RANCHO PALOS VERDES, CA — Just 156 votes separated two candidates vying for the final seat on the Rancho Palos Verdes City Council on Wednesday morning, while a proposed hotel tax increase intended to bolster public safety and city services appeared headed for approval.
Matthew Brach held a narrow lead over Tina Funiciello in the race for the third council seat, with 4,633 votes to Funiciello's 4,477, according to unofficial results updated at 3:11 a.m. Wednesday by the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk.
John Cruikshank led the six-candidate field with 7,528 votes, or 26%, followed by David Chura with 5,795 votes, or 20.1%. Brach had 16% of the vote, compared with Funiciello's 15.5%.
The gap between Brach and Funiciello had widened slightly from 133 votes in an earlier election-night count, but the contest remained too close to call with additional ballots still to be processed.
Jessica Patton Vlaco was fifth with 3,415 votes, followed by Michele Patrick Carbone with 3,051. Three seats are available on the five-member council, with all three outgoing incumbents declining to seek reelection.
The incoming council will inherit some of the city's most pressing challenges, particularly the continuing Portuguese Bend landslide emergency, which has damaged homes, roads and utilities and placed substantial pressure on municipal finances.
Meanwhile, Rancho Palos Verdes voters were overwhelmingly supporting Measure RS, a proposal to increase the city's hotel and motel occupancy tax from 10% to 13%. The latest returns showed 10,041 votes in favor, or 74.6%, compared with 3,422 votes against, or 25.4%.
The measure requires a simple majority to pass. According to the city's official Measure RS information, the increase would generate approximately $2.2 million annually to support public safety, disaster preparedness, road and storm drain maintenance, landslide response and other municipal services.
The proposal comes as Rancho Palos Verdes confronts mounting costs associated with the Portuguese Bend landslide complex. City officials estimate the municipality will have spent approximately $75 million of its own funds on landslide response over the three-and-a-half-year period ending in June 2027.
Measure RS would provide an additional source of locally controlled revenue, although the proceeds would not be restricted exclusively to landslide mitigation or any single municipal service. The measure would remain in effect until ended by voters and includes requirements for public spending disclosures and independent annual financial and performance audits.
In the Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District Board of Education election, three candidates were leading the race for three available seats. Jeremy Vanderhal topped the five-candidate field with 11,295 votes, or 27.6%, followed by Allyson Lehrer with 9,772 votes, or 23.9%.
Louis Matthew Harley held third place with 7,821 votes, or 19.1%, ahead of Liz Peterson, who had 7,231 votes, or 17.7%. The 590-vote margin between Harley and Peterson left the contest for the final school board seat unresolved.
Paul Vidal was fifth with 4,798 votes, or 11.7%. The district serves communities across the Palos Verdes Peninsula, including Rancho Palos Verdes.
All results remain unofficial, and the standings could change as additional ballots are counted. According to the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk, ballot processing will continue following Election Day, with further updates expected as the county completes its canvass.
California law allows eligible vote-by-mail ballots postmarked by Nov. 3 to be counted if they arrive by Nov. 10. The remaining ballots could prove particularly significant in the closely contested Rancho Palos Verdes council race, where fewer than 160 votes currently separate the candidates in third and fourth place. Voters can follow the latest unofficial returns through the Los Angeles County election results portal. The election results will not become final until certification.
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