elected Burbank city council member, Emily Gabel-Luddy dropped by City Hall to savor her victory April 14, 2015
The race for two seats on the city council in yesterday’s Burbank General Municipal Election was a hard-fought battle. No one knows that better than incumbent Emily Gabel-Luddy who admitted she had to fight to keep her seat for a second term: ” It was important to take it seriously — work to the very end.”
On Election night at City Hall, the ballot count zipped right along after the 7 p.m. deadline and was a done deal less than three hours later. Will Rogers, the candidate who claims to have knocked on more than 20,000 doors , appears to be the top vote getter in the city council race with 5,295 votes or 28.6% of the ballots. Rogers talked about his first place finish on his campaign website.
Gabel-Luddy came in second with 5,119 votes or 27.7%. In third, Juan Guillen with 4,514 votes or 24.4% and coming in a surprising fourth, Chris Rizzotti with 3, 540 votes or 19.1%. Rizzotti was the first to announce his run for city council back in March 2014. Rizzotti quickly got the label of being very pro-development and the big money candidate. Also, Rizzotti got sidetracked a bit with an anti-gay controversy surrounding his affiliation with a religious group called Young Life. Gabel-Luddy, who endorsed Rizzotti, complimented Rogers’ campaign by saying it proved “old-fashioned shoe leather” is what really counts.
School Board candidate Greg Sousa, who watched the returns at City Hall, echoed the same sentiments as Gabel-Luddy by saying the “message matters more than money.” Sousa, who vowed to spend a thousand dollars or less on his campaign, lost the race for the one open seat on the Burbank School Board. Dr. Armond Aghakhanian, who spent the most of any school board candidate on his campaign, beat Sousa with 5, 305 votes or 53.5% of the ballots. Sousa received 46.4% of the ballots or 4,593 votes.
Around 11, 000 ballots were cast in this general election.
Photo: FLLewis / Media City G — City Clerk, Zizette Mullins, at City Hall on Election Night April 14, 2015
The Burbank City Clerk, Zizette Mullins, will announce the official final ballot count this Friday, April 17.
