Tom O’Malley wins third term as Atascadero mayor; Fonzi, Bourbeau take council seats

Atascadero Mayor Tom O’Malley on Tuesday was re-elected for a third term, while Councilwoman Roberta Fonzi retained her seat and Planning Commissioner Charles Bourbeau became the city’s newest council member.

O’Malley collected 60.7 percent of the vote, trailed by Atascadero News sports editor Nicholas Mattson at 32.5 percent and business manager Ann Ketcherside at 6.4 percent, according to unofficial election results.

In the race for two council seats, incumbent Fonzi received the most votes, taking 38.1 percent, while Bourbeau received 32.2 percent. The two were trailed by medical technician Daniel Eister, who received 14.9 percent of the vote, and writer Bret Heinemann with 14.3 percent.

Economic issues — particularly efforts to revitalize Atascadero’s downtown and the need for business growth and local jobs — were widely debated throughout the candidates’ campaigns.

Incumbent O’Malley was the most successful fundraiser of the mayoral candidates — his campaign took in about $10,000 after starting the year with $5,000. Mattson wasn’t far behind, raising about $9,900. Ketcherside’s campaign didn’t raise more than $2,000.

Fonzi, the top City Council vote-getter, raised the most money of the candidates, taking in about $9,000 in 2016. Bourbeau raised about $3,000, and neither Heinemann nor Eister took in more than $2,000.

Atascadero voters also cast ballots to decide whether their treasurer and city clerk would continue to be selected by voters or would be appointed by the city manager’s office.

Voters selected the appointive option for city clerk, with 50.5 percent voting yes and 49.5 percent voting no. Residents opted to continue electing the city treasurer, with 51.8 percent voting against making the position appointive and 48.2 percent voting in favor.

This story was originally published November 8, 2016 at 9:07 PM with the headline "Tom O’Malley wins third term as Atascadero mayor; Fonzi, Bourbeau take council seats."