Democracy Needs Losers to Congratulate Winners

Democracy functions best when those who get the most votes are wished well by those who have lost. Those who have lost cannot be asked to violate their beliefs and principles, but they should genuinely respect the voters and allow the new majority an opportunity to enact their agenda.

I supported Verna Rollinger for the Laguna Beach City Council, and the newspapers reported that she was defeated by Kelly Boyd by a 178 vote margin with Boyd getting 4,142 votes.

At midday on Sunday, the Registrar of Voters shows the vote 4,896 for Boyd and 4,763 for Rollinger a margin of only 133 votes. I was so much looking forward to Verna being an outstanding Council Member and am torn by what we her supporters could have done to pick up an additional 134 votes.

Maybe the Registrar has more ballots to count, but if Kelly Boyd ends up with more votes, the voters have spoken, and I certainly wish him the best hoping he does a superb job serving Laguna Beach.

In the US Congress, the Democrats now have the majority. The voters have elected George W. Bush as President and now the Democrats as the majority in both houses of Congress. Hopefully, they will work together for the good of our country.

Vote Count as of midday Sunday, November 12, 2006:

CITY OF LAGUNA BEACH Member, City Council
Number To Vote For: 3 Completed Precincts: 26 of 26
Vote Count
TONI ISEMAN 5,358
ELIZABETH PEARSON-SCHNEIDER 5,023
KELLY H. BOYD 4,896
VERNA ROLLINGER 4,763



LAGUNA BEACH UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT Governing Board Member
Number To Vote For: 3 Completed Precincts: 36 of 36
Vote Count
BETSY JENKINS 5,549
KETTA BROWN 4,905
THERESA O'HARE 4,436
JEFF ELGHANAYAN 3,342
KELLY CORNWELL 3,067