Mayor Anni Marshall is re-elected

The incumbents are in. Avalon voters re-elected Mayor Anni Marshall and sitting City Council members Richard Hernandez and Oley Olsen.

Christy Lins ran unopposed for re-election for the city treasurer’s office.

Marshall won 57 percent of the votes in the three-way contest against Councilwoman Cinde Cassidy and former council member Ralph Morrow. Cassidy received 26 percent of the vote and Morrow 14 percent.

The incumbents are in. Avalon voters re-elected Mayor Anni Marshall and sitting City Council members Richard Hernandez and Oley Olsen.

Christy Lins ran unopposed for re-election for the city treasurer’s office.

Marshall won 57 percent of the votes in the three-way contest against Councilwoman Cinde Cassidy and former council member Ralph Morrow. Cassidy received 26 percent of the vote and Morrow 14 percent.

Two years ago, voters removed three incumbents. This year, the voters favored the existing council. And while the winning candidates won decisive victories, none of them could claim a landslide as Marshall did in 2014 when she won by 75 percent of the overall vote.

Marshall said she thought people were happy with the way the council was doing business or there would have been a change.

Marshall said the re-election meant the council would not lose any momentum. She said she enjoyed working with this City Council, which she described as a diverse mix.

Although Cassidy lost the mayoral race, she remains a member of the City Council. Cassidy said she wished Marshall the best and was looking forward to serving with her.

Cassidy said she hoped that now that the election was over, the “incredibly negative propaganda” would cease. She said this was a moment for everyone to take a deep breath, start over and move forward.

Cassidy said it was great to see a strong voter turn out for the election.

Olsen said he thought that the race turned out the way it did because there were seven City Council candidates and four of them were similar. He also said that voters think they like things the way they are now.

Olssen said he would have liked to see more people with practical business experience on the council.

In the City Council race, Hernandez received 38 percent of the vote and Olsen received 33 percent.

Challenger Bruce Fertig received 29 percent of the vote. Former City Council member Michael Ponce and former city manager Steven Hoefs both received 26 percent. Ponce and Morrow were voted out of office in 2014.

Voter turn out was slightly stronger this year than it was two years ago: 923 ballots were cast, representing 52 percent of the vote. Two years ago, 47 percent of eligible voters (800 individuals) turned out for the election.

The turn out was consistent with past Avalon voting patterns.