Amador County – Incumbents in four of five races lost bids for reelection Tuesday in the 2010 Amador County general election, with Sutter Creek City Councilwoman Linda Rianda the only incumbent to keep her seat in a contested race.
Rianda does join the list of first-time elected officials, as she was running for office for the first time after being appointed last year to replace Mayor Pro Tempore Bill Hepworth, who stepped down for health concerns.
Rianda led all vote-getters with 411 votes. Second was Jim Swift, with 401 votes. They defeated third place finisher Bart Weatherly (who had 304 votes) and Ed Arata (who had 241). Election officials reported at 10 p.m. Tuesday that Sutter Creek had 1,368 ballots cast.
In other races Tuesday, Ione City Council members Lee Ard and Jim Ulm finished in a near tie for fourth place, both missing reelection. Three new council members took the three-seat race, led by Ron Smylie with 629 votes. Lloyd Oneto had 518 votes, and Daniel Epperson had 453. Ulm had 370, Ard had 369, and Jerry Sherman had 219 votes.
Two other incumbents, Amador Water Agency President Bill Condrashoff and Vice President Debbie Dunn both fell to their opponents. District 1 challenger Paul Molinelli Senior defeated Condrashoff with 63 percent of the vote, and 1,479 votes, to the incumbent’s 860. The race had 2,347 votes cast, including 178 “undervotes” that did not pick either candidate.
Robert Manassero took just over 60 percent of the vote in District 4, getting 1,332 votes to Dunn’s 865. Dunn’s loss leaves the agency with the need to appoint a new president, as Dunn was on track to be the next president.
In District 5, Arthur Toy won the seat with 887 votes, defeating John Asmus (who had 574 votes) and Dale Turner (who had 234). Toy will take over the Plymouth-area district for retiring Director Terence Moore, who leaves office after three terms.
In Plymouth, the top vote-getter was Sean McGinness, who moved out of town before the election. Peter Amoruso had 64 votes to win the second open seat, and Sandy Kyles had 41 votes. The city council must make an appointment to fill McGinness’ position, which becomes vacant after his win.
Also in Plymouth, the Measure O initiative to raise the Transient Occupancy Tax did not pass. Late Tuesday, Plymouth voters had cast 66 “no” votes and 64 people voted “yes.”
The election office still must count provisional and mail ballots, with several hundred estimated to have come in from all over the county.
Story by Jim Reece. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
