Preliminary results from Tuesday’s election show Lemon Grove City Councilmember Alysson Snow defeating Mayor Racquel Vasquez and incumbent Councilmember George Gastil trailing in a tight race to save his seat.
Lemon Grove residents strongly supported Measure T, a 1-cent sales tax increase, which had about 70 percent of the votes counted so far on Wednesday. The tax will be in place for 10 years and is projected to raise about $6 million annually to fund parks, community facilities, fire protection, paramedics, police and emergency services, homelessness, infrastructure and other needs.
Councilmember Liana LeBaron did not seek re-election to the seat she won four years ago, but instead ran for mayor. Results on Wednesday showed her with about 29% of the vote and in third place behind Snow, who had 40%, and Vasquez, who had 31%.
Lemon Grove does not have district elections, and seats held by LeBaron and Gastil were open this year. Gastil and three challengers ran for the two seats.
On Wednesday, challenger Jessyka Heredia had captured about 29% of the votes, placing her in the lead for a council seat.
The race for the second seat was too close to call, with Sitivi “Steve” Faiai leading Gastil by just 23 votes and both candidates capturing about 25% of the vote.
Challenger Seth Andrew Smith had about 21% of the vote and trailed Gastil by 435 votes. The Registrar of Voters said more results would be announced Thursday and later this week.
Snow, a professor at the University of San Diego School of Law, credited her lead as being the right person to lead Lemon Grove at this time.
“Working families need to hear the message that somebody cares about them, and that somebody is actually going to do the hard work to make sure that they can thrive during these difficult economic times,” she said.
Snow also said voters saw her as the better choice for the seat because of her background.
“I spent 13 years at the Legal Aid Society of San Diego fighting for people with student loan debt, credit card debt, financial debt, elder abuse and solar fraud,” she said.
Snow also worked with coalitions and advocated for new laws to protect consumers, which she said inspired her to run for office.
“After a while, you’re like, I should be the one writing these laws,” she said.
If her lead stands and Snow is elected mayor, her vacant seat on the City Council will be filled by an appointment or a special election.
Vasquez, who lost in a bid to represent District 79 in the state Assembly race last March primary, said in an email Wednesday afternoon that she felt immense gratitude and was hopeful about the outcome as more votes are counted.
“I’ve been here before in my journey as Mayor, and I know it can take a few days—or even weeks—to see the full picture,” she wrote. “For now, I’ll be closely watching the voting trends. Thank you to everyone who has shown their support. Let’s stay hopeful as we await the final results.”
Heredia has been known over the past three years for recording Lemon Grove City Council meetings and posting the videos on line, and she said voters showed their appreciation for her work in the election.
“I think people were behind me because they see my dedication with recording the City Council meetings for the public,” she said, adding that she will continue recording meetings if she is on the council.
Heredia said she is most excited about getting Lemon Grove “on the right track” if her lead holds.
“I want to see some changes in youth opportunities and I want to see our streets by parks and schools addressed first,” she said about issues she wants to tackle. “And I’m looking forward to working with the council to bring up some resolutions in order to get these things resolved.”
