Quemars Ahmed on Friday, June 12, appeared to be holding to his lead in a close race for a second seat on the La Cañada Flintridge City Council. And with the vast majority of votes across the county processed by the Los Angeles County Registrar, his small lead was appearing more locked in.
Ahmed, a member of the city’s Sustainability and Resilience Commission, was leading Planning Commissioner Nerses Aposhian by 224 votes, 29.7% of the vote to Aposhian’s 27.8% of the vote, according to the Registrar of Voters.
That was a slight increase from the 207-vote lead earlier in the week.
They are among a trio of candidates vying for two seats on the council. Mayor Kim Bowman had garnered 42.5% in updated results Friday afternoon, a position he’s held since June 2, when initial returns were posted.
At one point early on, Aposhian had a slim lead over Ahmed. But that changed later in the week of the election, when Ahmed gained a lead.
The top two vote-getters will win the seats.
• Also see: June 2 Primary Election Results
The city, like many, is dealing with how to make housing more affordable, along with land use and planning. But public safety and emergency preparedness, in a small city that neighbors the disaster footprint of the Eaton fire, have become common themes in the race.
Bowman, currently the city’s mayor, touts his commitment to public service and his experience as an elder law attorney as reasons for voters to give him the chance to continue his elected leadership.
Ahmed agrees that fire and emergency preparedness are vital topics in the city, but he emphasized city staffing and planning, along with fiscal responsibility, as other key issues to be addressed.
Aposhian said he wanted to strike a balance between preserving what makes the city special with responsible planning for the future. As a planning commissioner, he says he’s brought a “hands-on” common-sense approach to land use, public safety and neighborhood issues. Housing, emergency preparedness and revitalization of the Foothill corridor are key issues for him.