Hammond, Wong, Gililland Win School Board Seats

Former Monrovia Mayor Rob Hammond stormed back into elected office in triumphant fashion Tuesday evening, taking in the most votes in preliminary results to join incumbents and on the school board.

With all 18 precincts reporting, Wong and Gililland finished just behind Hammond in voting to reclaim their seats on the Board of Education, though the final voting tallies must still be certified by the county registrar. Hammond received 1,444 votes to Wong's 1,411 and Gililland's 1,402, according to county records.

"When the community decides whatever group it wants to lead it, I'm happy to just be a part of it," Hammond said in a phone interview while watching results at his home.

Hammond said the voting vindicated , which centered around retaining local kids to boost the district's enrollment.

"The most important thing from our side...is that the idea that I had obviously resonated with the people in the community, that we need to keep the people in our community in our schools."

Gililland congratulated his fellow victors and said he looked forward to working with Hammond.

"I'm just looking forward to another four years of helping the schools get better," Gililland said. "Certainly Rob's had experience on the City Council and I think that will give him a good head start to get in the board and address the issues that face this district and I'm looking forward to working with him."

Challenger , an escrow officer , finished as the first runner-up with 849 votes. She said she didn't know if she would consider making another run at public office in the future.

"I really kind of ran this race to win it and gave it my best shot," Covarrubias said, adding that she intends to stay active in the school district. "I definitely will be a presence at the district whether it's as a school board member or in another capacity."

, an entrepreneur who received the endorsements of Mayor Mary Ann Lutz and Councilwoman Becky Shevlin, congratulated the winners and said he also would stay active in Monrovia schools.

"I'll stay focused on what I've been doing for 15 years," Williams said.

Wong and candidates and , who finished sixth and seventh in voting, respectively, could not be reached for comment on this story.