Voters Will Go to Polls in 22 Cities This Week

Voters will go to the polls Tuesday in 22 San Gabriel Valley cities to elect mayors and council members and decide several issues, including proposed tax increases, rent regulation for mobile homes and the potential sale of a community hospital.

Elections to choose council members and, in some cases, mayors will be held in Arcadia, Azusa, Baldwin Park, Claremont, Covina, Diamond Bar, El Monte, Glendora, Irwindale, La Puente, La Verne, Monrovia, Monterey Park, Rosemead, San Dimas, San Gabriel, Sierra Madre, South El Monte, South Pasadena, Temple City and West Covina.

In addition, although no municipal offices will be at stake, the city of Alhambra will hold a special election to repeal an ordinance that bans the sale or transfer of Alhambra Community Hospital without approval of two-thirds of the voters. City officials and hospital board members are seeking the repeal to give them greater freedom to deal with the hospital’s financial problems.

Tax measures will be on the ballot in Covina, Glendora and Sierra Madre. In a non-binding advisory measure, Covina residents will vote on whether their City Council should create a fire assessment district that would charge homeowners $72 a year for fire services, freeing other revenues for paramedic services, police patrols and street maintenance.

Glendora voters will decide whether a property tax of 20 cents per $100 assessed value should be levied to raise money to buy hillside land for conservation. Passage would require a two-thirds majority.

In Sierra Madre, two issues are on the ballot. One measure would increase property taxes by 8.5 cents per $100 assessed value to raise money to pay for paramedic services. The measure requires a two-thirds vote. The other proposal is an advisory vote on whether council members should be limited to two consecutive terms.

Baldwin Park voters will consider whether to revise the system of choosing a mayor. One proposal would convert the position from an elective office to a rotating post among council members. Another measure would retain the elected mayor’s position but extend the term from two years to four.

In El Monte, a ballot measure asks whether the mobile home rent review program should be replaced with a rental assistance program.

A proposition on the ballot in Monterey Park would revise and extend Proposition K, which was passed by voters in 1982 to limit residential construction. The new measure, Proposition S, would maintain growth controls on residential building through the end of the year 2000.

In addition to filling municipal offices, voters on Tuesday will choose two state senators to represent portions of the San Gabriel Valley.

Assemblyman Frank Hill (R-Whittier) will face Democrat Janice Graham and Robert Lewis of the American Independent Party in a runoff election to fill the 31st State Senate District seat vacated by Hacienda Heights Republican William Campbell, who resigned to become president of the California Manufacturers Assn.

Assemblyman Charles M. Calderon (D-Whittier) will face Republican Joe Aguilar Urquidi and Libertarian Kim Goldsworthy in the 26th State Senate District special election to choose a successor to Whittier Democrat Joseph B. Montoya, who resigned Feb. 9 after being convicted on charges of political corruption.