Tentative results are in…

Hercules City Council: Ward, Balico win; Delgado leading
By Tom Lochner

Incumbents Ed Balico and Mayor Joanne Ward won new Hercules City Council terms Tuesday, while first-time candidate John Delgado gained a spot on the council beating second-time candidate Don Kuehne by 13 votes.

Balico received 4,753 votes or 29.7 percent, Ward got 4,567 votes or 28.6 percent, Delgado received 3,296 or 20.6 percent and Kuehne received 3,283 or 20.5 percent

While all precincts had been tallied, it was unclear Wednesday morning how many provisional ballots or absentee ballots turned in at the polls remain to be counted.

Balico and Ward touted changes that occurred in the eight years they have been on the council, including steps toward implementation — which detractors say has been slow and has lacked coherence — of the 2000 vision of a New Urbanism-inspired waterfront with upscale shops and homes, professional offices, an Amtrak train station and ferry to San Francisco.

Kuehne’s name-recognition derives from his role in a successful fight earlier in this decade against a proposed development of more than 500 homes, a hotel, offices and stores in Franklin Canyon; and from his service on the Hercules Education Foundation board and on the board of his homeowners association.

Delgado, a San Francisco prosecutor, moved to Hercules five years ago. As of Oct. 18, he had raised only $100 other than his own money.

Balico had spent more than $13,600 in the same period, more than the three other candidates combined.

One of Hercules’ major lingering issues, although the candidates did not talk about it much during the campaign, is the fate of a 17 1/4-acre tract near the waterfront owned by Wal-Mart, which has wrangled with the city over plans for a big-box store. The retailer, which has since come up with smaller-scale model stores, could file a new application any time.