FINAL TALLY PUTS NAJARIAN ON TOP
Jason Wells

Glendale News Press
April 22 2009
CA

Provisional and absentee ballots put him 236 votes in front of newcomer
Laura Friedman.

Councilman Ara Najarian overtook Councilwoman Laura Friedman as the
top vote-getter in the April 7 citywide election after officials
counted the 2,225 provisional and late vote-by-mail ballots Friday.

The newly reformed City Council certified the results Monday night.

With 9,473 votes, Najarian edged Friedman by 236 votes to take the
No. 1 spot, according to the city clerk’s office. Councilman Frank
Quintero remained firmly in third place with 8,857 votes.

While the final tally was not expected to significantly alter the
precinct reporting — where Najarian, Friedman and Quintero were
nearly always among the top three at northern polling stations —
Najarian said Monday that he considered the final tally an "absolute
mandate" against political operatives from other campaigns that
"were specifically out there trashing me."

"Everything I said in the campaign was based on reality, on fact,
things that I knew I had some influence over the next four years,"
Najarian said.

Given the recurring campaign tactics from some Armenian candidates to
encourage single-voting, thereby reducing the number of votes acquired
by their competitors in a race with more than one available seat,
Najarian said the feat was even more significant.

He was also the top vote-getter when he was first elected to the City
Council in 2005.

For her part, Friedman said she was thrilled to get more than 9,000
votes, and that she hadn’t put a lot of stock in the rankings.

"I’m just happy to have one of those seats; I think that’s important,"
she said.

Najarian is also poised to become chairman of the Los Angeles County
Metropolitan Transportation Authority in June. The top position comes
at a time when the agency is preparing to divvy billions in federal
stimulus and Measure R funding to county cities.

"There’s just a huge amount of money that’s flowing through the
county for transportation," he said, adding that it would be his job
"to make sure Glendale’s needs are not overlooked."

The last Glendale representative to serve as MTA chairman was
former Mayor Larry Zarian, who was later appointed to the California
Transportation Commission.