LYNWOOD — City Council incumbents Maria Santillan, Jim Morton and Ramon Rodriguez were allowed to keep their seats for another four years in Tuesday’s municipal election.

With less than 3,000 votes tallied, Santillan was once again the highest vote-getter, receiving 1,044 votes. She was also the highest vote-getter in the election of 2005.

Morton came in second place with 1,002 votes, and Rodriguez was able to withstand a battle with former City Treasurer Iris Pygatt for third place in unofficial results. The vote count will not become official until the county Board of Supervisors approves the final vote canvass from the Registrar of Voters office later this month.

Rodriguez defeated Pygatt for third place by 18 votes, 747 to 729.

In fifth place was Patricia Carr, with 642 votes, Walter Lopez in sixth place with 639 votes and Edwin Jacinto in seventh with 627.

At a small gathering across the street from a polling place at Lynwood Middle School with friends and family, Lopez said he was anticipating the election’s results and was hoping for the better.

“On a personal note, I hope I win, but sadly the turnout has been very low,” he said around 7:30 p.m., half an hour before the polls closed. “Unfortunately, I don’t think the numbers we hoped would come out, came out. All I can say is that I did all I could. … if I don’t win, at least I gave it a shot.”

Win or lose, he said: “I’m still going to be an active part of the community.”

Morton, a longtime resident, first won a seat on the City Council in the 2007 recall election, replacing ousted Councilwoman Leticia Vasquez. But six weeks later he lost that seat in the regular November election. But in early 2008, Morton was appointed to replace Councilman Tony Martinez, who resigned his seat on the council for personal reasons.

Santillan, Morton and Rodriguez ran independently of each other, but they shared much of the same support from the community.

Santillan, Morton and Rodriguez gathered with supporters at the home of longtime community activist and resident Lucy Avalos, for the election party.

At the end of the night, Santillan thanked her supporters for their votes of confidence.

“Things are pretty steady on the [city] council right now,” she said. “Things are moving forward how they should be, which means people are happy. There are different reasons for low-voter turnouts during elections, but sometimes it just means that people are comfortable with how things are working at City Hall.

“A lot of people might say that [the current council is] not doing anything, but we are. We’ve made a lot of needed internal changes, and overall, I believe that our residents see that,” Santillan said. “Our residents are smarter than to believe in rumors and hit pieces. They believe in what they see and what they know.”

Overall, said Santillan, residents see the city’s progress, such as with the surveillance cameras, the low crime statistics, balancing the budget and three new parks.

“This time, walking door to door, it was different than it has been in the past,” she said. “Residents’ biggest concern has always been crime and the sheriff’s visibility, I didn’t get that this time. People’s number one concern this time, were the trees in the city. Potholes were second. The fact that they didn’t mention sheriff’s made me feel good, that means that we’re meeting that need.”

Santillan said she was looking forward to her new term and that first on her list — hoping that the economy will turn around — will be to bring in big-box [retail] tenants that “we desperately need.”

Morton was ecstatic over his win and said he wanted to send out a big thank you to people who cast their votes in his name, along with Santillan’s and Rodriguez’.

“We couldn’t have done it without all of them,” he said. “When you have an honest group, and you are doing good things for the city, it pays off. Crime rates are down, we’ve cut the budget by $6.5 million, and residents are happy.”

Along with working with his council colleagues, Morton said he is looking forward to bringing in more surveillance cameras to the city of Lynwood.

“Residents want to live in safe neighborhoods,” he said. “Those cameras have helped our great city and our residents feel safe once again. I remember when we didn’t have to worry about locking our doors. … We used to have a safe, good community, I’d like to get back to that place.”

Hours before the final figures came through, Rodriguez was also bewildered by the numbers. Yet he remained confident.

“There are a lot of things residents look at when they cast their votes at the polls, but what matters to people is how they see the city moving forward,” he said. “Is that happening? Yes it is and I think people are aware of that.”

The swearing-in of Santillan, Morton and Rodriguez for their new terms is scheduled to take place in early December, once the final vote figures are in.