Scarlet Peralta, candidate for Montebello City Council for District 2. (Courtesy of Scarlet Peralta)

Jack Hadjinian, candidate for Montebello City Council District 2. (Courtesy of Jack Hadjinian)

David Torres, candidate for District 4 of the Montebello City Council. (Courtesy of David Torres)

Joella Valdez, candidate for District 4 of the Montebello City Council. (Courtesy of Joella Valdez)

Angie Jiménez, councilor for District 5 of Montebello. (Courtesy Jimenez)

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Scarlet Peralta, candidate for Montebello City Council for District 2. (Courtesy of Scarlet Peralta)

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Montebello voters have cast ballots in three City Council elections, including the recall of a sitting council member.

See the latest election results.

District 5 Councilwoman Angie Jiménez faced the Pickup only in Los Angeles County on election day.

A simple majority of votes would be needed to remove Jiménez.

According to the semi-official results of the Nov. 5 election, which the Los Angeles County Recorder’s Office released around 4 a.m. Wednesday, the yes vote on Jiménez’s recall had received about 63% of the votes counted as of 3:46 am Wednesday.

A group of residents backed by a local developer and out-of-town interests pushed to get the recall on the ballot.

Jiménez and her supporters say the removal was made in retaliation for her confrontation with developers and that this is an effort to silence her.

Recall organizers say Jimenez has been absent from City Council meetings, voted against the restoration of the Traffic and Safety Commission and created a hostile work environment at City Hall.

District 2 Head Scarlett Peralta faced challenge from former Montebello councilman Jack Hadjinian.

Peralta seemed to have a strong advantage over Hadjinian; At 3:46 a.m., Peralta had about 72% of the votes counted.

Peralta’s priorities included strengthening public safety and economic development. Hadjinian also highlighted public safety and maintaining the city’s infrastructure as his top priorities.

Hadjinian said the city still has work to do to respond to the 2018 state audit. This would include implementing stricter financial controls, ensuring greater oversight and maintaining transparency in all city operations.

Peralta said the city has overcome past financial challenges. While there is still more to do, Peralta said financial stability and revenue have been increased, oversight and internal controls have been strengthened, and internal policies have been updated to ensure compliance.

In District 4, joella valdez was on the ballot against the incumbent David Torres.

Torres seemed to have the advantage over Valdez in the first returns.

As of 3:46 a.m., Torres had about 54% of the votes counted and was leading Valdez by about nine percentage points.

Valdez, Montebello’s planning commissioner, said her top priorities would be fair public safety resources and clean, safe streets.

Torres’ priorities included public safety and infrastructure. He said Montebello is seeing an “incredible new wave of economic activity.” Torres highlighted the incorporation of TopGolf and the future incorporation of a Tesla dealer.

Valdez said the city has not done enough to attract new businesses and that District 4 has several empty stores and abandoned lots. Part of their solution would be to streamline the permitting and licensing process and clean up abandoned spaces.

Originally Posted: November 5, 2024 at 8:56 pm PST