Beverly Hills : Goldwyn Wins Board Seat

Incumbent Peggy Goldwyn has apparently edged out challenger AJ Willmer for a seat on the Beverly Hills Unified School District Board of Education. With the tally of absentee ballots by the county registrar-recorder’s office complete, the final unofficial count showed Goldwyn with 1,583 votes and Willmer with 1,562.

The registrar-recorder’s office will issue its certified results Monday.

Twelve candidates were competing for three four-year terms in the Nov. 5 election. Former Beverly Hills Mayor Richard Stone and parent activist Phillip Harris won clear victories, but on the morning after Election Day, Goldwyn and Willmer were just six votes apart.

Lillian Raffel, a registered nurse, won a separate race for a two-year term. In all, 16 candidates competed for four spots on the five-member board. They will be installed in December.

Willmer’s loss came after an expensive campaign that included mailers and the services of a campaign consultant. Financial reports filed shortly before the election showed him as the top-spending candidate by far, with more than $15,000 in expenses. He said he needed to be aggressive because he had little name recognition, and he added that this loss will not stop him from running again.