April 05, 2007

"Charges fly in Inglewood elections"

"Bad blood between Inglewood's mayor and its elected city clerk boiled over during the city's municipal elections Tuesday, with each accusing the other of interfering with the process.

City Clerk Yvonne Horton and an election volunteer said Mayor Roosevelt F. Dorn instructed a photographer to take pictures of workers verifying absentee ballots. He also accused them of pulling a "switcheroo" with the results, they said.

"Personally, I think that he's trying to overturn this election if his candidates don't win," Horton said Tuesday night, before the results were known. She said she reported the incident to the district attorney's office.

The election day dispute highlighted the fractious nature of Inglewood politics, with supporters of Dorn on one side and supporters of state Sen. Ed Vincent (D-Inglewood), Dorn's predecessor, and former Assemblyman Jerome Horton, Yvonne Horton's husband, on the other.

Up for grabs Tuesday were three City Council and three school board seats and the posts of city clerk and treasurer.

Incumbent Councilmen Eloy Morales Jr. and Ralph Franklin, who are not aligned with Dorn, won reelection, as did Treasurer Wanda Brown, a Dorn ally, and Yvonne Horton. George Dotson and Daniel Tabor, a Dorn foe, will face each other in a June runoff.

Winning seats on the Inglewood Unified School District board were incumbent Johnny J. Young and Carol Raines-Brown, both backed by Dorn, and Trina Williams.

But the drama that surrounded the election threatened to overshadow the results.

On Wednesday, Dorn acknowledged visiting the ballot workers but denied arranging for a photographer or questioning the workers' integrity, allegations he called an "out and out lie."

But Dorn said that Horton had "friends," one of whom recorded a campaign phone message for her, count ballots. He also said it was improper for Horton to oversee an election in which she was running.

"She should have had nothing to do with the election whatsoever because she was running for office," Dorn said."

Posted by Randy Riddle at April 5, 2007 03:06 PM