Councilman and Mayor Seek New Roles at City Hall

Two veterans of Redondo Beach politics, Mayor Barbara Doerr and Councilman Archie Snow, are seeking another four years at City Hall--but in different posts.

The March 7 municipal election will also feature a longtime school board member, Valerie Dombrowski, trying again for a seat on the City Council.

Ten other candidates filed their papers before the deadline Thursday, including council incumbents John Chapman and Kay Horrell.

But no one challenged City Atty. Gordon Phillips, who has held that post since 1981.

Doerr and Snow, having each completed two full terms, are not permitted by the City Charter to seek reelection to their current posts. But they are free to seek other city positions. Doerr will be the lone challenger for Chapman’s District 1 seat on the council, while Snow faces four other candidates for the mayor’s post to be vacated by Doerr.

The city has five council members who run by districts and a mayor who is elected citywide. The mayor has veto power but no vote on the council except in a tie. A veto can be overridden by four council members.

Chapman, a county urban planner who is seeking his second term representing the South Redondo district, has often sided with Snow and other council members in clashes with Doerr.

Snow’s best-known rival for mayor is W. Brad Parton, a pension and retirement investment counselor who lost a bid last March for the District 3 council seat now held by Stevan Colin.

Other Contenders

Other candidates for mayor are Steve Bopp, a bakery route salesman; Frank Bostrom, an architect and community planner, and John Dancy, a retired engineer.

Horrell, a real estate agent, faces two challengers in her race for a second term in the harbor-area District 2 post. Among them is Michael F. Ford, a real estate appraiser whose complaints about the city’s use of harbor revenues led to a state investigation. The inquiry absolved the city but resulted in an state recommendation for restrictions on the number of people who can live aboard their boats.

The live-aboard boaters initially applauded Ford’s efforts to improve the harbor, but some became critical when the state probe backfired against them.

The other candidate in the District 2 race is Neil Nathanson, a health and human services administrator.

Dombrowski, who has served 10 years on the Redondo Beach school board, lost her first bid for the District 4 council seat in 1985, when Snow won his second term as the North Redondo representative. Her opponents this time around are Terry Ward, a data processing consultant, and Barry W. Ogle, a machinist.

Voters also will decide the fate of three proposed charter amendments.

Proposition 1 on the March ballot would provide a backup mayor to officiate at council meetings when both the mayor and mayor pro tempore are absent.

Proposition 2 would not allow any resident to serve on more than one city board or commission at a time.

Proposition 3 would allow the city to use less-formal bidding procedures in awarding public works contracts under $50,000, while work amounting to less than $15,000 could be performed by city employees.