Mail election to decide Seal Beach District 1 race

The Seal Beach City Council was scheduled to call a runoff election in District 1 at the Monday, Dec. 13 council meeting.

Details of the meeting were not available at press time.

The race will be between (in alphabetical order) Ellery Deaton and Joe Kalmick.

The special election will be held by mail on Jan. 25, 2011.

City Clerk Linda Devine told the Sun that the ballots would probably go out the week of Dec. 27.

Ballots must be returned by mail or in person by Jan. 25. Devine said the city would not accept lae postmarks.

The ballots must be physically in the City Clerk’s office by 8 p.m. on. election day. Devine said the votes must be returned by either the individual voter or someone who lives in the same residence as the voter.

“And we will check,” Devine said.

The runoff is necessary because the city charter requires a winning council candidate to receive 50 percent of the vote, plus one.  Deaton fell nine votes shy of the minimum required to win the District 1 council seat.

Kalmick received 33.2 percent of the votes, or 657 votes.

According to a Dec. 13 staff report, the city has budgeted $50,000 for a runoff election.

However, departing City Manager David Carmany has said a special election would cost Seal Beach $25,000.