Despite the efforts of seven La Jolla small-business owners who challenged the eight incumbents, mainly on the paid parking issue, the Promote La Jolla (PLJ) election resulted in the eight incumbents winning.
“They lost the popular vote,” said Martin Mosier, PLJ’s appointee to the parking board. “Not one of the seven was able to win the popular vote. They had a chance. They had an election, and they lost. It’s just that simple.”
According to Mosier, the merchants have spoken.
The challengers ran on the parking issue. Although Mosier and others said electing the incumbents is a telltale sign that members in the community clearly want on-street, paid parking, other community leaders said the issue isn’t so clear.
The PLJ election counts votes differently than people think, explained Sherri Lightner, chair of the La Jolla Shores Association. The votes are weighted.
“It takes a whole lot of smaller business owners to counter one business vote on Prospect,” Lightner said.
Votes are counted differently depending on the amount the business is assessed, Mosier said. But he said the weighted votes made no difference in the election.
“They lost the popular vote, too,” Mosier said. “There are two positions. Either you are for the parking plan or you are against it. It’s clear that they had a whole other slate to pick from and they didn’t choose one of them.”