LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – With the preliminary results now in, the declared winners in the contests for seats on the Clearlake and Lakeport city councils are getting ready to roll up their sleeves and take a hand in local government.
In Clearlake, preliminary results show that Jeri Spittler and Joey Luiz led a field of nine, receiving 19.9 and 16.6 percent of the vote, respectively, based on totals released by the Lake County Registrar of Voters Office.
In Lakeport, businesswoman Stacey Mattina topped a field of seven candidates, followed by retired police chief Tom Engstrom, who had dropped out of the race in September, although he decided Tuesday to accept the seat, as Lake County News has reported.
Mattina received 20.7 percent of the vote, with Engstrom receiving 18.2 percent. Mayor Jim Irwin was defeated in his campaign for a second term.
Spittler said Wednesday that she loves the community and the results make her feel that the community loves her back. She said she was “feeling the love.”
She anticipates she and Luiz “are going to have a blast” on the council.
Spittler's immediate goals will be to have a thorough audit completed of the city's finances. “I want to be able to say this is exactly where we're at when we get started,” said Spittler, who is herself a business owner who understands the importance of fiscal responsibility.
She also wants to look at city benefit packages, city projects and reevaluate how the city spends its money. All cities are having financial problems right now, not just Clearlake, she said.
Another goal is to introduce a program that invites students to do community improvement projects. “That's something we haven't ever had, is young people getting involved in our city,” Spittler explained.
Both Spittler and Luiz were firm in their opposition to the proposed regional shopping center with a Lowe's home improvement center, and Spittler believes the support they received shows the community's opposition to the project.
Like Spittler, this will be Luiz's first time in elected office. He ran for supervisor in 2008 in District 1 but was knocked out in the primary.
“I wouldn't have won yesterday had I not done that in 2008, because that really opened my eyes to what it takes to mount a campaign and how to approach voters,” he said Wednesday.
Luiz said he wants to stick with his platform, including working on priorities for redevelopment.
That includes holding community meetings – such as those hosted by the Lake County Redevelopment Agency on the Northshore – to gather input from residents about what projects they want, he said.
“I saw how effective that was,” Luiz added.
He said he'd like to see the millions of dollars in redevelopment bond proceeds put to work to improve the community, not used for the Lowe's project.
As for working with the current council members, Luiz said he has worked well with Curt Giambruno on the skatepark committee as well as chamber issues. “We disagree on some things but we both respect each other.”
He said the same applies to Mayor Judy Thein, although he recently criticized her publicly for a commentary she wrote about sewer system negotiations with county.
Luiz said he's looking forward forward to working with Vice Mayor Joyce Overton. “I think we agree on 80 percent of the vision for the city.”
At the other end of the lake, Mattina said she was “just completely excited and thankful for all the support. I know a lot of people rallied.”
Having previously served on the city's Measure I Committee, Mattina became interested in running for office after she saw that she could have an impact. This will be her first time in elected office.
During the campaign, she said many people spoke to her about issues including the city's roads.
Mattina met with city staff during the campaign and plans additional meetings soon. It's too early, she said, to name any big projects she'll take on in the term ahead.
Right now she said she's “keeping an open mind and just being there for the citizens.”
Engstrom said he appreciates the faith and trust voters have put in him, given his other commitments, including a nine-year, unpaid commitment to work with Mormon congregations around the North Coast. He pledged to serve the community “to the best of my ability.”
He added, “Your support, input and prayers are greatly appreciated.”
All of the council members-elect will be seated in December.
Registrar of Voters Diane Fridley has 28 days to certify the election, with her office reporting Wednesday that it has a large number of absentee and provisional ballots yet to count.
While the numbers could change because of those ballots, as they did in the June primary, it usually doesn't involve a change in candidates' placements, according to a previous interview with Fridley.
E-mail Elizabeth Larson at
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