Local Elections : Crowded Field May Attract Voters in Beverly Hills Race

School financing and bickering among the members of the Beverly Hills City Council are the two issues that have dominated the campaign for three City Council seats by 13 candidates in the April 12 election.

All 13 candidates seem to share the same view on those issues: The city should continue funding the Beverly Hills Unified School District until the district can be self-supporting, and the emotional and personal public outbursts by members of the council in recent months have become an embarrassment to the city and must stop.

No incumbents are running for reelection, but Vicki Reynolds, former school board president, and Planning Commissioner Allan L. Alexander are the front-runners, according to political observers and all of the other candidates. Political signs on lawns in yards throughout the city testify to the popularity of both Reynolds and Alexander.

City Clerk Jean M. Ushijima said the larger-than-usual number of candidates may bring out more voters; she predicts that 38% of the city’s 20,000 registered voters will cast votes, in contrast to previous elections where turnouts have averaged about 30%. She also said that more absentee ballots have been requested than before. Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Ballots will be counted at City Hall Council Chambers.

The candidates are:

ALLAN L. ALEXANDER, 47, a corporate and real estate attorney, has the distinction of being the only candidate endorsed by both the Concern for Tenants Rights, a renters group, and the Beverly Hills Properties Owners Assn., a landlord group.

Alexander, on the city Planning Commission since 1983, said he believes it is important to have someone on the City Council with his background. He has an economics degree from Stanford University and a law degree from Harvard University.

Alexander, founding president of the Southeast Homeowners Assn., said he favors continued city support of the school district, but would like to see a parcel tax imposed that could produce new revenue for the district.

“The community has an obligation to maintain a high-quality education for our children,” he said.

DAVID L. BRADY, 54, a tax attorney, is a member of the Greystone Foundation.

Brady, who has the endorsement of Councilman Maxwell H. Salter, said the “petty bickering” on the City Council has got to stop and that meetings should be run in a more positive, businesslike manner.

He also favors limiting the sizes of new houses by dividing the city into separate districts with different guidelines to fit the character of the neighborhood.

“You can’t have one ordinance that works for all areas of the city,” he said.

Brady favors continued financial support for the schools: “If we don’t help the children today we are going to destroy this country.”

MARY LEVIN CUTLER, 54, an investor and businesswoman, said she initially entered the race because of concern about overdevelopment of the city’s hillsides. Thanks to an $80,000 campaign, residents now know her positions on other issues.

In a 16-page booklet she calls “A Master Plan for Beverly Hills,” Cutler calls for curtailment of unplanned development, better use of one-way, rush-hour streets, a Beverly Hills International Festival of the Arts and more citizen involvement in city planning.

In another campaign piece, Cutler said fiscal mismanagement has caused a loss of confidence in elected officials. She pledged to get tough on the city budget and city expenditures.

Cutler said she is providing nearly all of her campaign funds because she does not want to feel obligated to any special interest group. She said she sees her contribution as an investment in the “quality of life in Beverly Hills.”

STEVEN M. FOONBERG, 18, is a television film student at USC and a former production assistant for the city’s cable government channel.

Although veteran campaign observers have written off Foonberg’s chances because of his inexperience and age, he has been campaigning right alongside the front-runners.

His lawn signs are modeled after the city shield, and he has provided the media with weekly press releases stating his positions on the issues.

Foonberg added some excitement late in the campaign by promising equal toilet facilities for women in public buildings.

“It is basically unfair that women should have to stand in long lines to use toilets,” he said. “Our city building codes and licensing laws must be changed to provide women with equal toilet facilities.”

Foonberg supports continuing city funding for schools, increasing city visibility by maintaining strong ties with the entertainment industry and increasing public awareness of the AIDS crisis with city sponsorship of forums.

MICHAEL J. GARRIS, 68, is a retired electrical engineering consultant. He moved to Beverly Hills in 1959, 13 years after arriving in the United States from Poland where his family was killed by the Nazis, he said.

Garris said he is running for office because he now has the time to devote to the job, and because he wants to give something back to his community.

“America has opened the door for me, and I would like to reciprocate by working for the people in the City Council,” he said. “If I am elected, I will stress crime prevention, support for schools, more apartment buildings, better facilities for senior citizens, more parking facilities and preservation of the architectural history of the city.”

Garris filed a statement with the City Clerk saying he did not intend to raise or spend more than $1,000 during the campaign.

ELLEN STERN HARRIS, 58, a consumer advocate and journalist, is a former member of the California Coastal Commission and the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board. She is executive director of the Fund for the Environment, a nonprofit group dedicated to protecting, restoring and enhancing the state’s environment.

Harris said there has been a lack of “anticipatory planning” in the city and is calling for a review of the city’s Master Plan. She said she would also like to see the city return to self-sufficiency in its water supply, rather than depend on the Metropolitan Water District.

Harris said scale models of proposed buildings should be built and shadows simulated to give city planners a better idea of a development’s effect on neighboring structures.

She said she favors continuing city support of the school district, building more city parking structures on South Beverly Boulevard and limiting the size of residential structures.

“I would bring integrity, accomplishment, dedication, fairness and courtesy to the process of governing Beverly Hills,” she said.

BERNARD (BERNIE) J. HECHT, 65, is a retired business executive who made unsuccessful runs for the City Council in 1972 and 1974.

Hecht, who also has Salter’s endorsement, has stressed a return of excellence as the theme of his campaign. He said his more than 40 years of business experience will allow him to help create “management and financial solutions” to the city’s problems.

Hecht developed the CPR training program for the city, which has trained more than 24,000 people in life-saving cardiopulmonary resuscitation. He supports city funding of the school district and said the city should take “our excellence and get together with other communities and demand that there be more spent per child in the state by Sacramento.

“My community roots are deep, my involvement long term.”

FRANKLIN J. LAMM, 62, a certified public accountant and financial planner, is the only renter in the campaign. He has lived in Beverly Hills for 10 years.

In written statements, Lamm has criticized City Council members for arguing with each other.

“Petty bickering and acrimony should be eliminated,” he said. “We must strive to maintain more than a minimal amount of dignity at council meetings.”

Lamm said he favors maintaining the “excellent standards of our school system,” and agrees in principle with rent control, although he said owners should be allowed a fair return on their investment. He also favors limiting council members to one term.

Lamm said the voters made a mistake three years ago when they turned down a new high-rise hotel for the city. “If we didn’t need a new hotel, why do we now have several new hotels built or under construction within 2 miles of the city?” Lamm asked. “We still get all the problems but none of the benefits.”

ROBERT M. MAGID, 58, a businessman and apartment owner, has lived in Beverly Hills for more than 40 years. He said he entered the race because he has been unhappy with the City Council for a number of years.

“They address all the problems, but they never solve them,” Magid said. “Also, people with business minds and experience do not run for City Council. I think it is time for some basic business experience to be up there.”

Magid is president of Equitable Factors Co., which provides financing for small manufacturers. He also owns 32 apartment units in twin buildings in Beverly Hills.

As a landlord, Magid said he has never advocated taking away existing rights of tenants, but is opposed to any “further bending of the line toward a Santa Monica or West Hollywood rent control ordinance.”

He said he supports city funding of the school district, but would like to see a parcel tax imposed to help fund the district.

Magid said his campaigning has been limited because of job commitments and his unwillingness to spend a lot of money.

“I don’t have time to kiss babies and knock on doors,” he said with a laugh. “I also think that spending $100,000 on a campaign would be far better if it was given to the education fund.”

VICKI REYNOLDS, 52, is a former two-term member of the Beverly Hills Unified School District Board of Education.

She has been the most successful fund-raiser of all the candidates, having raised nearly $60,000 in contributions from a broad spectrum of donors, including the business community.

Reynolds has remained the front-runner in the campaign by frequently referring to her time on the school board. “I have done it before,” Reynolds said. Adequate funding for the schools is “as fundamental as police and fire protection,” she said.

Reynolds has proposed reducing traffic congestion by creating a “coordinating cabinet” of staff members, city commissioners and a City Council member to work together. She has also proposed creating additional parking by converting surface parking lots to parking structures, establishing a neighborhood newsletter to inform residents of proposed projects and developing a “good neighbor” policy with nearby cities to work out common problems.

CYNTHIA ROSE, 43, a former banker, is making a second attempt at the City Council. Rose said she is running because the city needs strong leadership.

Rose has graduate degrees in public administration and banking, and worked in the late 1960s in the budget and research department for the City of Phoenix. She also worked as a researcher for the Pima, Ariz., County Board of Supervisors.

She said she has been a bank director, a commercial loan officer and loan review officer in charge of a $200-million loan portfolio. She retired from banking in 1985.

Rose, who ran unsuccessfully for office in 1986, said she supports the Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History’s proposal to use the Greystone Mansion as a satellite facility, and opposes any changes to the current rent control ordinance.

She said she would also like to see a ballot proposal asking the voters to consider allowing a new mid-rise hotel in the city.

Rose is spending less than $1,000 on her campaign.

“I am professionally trained to manage a city and I will bring continuity of leadership to the council,” she said.

ALAN SCHUCHMAN, 40, is an attorney and former art teacher in the New York City public school system.

Schuchman said he is running because the city needs council members with “vision, foresight and an intelligent sense of priorities.”

He questions city expenditures and said diminished funds could threaten services such as police and fire protection, sanitation services and financial support for the schools.

“An intelligent sense of priorities will give us a chance to allocate our funds and provide these important services without having to impose an additional tax burden upon any of us,” he said.

LILLIAN WORTHING WYSHAK, 59, is an attorney, accountant and real estate broker. She has lived in Beverly Hills since 1965 and is a member of the Beverly Hills/Cannes Sister City Committee.

Before starting her private practice, Wyshak was an assistant U.S. attorney in the tax division.

Wyshak said she entered the race because she felt the absence of incumbents created a void.

“It was like a calling,” she said. “I feel that I have the educational background and the professional experience to serve.”

Wyshak, a newcomer to Beverly Hills local politics, said she had not intended to spend much on the campaign. However, after a local weekly newspaper recently dismissed her chances of winning, she placed full-page ads in the two local weekly newspapers and will be sending out a mailer. She said she will probably end up spending about $21,000.

“I entered the race because I really felt from the heart that I wanted to serve,” she said. “Now I am spending all this money just to serve.”

Wyshak said she favors continued city funding for the school district, the county museum’s proposal for Greystone, new programs to involve the elderly with youth, and underground parking lots below Roxbury and La Cienega parks.