Bailey, Adkison Early Leaders in Riverside Mayor's Race

RIVERSIDE - Councilman Rusty Bailey and former councilman Ed Adkison were the early leaders tonight among seven candidates vying to become Riverside's next mayor.

With 8.3 percent of the vote in, Bailey had 4,177 votes or 31.4 percent, while Adkison was second with 3,825 votes or 28.8 percent.

Council members Mike Gardner (17.4 percent) and Andy Melendrez (12.2 percent) were next, followed by community volunteer Aurora Chavez (4 percent), teacher and civic activist Dvonne Pitruzzello (3.8 percent) and nonprofit Blindness Support Services CEO Peter Benavidez (3.8 percent).

After 18 years at the helm, Mayor Ron Loveridge is leaving political life, and the resulting vacancy generated more interest than usual thanks to this being the first time in 50 years that a mayor's race has been held in Riverside at the same time as a presidential contest.

Mayoral elections were previously held in odd years, but a change to the city charter in 2006 scheduled the races to coincide with presidential elections beginning this year.

If no candidate claims more than 50 percent of the vote in today's election, a runoff will be held Nov. 6.

Issues in the election included diversity in city employment, transparency in government and fiscal responsibility.

Riverside voters were also asked to consider Measure E, which would amend the city charter to add the position of city auditor. According to the proposal, if the amendment passes, an auditor would be appointed by the city council to regularly scrutinize contracts and operations.

The early vote tally, however, showed the measure being narrowly defeated.

''The increased independence of the audit function fosters transparency, citizen confidence and legislative accountability,'' according to a statement on the proposal submitted by members of the Riverside Charter Review Committee.

''The ... new position will increase citizen confidence in the decisions made by city management in terms of both fiscal and operational matters.''

Several groups have alleged mismanagement of city finances and other high-level wrongdoing in the last several years, with much of the criticism being leveled at former City Manager Brad Hudson, who resigned last August to take a job in Sacramento County.

A community group in which Pitruzzello is active operates a website documenting alleged accounting irregularities by city officials: http://thirtymilesofcorruption.com.