City Election Update
Editorial staff

Activists are continuing their storefront poll regarding the city council race. With two seats at stake, Frank Ury should be a shoo-in as the only incumbent. Instead, he appears to be in trouble. For the past three weeks of storefront polling, Cathy Schlicht has been in first place, followed by Neil Lonsinger, Ury and Richard Atkinson. The activists found some support for Judy Rackauckas among female voters, and Michael Williamson has consistently received no mention.

Brad Morton’s city news blog released polling results that show approximately the same order with Atkinson and Ury tied for third place. Check out Morton’s poll and article at MissionViejoDispatch.com.

1. Cathy Schlicht - 40%
2. Neil Lonsinger - 37%
3. Rich Atkinson - 8%
4. Frank Ury - 8%
5. Judy Rackaukus - 4%
6. Michael Williamson - 3%

Readers of Morton’s blog tend to follow city politics. The nature of Morton’s readers can also be found in those participating in storefront polls. Voters strongly supporting Schlicht and Lonsinger were mailing in their absentee ballots shortly after receiving them, and they tended to be informed about city issues.

One of the activists commented, “If informed residents were the only ones voting, it would be a landslide for Schlicht and Lonsinger. The two are running as reform candidates while Ury is running on the status quo, and Atkinson says whatever Ury says. We’ll know on Nov. 4 if the early absentee voters were representative of all voters. Supporters of Cathy and Neil are concerned about uninformed voters because they often vote for the incumbent and rely more on a candidate’s mailers to decide.”

Schlicht has frequently criticized the council, and her supporters wondered if she’d be viewed as too negative. To the contrary, residents are saying her tenacity and standing up against a wayward council are the reasons they’re voting for her.

Storefront polling conducted during the past week didn’t indicate a change in positions from prior weeks. However, the race may have tightened up with Ury and Atkinson continuing to stuff mailboxes with their slate mailers. Most voters are sophisticated enough to ignore slates, but repeated hammering has an effect.

Ury and Atkinson monopolized the slates as a key element of their campaigns, and no other council candidates bought space on the slate mailers. With Atkinson having little else going in the way of presence in the community, his percentage on Nov. 4 will fairly well define the effectiveness of slate mailers.