Councilman Paul Koretz received a significant majority of the initial votes counted in the city council election for the L.A. 5th District, which includes Westwood, as of 11 p.m. Tuesday night.
Koretz led his challenger, Westwood Neighborhood Council board member Mark Herd, with 73 percent of the roughly 13,000 votes counted, according to the L.A. city clerk’s website.
With more than 70 percent of the votes left to be counted as of press deadline, Koretz’s victory was not final, but likely.
Koretz’s campaign manager attributed the councilman’s lead to a strong first term and his campaign in this year’s election.
“(Koretz) was visiting communities and his constituents (during his campaign),” said David Giron, his campaign manager. “The feedback he got was that he did a great job and they wanted to see him for the next four years, and the election results show that.”
Koretz was elected to his first term as the city councilman in 2009 for the 5th District by a one percent margin. Prior to his election, he served on the California State Assembly, representing the 42nd Assembly District, which covers parts of Los Angeles, Orange and San Bernadino counties. He also served as a councilmember and mayor of West Hollywood.
Mark Herd, the other candidate vying to represent the 5th District, is currently a member of the Westwood Neighborhood Council.
Herd said one of the reasons he ran was to debate Paul Koretz on issues facing Westwood.
“When you don’t run, you just give another candidate a pass, and you don’t get to talk about big issues,” he said.
Community leaders had mixed reactions about working with Koretz.
Steve Sann, the chair of the Westwood Community Council, said the council has a good rapport with Koretz, and is looking forward to facing different Westwood issues with him, if he maintains his lead and is elected to the position.
“He has been someone that has listened to the Westwood community,” Sann said.
“He comes out and makes himself available to constituents.”
He said he was not surprised Koretz was leading because the councilman has more political experience and ran a more prominent campaign than Herd.
Sann added he appreciated that Herd ran for city council because it allowed for public discussion of issues like Measure A, a sales tax that would increase tax by half a percent.
Isaac Hernandez-Arevalo, a third-year anthropology student, said he voted for Mark Herd because he works in a local organization, the Westwood Neighborhood Council.
Whoever serves as councilman in the upcoming term will deal with issues that concern Westwood, such as the possibility of issuing an alcohol license for off-site consumption for CityTarget. If approved, the license would exceed a state guideline of five alcohol licenses for off-site consumption in Westwood.
Another issue is the possible bike and bus lane that would run along Westwood Boulevard, Sepulveda Boulevard, Avenue of the Stars and Bundy Drive/Centinela Avenue, said Jerry Brown, president of the Westwood Neighborhood Council.
The Westwood Neighborhood Council opposes both issues – alcohol licensing, and the bike and bus lane – but Koretz has not yet taken a public stance on either, Brown said.
Brown said he was concerned the additional bike lanes would take away necessary parking spaces in Westwood and add to traffic congestion.
At the Feb. 26 debate, Koretz had said he was not certainly against the additional bike and bus lane, but was interested in looking into the topic further.
The councilman for the 5th District will be sworn in on July 1.