In 3 Valley races, 1 vote made the difference

There were an abundance of razor-thin margins -- even a tie -- in Nov. 4 election.

Published online on Friday, Dec. 05, 2008

Don't believe every vote counts? Meet Kimberly Briggs and Edward Barela. Both lost their races in last month's election -- by a single vote.

Add in a hotel-room tax proposal in Kerman, and that makes three Fresno County elections that were decided by a single vote.

They could have been closer: In Tulare County, a race for a seat on the Earlimart Elementary School board ended up in a tie, and now officials are scrambling to avoid a costly runoff election.

Fresno County Clerk Victor Salazar is at a loss to explain the high number of close contests, which included two other school board races, one decided by three votes and the other by four.

But he said the large ballot increased the odds of a close race, especially in small districts, where voters are few.

Whatever the reason, it came down to a simple political truism for Cynthia Farley: "Maybe people will feel their vote is important now."

Farley, who came out one vote ahead of Briggs for a seat on the tiny Pine Ridge Elementary School Board in rural eastern Fresno County, has taken her son to her voting precinct in every election since he was 6 months old. She's told him how important it is to vote. If she knows someone who is turning 18, she passes along a voter-registration form.

The contest that pitted her against Briggs was low key -- and low budget -- by urban Fresno standards. The two political novices each sent out a single mailing to voters, participated in a candidate forum and put up a few homemade signs.

On election night, Briggs found herself eight votes behind Farley, and she figured she'd lost. Both trailed Richard Nichols, who had won one of two openings on the board, which serves a single kindergarten-through-eighth-grade school.

But then something happened: Briggs took a 16-vote lead as absentee and provisional ballots were counted by the Fresno County Elections Office. She gained hope -- only to see her newfound lead slowly slip away as more of the vote was tallied.

"It's been kind of a roller coaster," Briggs said. "It was definitely hard."

After putting in time, money and effort, Farley discovered something as the Tuesday election certification approached: "I realized how much I did want to win."

In the end, Farley had 217 votes and Briggs 216.

Kerman City Manager Ron Manfredi expressed disappointment at the narrow defeat of a proposed transient occupancy tax, which would be levied on hotel guests in the town.

"We just didn't organize ourselves," he said. "It's disappointing because the effort wasn't put out."

Kerman has just one tiny motel, but a 58-unit La Quinta hotel is scheduled for construction. Manfredi said the hotel inquired about the town's transient occupancy tax so it could assemble its business plan. But the city didn't have one, so the council passed a resolution to put one on the ballot.

In Parlier, Barela, the incumbent, found himself on the losing end to newcomer Juan Montano.

Like Briggs, Montano found himself behind on election night -- by three votes. But unlike her, he came back to win. Both Barela and Montano received barely more than 200 votes out of the 415 that were cast.

"I ran a quiet campaign," said Montano, who estimated he spent $75. "I didn't put up 100 posters or even 20 posters. It was just word of mouth. People knew me."

Montano is a mechanic and lifelong Parlier resident who ran against Barela because he didn't have an opponent in his last re-election bid.

"I couldn't let that happen again," he said. "But I've got to go to City Council meetings now."

And all isn't yet finished in the Nov. 4 election, even though all of California's counties have certified their results.

Kerman officials are considering a recount request, but they would have to find the money to pay for it. Salazar doesn't yet know the exact amount but said it would exceed $1,000.

And in the small Tulare County community of Earlimart, officials in the elementary district are hoping to flip a coin to decide the winner in the race between Isela Perez and Ruby Garcia. Each received 390 votes. The winner will take the second of two open seats on the board.

But there may have to be a runoff election, which would cost the district both money and time, said Paul Sampietro, Tulare County's election manager.

Earlier this year, the district decided that in the event of a tie, a runoff election would be held. But now that it has happened, Sampietro said, the district plans to seek court approval to flip a coin instead.

Sampietro said it is just the second time in 30 years that there's been a tie in the county. The last one was decided by a coin flip.

But a coin flip doesn't ensure a smooth outcome. Just ask Kingsburg.

In 1996, two City Council candidates involved in a tie flipped a coin to settle the race. But there was a dispute over whether the one who called the coin said heads or tails.

The council voted to sue the winner of the coin flip after the flap refused to die down. A judge reviewed television videotapes and even heard testimony from a lip reader before calling the race for the man who didn't call the coin flip.