Recall, Slow Growth Highlight Local Races : Elections: In Bradbury, absentee ballots hold the political fate of the mayor and an incumbent. Diamond Bar voters usher in new council members opposed to development.

THE REGION — Diamond Bar voters have elected a new council majority that is expected to rein in growth, while in Bradbury, it could be weeks before the fate of two council members facing recall is decided.

With 100% of the precincts tallied, the only votes that remain to be counted are absentee ballots dropped off at polling sites Tuesday, county officials said. While those are unlikely to alter most races, Bradbury’s recall election remained too close to call. Mayor Audrey Hon was losing, 35 to 34 votes, and Councilman Tom Melbourn was losing 32 to 30.

In other San Gabriel Valley races, Covina residents put a fresh City Council in office after recalling the old panel in July for supporting a 6% utility tax. Four of the five winners were endorsed by the anti-tax group that spearheaded the recall.

In Duarte, two incumbents were reelected and the outgoing president of the Chamber of Commerce won, diversifying opinions on a council that has sparred with the chamber.

And in Walnut, two council candidates with diametrically opposed views on a controversial 26-acre shopping mall claimed victory.

Choosing among 11 candidates, Diamond Bar voters ousted two of three incumbents up for reelection, and elected two slow-growth proponents who are political newcomers.

Councilman Gary Werner, who has supported citizen groups that in the last year have twice forced referendums on the city’s General Plan and are now trying to recall the mayor and mayor pro tem, will keep his seat, while Dexter MacBride and John Forbing step down.

Council newcomers Clair Harmony, a longtime council critic who runs his own finance company, and Eileen Ansari, a community volunteer and the only woman on the ballot, are expected to make up the new majority bloc with Werner.

Some business leaders in town had expressed fear that election of the three would damage the business climate in a city already plagued by high vacancy rates in office and retail space.

Mayor Pro Tem Phyllis Papen said the election results were “obviously a ‘NIMBY,’ no-growth mandate by the citizens in this community.”

“This new majority has control of this city now, and they’ll have to start solving a lot of the problems that they have created,” she said.

But Harmony, who has said he believes the city is basically “built out,” said the new majority is in favor of “quality growth.” He added, however, that it is unlikely that the city’s largest proposed housing and commercial development in Sandstone Canyon will proceed as planned.

In tiny Bradbury, residents of two districts initiated recall drives earlier this year after former City Manager Aurora “Dolly” Vollaire was fired for allegedly spending more than $80,000 in city money on personal expenses, many of them luxury items. The district attorney’s office is investigating.

The entire council bore some responsibility for Vollaire’s fiscal practices, residents who launched the recalls said. The council routinely approved payments to the city credit card, petty cash and other accounts that covered purchases by Vollaire for items including fine china and designer sunglasses.

In her capacity as mayor, Hon signed the checks and approved the final checklists at the end of each month. Vollaire, who was city manager for two decades and also served as city clerk, planning director and finance director, added many checks to the lists after the full council had reviewed them, an investigation by The Times revealed.

“I’ve served the best that I know how,” said Hon. “Democracy is democracy, I guess.”

If Hon is recalled, she said she will continue to serve the community. Hon has denied any negligence or responsibility in the Vollaire scandal.

While the outcome of the recalls remained unclear, Bradbury residents resoundingly voted to replace the candidates by special election in April, rather than by appointment. That would mean a three-member council governing between Nov. 22, when officials certify the results, and the April election, leaving Hon and Melbourn’s districts unrepresented.

Melbourn warned that voters made a mistake by choosing election over appointment.

“They will be unrepresented for three to five months, and that is unconscionable on the part of those people who voted that way. But that’s democracy in action,” Melbourn said.

In Covina, where voters ousted all five council members in a recall election in July, California Highway Patrol officer Chris Christiansen and Deputy Dist. Atty. Thomas Falls, who prosecutes gang members in the San Gabriel Valley, led the record-setting pack of 21 candidates.

“Based on the way it voted, I’d say this community is obviously very concerned about public safety,” said Falls, who said he will immediately call for creation of a committee to address Covina’s growing gang problem.

Christiansen was the only winner not endorsed by the Stop the Utility Tax Committee, which sparked the recall drive after the city passed a controversial 6% utility tax last year. Christiansen led his nearest competitor, Falls, by more than 400 votes.

The other winners were Linda Sarver, a self-employed marketing director and the only female candidate; Thomas M. O’Leary, an attorney and a former council member, and John Wilcox, a computer science consultant.

Each will serve out the remaining terms of the original council. The three highest vote-getters--Christiansen, Falls and Sarver--will hold office until April, 1996, while Wilcox and O’Leary have landed in seats that expire in April.

In Duarte, voters elected two incumbents along with the outgoing president of the Chamber of Commerce to the council at a time when the city is struggling to maintain services and attract business, and has been feuding with the chamber.

Councilwomen Margaret E. Finlay was the biggest vote-getter among the field of eight candidates. Finlay, appointed to the council three years ago, voted along with Mayor John C. Van Doren and two other council members last December to end a $50,000 annual contract with the chamber. Van Doren is retiring, leaving his seat vacant.

Close on her heels came Philip R. Reyes, outgoing chamber president and longtime council critic, followed by Councilman James D. Kirchner, who won a second four-year term.

“I think this is an opportunity for us to come together and work for good of the community. This is too small of a community not to work together,” Kirchner said, calling for an end to the feud between the council and chamber.

Reyes, a 38-year-old school board member, is the first Latino elected to the council. .

In Walnut, Mayor William T. Choctaw, a strong supporter of the controversial Snow Creek Plaza shopping mall who touted diversity as one of the city’s strengths, gained an easy reelection with 34% of the vote in the four-candidate race.

“I think the people are supportive of our involvement of more members of the community, and emphasis on our diversity as our strength. I also believe most people support the Snow Creek Plaza,” Choctaw said.

Planning Commissioner June Wentworth, a 28-year Walnut resident who felt the mall should have been downsized, edged past accountant Mei Mei Ho-Hilger late in the tally to win a second open seat.

Times correspondents Richard Winton and Andrew LePage contributed to this story.