AREA VOTERS TO DECIDE MANY ISSUES TODAY.

Byline: Karen Maeshiro Staff Writer

Antelope Valley voters will go to the polls today to decide a host of races, including those for mayor and City Council seats in Palmdale, nine school boards and a water district.

Also on the ballot is the Antelope Valley Union High School District's $91 million bond measure to build new schools and modernize old ones. In Rosamond, the Southern Kern Unified School District is seeking approval for $13.3 million in bonds to build more classrooms and upgrade electrical systems.

To pass, the bond measures require support from two-thirds of voters.

Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. The Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder's Office has set up a toll-free number, [phone], for voters who need to locate their polling place. In Kern County, voters can call [phone].

The Palmdale city election was marked by controversy after the arrest last week of council candidate Kevin Carney, a Los Angeles County sheriff's sergeant and outgoing member of the high school board, on suspicion of child molestation.

Carney is among 13 candidates for two council seats. Others are Allen Baumann, Sandy Corrales, Mike Dispenza, Bill Holmes, Alan Lee, Al Beattie, Dawn Charlton, John Craft, Vincent Hicks, Dan Dumaus, Bernie Longjohn and Michael Miller.

Six candidates are running for the seat whose term expires November 2001. They are Juan Blanco, David Collin, Rod Penner, Robert Bynum, Glade Cornelius, and John Springer.

Four-term incumbent Mayor Jim Ledford faces challengers Carlos Chavez, John Grant and Rick Norris.

The high school district is asking voters to approve the $91 million bond measure, which would build new schools, starting with one in east Palmdale, and refurbish Antelope Valley, Palmdale, and Quartz Hill high schools. The measure needs to pass by a two-thirds majority.

High school district trustees Wilda Andrejcik and Darrel Brown face challengers Richard Menzie and Richard Skidmore for two board seats. Running for a seat whose term expires in December 2001 are Isaac Barcelona and Cheryl Lundgren.

In the Acton-Agua Dulce Unified School District election for two seats, incumbents James Duzick and Sally Ann McCord face challengers Fred Heslep, John Sisco and Rebecca Small.

In the Antelope Valley Community College District, incumbent Earl Wilson and challengers Steve Buffalo, John Currado and Wayne Woodhall are vying for two seats.

Two seats are open in the Hughes-Elizabeth Lakes Union School District. Incumbent Judy Toothaker faces challengers William Axelrod, Sonya Ann Graff, Mary Wall, and David Carver.

Also in the Hughes district, candidates Jane Janssen, Charles Slay, Paul Moss and Dana Stewart are running for a seat with a term expiring December 2001.

In the Keppel Union School District, incumbents Cristina Arklin and Bert Hayman face challenger Manuel Magana in a race for two seats.

In the Lancaster School District, incumbents Mel Kleven and Patrick McIver face challenger John Miller for two seats.

In the Palmdale School District race for two seats, incumbents Helen Acosta and Larry Logsdon face challengers Tom Lackey, Anthonette Vidal, Ray Johnson and Lorelei Wolf, who has dropped out of the race.

Incumbents Gwen Farrell and Scott Gmur face challenger Robin Kessler for two seats in the Westside Union School District.

In the Wilsona School District, incumbent Maurice Kunkel faces challengers Dorothy Greene, Sharon Toyne, Shirley Harriman and Connie Montes for two seat.

In Palmdale Water District Division One, incumbent Leslie Carter faces no challengers. In Division Three, incumbent Jay Freeman faces challengers Russel Schoengarth and David Meraz for one seat.

In Division Four, incumbent Lynn Coffey faces challenger Thomas Warford for one seat.