Lawndale Tribune AND lAwNDAle News The Weekly Newspaper of Lawndale Herald Publications - Inglewood, Hawthorne, Lawndale, El Segundo, Torrance & Manhattan Beach Community Newspapers Since 1911 - Circulation 30,000 - Readership 60,000 (310) 322-1830 - April 10, 2014 Lawndale Lady Cardinals Hustle In Double-Header Against Torrance Lawndale softball player Melissa Tiradio tags a West runner as she dives back to first base. The Lady Cardinals played a double-header last weekend at West Torrance. Photo by Shelley Kemp. See story, page 5. Lawndale Elects New Mayor, Incumbents for City Council By Nancy Peters On Tuesday, April 8, for the first time in 20 years, the City of Lawndale has a new Mayor. Robert Pullen-Miles, a City Councilman for 10 years, was elected to a two-year term by 138 votes, or a 10 percent margin over his opponent with 55.20 percentage points. Daniel Reid, who ran a campaign for his first election bid, won only one of the four precincts in the city. Pullen-Miles has been a resident of Lawndale for 20 years and prior to his Council bid in 2004 served on the Planning Commission for 10 years as well. Currently, he works as a Rules Committee Officer for the California State Legislature assigned to the office of State Senator Ted Lieu. He is a former Probation Officer of the County of Los Angeles and is a certified Emergency Management Services Technician who did practice as an EMT for a few years. His election motto—“I’m Pullen for YOU!”—apparently indicated to the voters of Lawndale that his commitment to the City and its residents is what they are looking for in their leader. Harold Hofmann served as Lawndale Mayor for 20 years and ran unopposed for most of his 10 election cycles. His successor announced his campaign soon after Hofmann’s death in November 2013. Hofmann was the one who encouraged Pullen-Miles to run for his first City Council campaign in 2004. Pullen-Miles plans to advocate for economic development for Lawndale and guide the City “in a new direction, with innovation and vigor…to do bigger and better…” His campaign promised to bring in new businesses that will expand the tax base and develop a business improvement district. Also on Tuesday, incumbents Larry Rudolph and Pat Kearney were reelected with 888 and 893 votes, respectively. Their wins totaled 86.29 percent of the votes in the Councilmember category, or 43.02 percent for Rudolph and 43.27 percent for Kearney. The challenger, Gary McDonald, garnered a total of 283 votes, or a 13.71 percent. Rudolph has served on the Council for 28 years and as Mayor Pro Tem for a few cycles. Kearney, the Mayor Pro Tem at the time of Hofmann’s death, led the Council since November. This was Kearney’s second election. With Pullen-Miles, Rudolph and Kearney back on the dais to join Councilmember James Osborne, there is still one vacant seat on the Council that will need to be filled by either appointment or a special election. Rudolph is an advocate for public safety and also a watchdog for improvements of the city’s roads and sidewalks. Kearney campaigned on a platform for improving local parks. The two walked the community together and spoke to a majority of the residents. Also on the ballot on Tuesday was the election of a City Clerk. Both candidates were running for their first elected offices. Marge Heinemann, a current member of the Beautification Commission and a volunteer who attends Council meetings as an interested party sharing her ideas for improving the city; and Bernadette Suarez, a resident of Lawndale whose family has lived here for three generations and continually serves on many committees as a volunteer, were the two candidates. Suarez won the election with 695 votes--120 more than Heinemann’s 575. Suarez won two of the precincts with 54.72 percent of the total votes, or 9.44 points more than Heinemann’s 45.28 percentage points. The next meeting of the Lawndale City Council will be held on Monday, April 21 at 6:30 p.m. when Pullen-Miles will be sworn in as the Mayor, Kearney and Rudolph will take their oaths of office for their four-year terms as Council members; and Suarez will be sworn as the new City Clerk. A reception will follow prior to the first gavel by Pullen- Miles to begin a new regime. • Inside This Issue Calendar...............................3 Classifieds............................6 Certified & Licensed Professionals.......................4 Hawthorne Happenings....2 Food.......................................8 Legals............................. 2,6,7 Looking Up...........................4 Police.....................................3 Sports....................................5 Weekend Forecast Pullen-Miles has been a resident of Lawndale for 20 years and prior to his Council bid in 2004 served on the Planning Commission for 10 years as well. Friday Mostly Sunny 72˚/54˚ Saturday Partly Cloudy 67˚/54˚ Sunday Partly Cloudy 67˚/54˚
Lawndale 04_10_14
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