The specter of the June town council election occupied a good block of last night's Altadena town council meeting, as the council voted 6-4 against creating a committee to investigate alleged improprieties.
The council responded to a five page letter from election chair Laura Graham, requesting the council's executive committee to investigate the allegations detailed therein.
The letter, a copy of which has been obtained by Altadenablog, alleges what several councilmembers called "bad behavior" by various members of the council and community as Graham pulled the election together.
Last night's council was divided as to what action to take -- councilmember Okorie Ezime reminded the council that they agreed several months ago to have the executive committee investigate charges. Councilmember Susan Goldman said that even if it was just "bad behavior, it is not acceptable," and felt that a more in-depth look was in order. Councilmember Michele Zack said that she was troubled that the election chair received a lot of interference, and was not allowed to just do her job.
The majority of the council, however, seemed to go along with what was phrased as "moving forward, and lessons learned," and voted not to further investigate a completed election.
The council also voted to create a committee to review the eleciton rules and bylaws and come back with recommendations before the 2009 elections. Such a committee would comprise three members from the town council, and four at-large members of the community.
