INGLEWOOD, Calif.–With 100 percent of precincts and absentee ballots counted, Councilman Daniel L. Tabor has apparently won the run-off election for mayor.
He collected 64.9 percent of the 3,853 vote cast compared to 35 percent for Councilwoman Judy Dunlap.
Tabor’s win leaves his First District Council seat vacant, and according to City Clerk Yvonne Horton, a vacancy must be declared and an election called. Horton said she is trying to wait to see if the city can consolidate with the county. That could happen, if there is a run-off as a result of the Nov. 2 voting.
These election numbers are the unofficial results, and will now go to the council on Sept. 14 for certification. Tabor must be sworn into office by Sept. 19.
“I think we were clear about who I am, and what I’ve done in Inglewood,” said Tabor about what he thinks helped him win. “(There was also) the reassurance that I personally grew up here, but have worked in the community for a long period of time. And that I have gone external to the city and worked in federal and county government. (Consequently), I possess the skills, based on those experiences, to go forward and lead the city.”
After he is sworn in, Tabor will face a number of pressing matters including figuring out how to pare down a $15 million 2010-11 budget shortfall.
Among the options that have already been approved are a 15 percent reduction in the operating cost of each department; and up to a 5 percent cut in the maintenance and operations.
Additionally, lay-off notices will go out to all part-time personnel in the city within the next 30 days. Tabor said also on the table are early retirement offers, and the potential that employee groups will take a salary cut to help preserve jobs.
After all of those options have been implemented or evaluated, the mayor-elect says city officials can then determine how much is left to cut and look at how lay-offs might accomplish that task.
While all this is going on, Inglewood is about to embark on a search for a new administrator to fill the position vacated by Tim Wannamaker. Former city administrator Mark Weinberg was hired on Monday for a six-month contract, and Tabor expects that the nation-wide search should yield results by the time Weinberg’s agreement expires.
In addition to all of this, because he is filling the unexpired term of former Mayor Roosevelt Dorn, Tabor has only about two months in office, and during that time he must immediately begin campaigning to win the seat outright on Nov. 2.
The newly-elected mayor will face four opponents.
