Tag Archives: Emily Gabel-Luddy

Golonski Replaces Talamantes as Mayor of Burbank

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Presenting outgoing Mayor Jess Talamantes with his City Council Badge & Plaque is Vice Dave Golonski. (Photo by Ross A. Benson)

Dave Golonski was elected the new Mayor of Burbank by a 4 to 1 vote at the City Council’s annual reorganization meeting Tuesday. He takes over the helm from Jess Talamantes, who will continue his term as a Council Member.

“I am committed to working with citizens from every corner of our city to bring about economic growth while preserving the neighborhood character that makes us all proud to call Burbank home,” says Golonski.  “I believe meaningful community engagement and having a well-informed citizenry are important goals for this upcoming year.”

A veteran of municipal government, Mayor Golonski has served as Burbank’s Mayor three other times over his tenure, rotating the position with his fellow council members. Known for his passion and commitment to sustainability and protecting our most valued natural resources, he works tirelessly to ensure Burbank is fostering a healthy environment for current and future generations. Since joining the council in 1993, he has served on numerous critical committees tackling issues related to youth, homeless services, housing, and infrastructure. A resident of Burbank for more

New Mayor Dave Golonski listens to Councilman Gary Bric recommending the Vice Mayor. (Photo by Ross A. Benson)

than 20 years, Golonski is married to his wife Barbara and they have three children – Randi, Russell, and John. They are also the proud grandparents of Grant and JoAnn.

Also at Monday’s meeting, Council Member Emily Gabel-Luddy was elected Vice Mayor by a 4 to 1 vote with Councilman David Gordon casting both no votes.

Vice Mayor Gabel-Luddy was elected to the Burbank City Council in 2011 but her service to Burbank began a decade ago when she was appointed to the Planning Board. During that time, she also served the community as a member of the Blue Ribbon Task Force for Affordable Housing and the Sustainable Burbank Commission. She and her husband Bill have lived in Burbank for almost 20 years.

Each year, the Mayor and Vice-Mayor are chosen from among the five Burbank council members and alternate on an annual basis.

Burbank's new Mayor, David Golonski, sits in the Mayor's chair for his fourth time as his Vice Mayor Emily Gabel-Luddy thanks her fellow council members. (Photo by Ross A. Benson)

Frutos Issues Statement Congratulating Gabel-Luddy

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Bob Frutos issued the following statement Saturday…

Bob Frutos, Chair of the Burbank Police Commission, entered the race for Burbank City Council to participate in his civic duty as a contributor to the betterment of the City and its residents.  After a much contested primary election, the voters of Burbank selected Bob and Emily Gabel-Luddy to enter into a runoff election for the privilege of serving the residents of Burbank.

The April 12th runoff election proved to be a contested race as both candidates worked hard to communicate their vision for leadership as future city councilpersons.  In the end, the diligence of both campaigns managed to provide the city with the closest race seen in Burbank.  And after the margin favored candidate Emily Gabel-Luddy, Bob contacted her to congratulate her in a well run race. Bob also indicated to her that he places his support and disposition to her 110% as our next city council member.

Bob’s interest will now be to ensure the success of the council in continuing to serve the residents of the city of Burbank.  “This is the first time I run for public office, and it has been a privilege to have received such warm support from many old and new friends from our great city.”  Bob further stated, “I will do everything in my power to help move the City forward.  Emily will be a great council person for Burbank and I want her to know that I will be a contributor to her tenure as she engages in realizing her vision to make Burbank a city we can all be proud of.”

Final Results Are Tabulated For Burbank’s 2011 General Election

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Burbank City Clerk, Margarita Campos, announced that final results are in for Burbank’s General Election held Tuesday, April 12, 2011.  Of the 56,239 eligible voters, 8,866 ballots were cast (8,106 ballots were cast in the 2011 Primary), representing a 15.7 percent return rate.  With all ballots verified and counted, the results remain consistent with those announced last Tuesday evening, although these numbers now include ballots that were pending verification by the Los Angeles County Registrar/Recorder’s Office.

There were two candidates who qualified for the ballot for the City Council seat (in ballot order): Robert “Bob” Frutos (4,316 votes), and Emily Gabel Luddy (4,411 votes).  Emily Gabel Luddy received a majority of the votes cast and therefore is duly elected to office for a full term of four years, ending April 30, 2015.

There was one Measure on the ballot: Measure U – Modernize Utility Users Tax Ordinance, which received the following vote: Yes (5,720 votes), No (2,562 votes).

Gabel-Luddy Wins Seat On Topsy-Turvy Night

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Emily Gabel-Luddy sits down with Burbank Public Information Officer, Keith Sterling for an interview on Burbank's Channel 6 (Photo By Ross A. Benson)

By Stan Lynch
BurbankNBeyond

It was an incredibly close finish to an election that saw the lead change several times before Burbank City Council candidate Emily Gabel-Luddy just barely edged out Robert Frutos by a mere 84 votes.
The two candidates were never very far apart as the results of the vote counting started coming out Tuesday night.  Gabel-Luddy took the lead when results from the first of the City’s 42 precincts were posted on the government access channel (Burbank TV 6).  She was ahead of Frutos by 62 votes with 5 precincts reporting. However, when the next posting with 8 precincts reporting went up, Frutos had taken a 95 vote lead.

And so it went the entire evening.  It was a real “nail biter” as the tally seesawed back and forth between the two candidates.   It was a real “cliff hanger” as the votes came down to the wire.  Gabel-Luddy won by a razor-thin margin of 84 votes, 4,400 to Fruto’s 4,314 votes.   The other item on the ballot, Measure U, passed with 5,264 votes for it, and 2,555 against.

A total of 8,853 ballots were cast in the election.  Roughly 15% of the approximate 58,000 registered voters in Burbank cast ballots.   Of the votes cast, a total of 7,819 were over Measure U, while 8,714 were for the council candidate.  That left 139 votes unaccounted for.

City Clerk Margarita Campos explained the discrepancy in the numbers.  “There were some ballots that were blank, while some people didn’t vote for either of the council candidates.”    Campos noted that they even received some ballots from the primary election.   They were not counted.

With such a close race, the difference between the two candidates being less than 1%, some at City Hall on election night wondered if there might be a recount.  Campos noted that the machinery used to count the ballots is tested before the actual ballots are counted, and again afterwards to make sure the count is accurate.
“Of course a candidate can ask for a recount,” Campos said, adding, “But they would have to pay for the cost of it.”

Perhaps it is the “all mail ballot” which really is akin to everyone voting by absentee ballot, but the excitement of election night just wasn’t there at City Hall this election.  A “crowd” of maybe 10 people showed up.  Police Commissioner Jim Etter, his wife, and two of his adult children were among the first to show up to watch the results. Councilman David Gordon joined them for awhile.  Both candidates were noticeably absent, with Gabel-Luddy only showing up well after all the votes had been counted and she was the unofficial winner.  The election should be certified by Friday and the newest council member sworn into office on May 2 along with incumbent Gary Bric who won re-election in the primary.

Those who watch the votes live saw the following results:

Election Results as posted by the City Clerk during the vote counting

Precincts  Frutos Gabel-Luddy Measure U:  Yes  No

1          172          217                          231  110

5          552           613                         716  325

8          878           783                         955  419

11       1,349        1,267                    1,552  704

14       1,579        1,622                    1,914  859

17       1,930        2003                   2,305  1,128

20       2,102        2,160                        -         -

23       2,495        2,498                  2,935  1,469

26       2,817        2,791                  3,315  1,664

32       3,389        3,339                  3,955  2019

35       3,670        3,736                  4,429  2,176

38       3,951        4,090                  4,823  2,362

42       4,314        4,400                  5,264  2,555

42 out of 42 precincts counted.  Total Votes Cast:  8,853

Burbank General Municipal Election Preliminary Results

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With 8,853 total votes cast, the following are the preliminary results from today’s General Municipal Election:

(42 of 42 precincts reporting)

City Council

Robert “Bob” Frutos – 4,314 votes

Emily Gabel-Luddy – 4,400 votes

NOTE: Emily Gabel-Luddy joins already re-elected Councilman Gary Bric on the Burbank City Council.  Bric was elected in the primary election in February.

Measure U

Yes – 5,264 votes

No – 2,555 votes

Gary Bric Wins Re-Election, All Three School Board Members Voted Back In

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Candidate Robert Frutos, standing with current Councilman Dr. David Gordan, and Jacqueline Waltman anxiously await all the voter precincts to be counted Tuesday night at City Hall. (Photo By Steven J. Lynch)

Burbank City Councilman’s Gary Bric re-election bid proved successful as he picked up 57.5% of the vote during the Burbank Primary Election.  It took 50% of the votes cast plus one to bypass the General Election in April

Bob Frutos and Emily Gabel-Luddy will compete for the remaining open seat in the April 12 election

In the school board race, all three incumbents, Ted Bunch, Roberta Grande-Reynolds, and Dave Kemp all picked up the needed votes to also bypass the General Election.

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