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Headding a winner in Morro Bay council race

June 18, 2014

election-2014Two days after incumbent Councilwoman Nancy Johnson announced she was conceding her bid for the final seat on the Morro Bay City Council, the city of Morro Bay announced that pharmacist John Heading had won the position outright.

In the final tally conducted by county elections officials, Headding’s name appeared on 49.09 percent of ballots. But, 123 Morro Bay voters left the city council section of their ballots blank.

Interim City Attorney Joseph Pannone ruled Tuesday that the city should not count the blanks. The change in the vote count bumped Headding’s total to 50.7 percent, giving him the majority needed to secure a council seat in the primary election.

In a memo sent to Morro Bay officials, Pannone said he based his decision off of an elections code that states votes should not be counted if the choice of the voter is impossible to determine.

“A voter’s silence cannot be used to determine that voter’s intent,” Pannone wrote.

June’s election marked the third primary held by the city of Morro Bay. It was the first in which the results of the council race could have swung based on the city’s interpretation of election code.

Heading, the owner of Morro Bay Drug and Gift, will join the council in November, along with Matt Makowetski, who received votes on more than 60 percent of ballots in the primary.

Johnson, whose term will end in December, said in a media release Sunday that she would forego a runoff election in order to saved the city money and avoid more dirty politics. Though she could have opted not to campaign, elections code would have required that Johnson’s name appear on the ballot had the city not named Headding a winner.


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Ya just had to get nasty, didn’t you Kayakky


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After the rude treatment I had from his supporters , no way!! Let them be alert enough to get it down from the rental property on Alder Street. or YOU can go take it down!!


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fv,,,,,,,,,Understandable , if we lived close to Alder street we would be upset too! Bad enough to look around that neighborhood let alone seeing signs. Such a pity.


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Mistake….bad enough to LIVE around that neighborhood. Time to move to Cayucos!


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Would someone please tell Mr. Headding he still has one of his signs ‘up’ at Elena and Alter streets, MB, thanks


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Did you send him an email? make a call?, or you could be a considerate citizen and just remove the sign yourself, since this sign seems to be causing you problems, and then let him know you have it if he wants it back


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Too logical, Kayaknut :)


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Oh geeeeez Linda, you and Frank must surely have better things to do? Or not?


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hahahhaahhahahahahahhahahahah you are funny! Obviously you have nothing better to do all day long then police the remaining signs in the hood. Get a LIFE dear old woman!


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Maybe Morro Bay can finally start to clean up the mess created over the last several decades by the now defeated “Good Old Boy” network.


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Will not matter, as MB is on its way to becoming unincorporated as a city under the Irons helm. Having a mayor and council majority that is ANTI business, am wondering where the needed revenue is going to come from to run the city? No power plant, anti business…where does MB generate revenue? Oh yeah we forgot…..off the backs of hard working citizens.


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How did Mayor Irons have anything to do with the power plan closing down? This was in the works and caused by the council long before Mayor Irons was around. And the only businesses the former council encouraged were those that did not compete with businesses owned by family or friends of the council.


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Shhhhhh, kayak. We don’t want to get the Flat Earth Society of MB worked up again.


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nut…..just wait…..will not matter MB is down the drain. Back to being unincorporated. Hopefully Mayor Irons will get his property rezoned in MB (old town) that he just bought prior to our city becoming non existent. The old bald eagle has a agenda. And it does not involve 47 studies accompanied, by 112 local citizens partaking in a local study group ,to come to a resolution that will bring everyone back to the same question.


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To say that the current council is anti-business is ridiculous. What they want is an equal playing field for ALL businesses in town – including those downtown and in North Morro Bay. Previously, a small group of Embarcadero business owners, members of the old boy/girl network, manipulated City government to benefit themselves. Now ALL businesses in ALL of Morro Bay will receive fair and equal treatment. What a concept.


The network historically used City government to benefit its members and their cronies at the expense of everyone else – especially those hard-working residents. The current council wants EVERYONE to be treated fairly and equally – to contribute to and receive benefits from City government based on rational, intelligent analysis of what the City can afford.


The days when the former “in crowd” could siphon off our tax money to suit their personal objectives are over.


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Hey Kayak, why don’t you get some t-shirts printed up with the GOB logo, I’ll proudly wear one, and I bet you could sell a couple thousand to the families that built this town, raised their kids here, supported our schools, our fundraisers, etc.


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I was looking forward to voting for a ‘write in’!! dang


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Once again, no write-in line exists in a run off election.


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It would have been fun, but the good guys now have a 4 to 1 majority, so it’s OK. Maybe Headding will see the light and come around to the right way of doing things.


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