FIRST ON CCN - Town Council Elections Could Be Thrown Out!

There was drama last year, and this year looks like more of the same. You're hearing it here on CCN first. The June 21st Altadena Town Council elections may be completely thrown out.

There are so many complaints and candidates contesting the results, Town Council Chair George Lewis says the Ethics Committee will be investigating and that the entire Council will vote whether to throw out the results and start all over at the next Town Council meeting.

We caught up with candidate Regina Grimes who is challenging the results in tract 4602. The presumptive winner Okorie Ezieme responds to the allegations, saying he won fair and square. We hear first from Grimes, then Ezieme in their own words on CCN – Crown City News this week. Log onto www.crowncitynews.com to find the air times.

Town Council Chair George Lewis says 3 other people plan to contest the election including Walter Olszewski for census tract 4603.01, which Alice Wessen initially looks to have won. But Lewis says he hasn't received their official letter with the written challenges yet. Lewis says Joe Brown and the rest of the Ethics Committee will investigate all the complaints, and that the Council will decide whether to keep the election results or throw them out at the Tuesday July 15th meeting.

Altadena Town Council Elections

The Altadena Town Council held their elections on Saturday, and below are the surprising results. Log onto http://www.altadenatowncouncil.org/ for more info.

Town Council Election
Saturday June 21, 2008 Election Results
Winners are listed in boldface - Census Tracts and Candidates -

4601
Eugene Sund (incumbent) 75

4602
Mabel Duncan (incumbent) 31
Okorie Ezieme 118
Regina Grimes 52

4603.01
Walter Olszewski (incumbent) 49
Alice Wessen 65

4603.03
Dr. Sandra Thomas (incumbent) 24

4610
Bobby Thompson (incumbent) 46
Tecumseh Shackleford 108
Rev. C. R. Tillman 4

4611
Allan Wasserman (incumbent) 29

4612
George Lewis (incumbent) 27
Ruth Neilan Edwards 96

4613
Susan Goldman (incumbent) 11

Grand Jury Investigation Request for Altadena's Lincoln Crossing

During Tuesday's Altadena Town Council meeting, Town Councilmember Steve Lamb made a motion to request a grand jury investigation into the Lincoln Crossing development. The motion was passed. During the public comment portion of the meeting Farm Fresh owner Par Aria said he has spent nearly $10 million on the store and hundreds of thousands on legal battles with the developer Dorn Platz over shoddy work. He is settling some disputes with Dorn Platz, but not before receiving an eviction notice for the store.

Dorn Platz has already faced a number of legal battles over the development. Complaints have come from contractors who did not receive payment for work done, Altadena residents who say the development does not look the way Dorn Platz originally said it would look, and from tenants who say the developer has not lived up to his end of the deal.

Helga Kuhn of Bessie's Daughters Soulful Tacos tells CCN that she was recently evicted and will sue the developer. She says the developer would not take care of a foul sewage odor coming from her vents, and that it kept customers from coming back. Bobbie Thompson of BJR Postal Center says flooding damaged his store, and that the developer asked for rental fees before he was even able to move into the building.

Look for more on this story Monday evening at 6pm on CCN - Crown City News. To watch the newscast online, just log onto www.crowncitynews.com, and click on the blue logo at the top right side of the screen. To find out when it'll be on TV, click on Airtimes on the website. For more questions and information about this story, contact Tami DeVine at 626-676-9403.