LOCAL ELECTIONS SOUTHEAST CITY COUNCILS : Campaign Fund, Quake Stand as Issues

Will Latino candidates win City Council seats for the first time in two overwhelmingly Latino cities?

Will a one-year resident of Cerritos be able to win a council seat after raising a startling $104,000 in campaign funds--more than four times the amount raised by his nearest competitor.

Will critics of the Whittier City Council’s plans for rebuilding the city after the 1987 earthquake win the race for two council seats?

Voters in 18 cities in Southeast Los Angeles County will decide these and other questions when they go to the polls Tuesday.

In Huntington Park, two longtime incumbents are engaged in one of their toughest campaigns against two Latino challengers.

The city, which is more than 90% Latino, has been singled out over the years by Latino activists and voter rights advocates because a Latino has never won a seat on the City Council.

Talk of Latino political representation grates on incumbents William P. Cunningham and Jim Roberts, who say they have served the city’s 59,000 residents equally. “We feel we are consistent,” Roberts said. “If we’re going to deal with one person one way, we’re going to be dealing with other people the same way.”

But challenger Raul Perez contends a Spanish-speaking Latino will better understand and serve the city’s Latino residents, many of whom do not speak English. None of the incumbents speak Spanish.

A second Latino candidate, Luis Hernandez, is attacking the incumbents for the city’s recent financial problems, which forced 25 layoffs and cuts in services last year.

Even if the incumbents are reelected, a Latino still is virtually assured of winning the third council seat on the ballot. Councilman Herbert A. Hennes Jr. has decided to retire for personal reasons.

Roberts is the leading fund-raiser, with $17,063, according to his campaign disclosure statement. Cunningham raised $14,403, while Perez had $6,329. Hernandez had not turned in campaign statements as of late last week. A fifth candidate, Alan Kartsman, said he would raise and spend less than $1,000.

Hernandez faces a $200 fine for not filing his statements, a violation of state law. Critics also point out that Hernandez, by not filing the statements, has not disclosed who is backing his campaign. Hernandez said he has not filed the statement because some of his contributors are businessmen in the city who fear retaliation.

Two Latinas are among seven candidates vying for two council seats in nearby Bell Gardens, a city of 38,000 that is 85% Latino.

Josephina Macias and Rosa Hernandez have been given only an outside chance of becoming the first Latinos to serve on the Bell Gardens City Council. Councilman Ronald Bird is seeking reelection, but Mayor Roger McComas decided to retire after 22 years in office.

Bird, who has raised $4,400, and Douglas O’Leary, who has raised $2,793, are considered the front-runners. Macias has raised $1,799; Hernandez, $1,587.

Latinos have had little political clout in both Huntington Park and Bell Gardens because many residents are not citizens and cannot vote.

Money is the hottest election topic in Cerritos.

One council candidate in the 13-way race, Charles J. Kim, has raised $104,000. In contrast, the one incumbent in the race, Ann Joynt, is spending less than $8,000.

The other candidates have called Kim a carpetbagger and accused him of trying to buy the election with money raised outside the city.

“I don’t know how to compete with this,” said candidate Perry N. Barit, chairman of the Cerritos Planning Commission. “In fact, most of my signs and billboards are recycled from past elections.” Barit has raised $9,700.

Kim dismisses the charges, saying critics underestimate the voters. “How can you buy an election?” Kim said. “What money can do is buy a means to communicate.”

The Cerritos race is one of three in the area that have been flung wide open because at least two incumbents are not seeking reelection.

Longtime Cerritos council members Diana Needham and Barry Rabbitt are reluctantly stepping aside. A city charter amendment limits council members to two consecutive terms. The council had tried to block the amendment from being enforced, but a court ruled last fall that it was valid.

In South Gate, Councilmen Odell L. Snavely and William H. DeWitt have decided to leave their seats. Councilman Herbert W. Cranton is one of seven candidates vying for three seats.

Two seats are up for grabs in La Habra Heights, where Mayor Jean G. Good and Councilman Gene W. Beckman are bowing out. Good and Beckman have been council members since the city was founded in 1978. Three candidates are vying for the two seats.

The 1987 earthquake that devastated parts of Whittier has stirred the political landscape as well. Many of the 10 candidates vying for two council seats are criticizing Whittier officials for the way the city is being rebuilt.

They contend the incumbents have approved policies that endanger Whittier’s Quaker charm. They say Whittier will become another homogenous Los Angeles suburb if officials do not do more to save the city’s historical houses and buildings, and limit development.

Councilman Gene Chandler, who defends rebuilding efforts in Whittier, is seeking his third term. Mayor Victor Lopez is retiring.

In Hawaiian Gardens, a proposal to build the city’s first motel has been a key issue. The ante in the race was raised two weeks ago when Councilman Venn Furgeson announced he would resign after the election because of failing health. Furgeson’s term expires in 1992.

Whoever wins the two open council seats will help choose Furgeson’s successor--and determine the balance of the next council--because Furgeson was a swing vote on several issues, including the proposed motel, which has drawn strong opposition from residents.

Among the six council candidates are incumbent Councilwoman Kathleen Navejas and Mayor Donald Schultze, political rivals who are on opposite sides of the motel issue. Navejas wants it, Schultze is against it.

A pioneering refuse-to-energy plant has become a point of contention in the City of Commerce, where two incumbents face a lone challenger.

Manuel L. Jimenez, who ran unsuccessfully for City Council in 1988, contends the plant has taken too long to meet air quality standards. Council members Ruth R. Aldaco and James B. Dimas counter that the plant never exceeded pollution limits significantly.

Times staff writers Michele Fuetsch, Tina Griego, Lee Harris and Roxana Kopetman contributed to this story.

CAMPAIGN FOR MAYOR

Long Beach Mayor Ernie Kell faces his biggest challenge from Tom Clark. J4

Southeast / Long Beach Area Municipal Elections 1.Artesia

Two seats.

Charles H. Feather

Jim Van Horn (i)

Bob Thornton

Mary Alyce Soares

Edward Ware

2.Bell

Three seats.

Rolf Janssen (i)

Jay Price (i)

Allen Caddy

George Bass

3.Bellflower

Three seats.

John Ansdell (i)

Ken Cleveland (i)

Ruth Gilson

Ray O’Neal

Bill Pendleton (i)

Robert E. Stone

4.Bell Gardens

Two seats.

Douglas O’Leary

Ronald Bird (i)

Hank Ramey

Randy Safford

Talt Coldiron

Rosa Hernandez

Josefina Macias

5.Cerritos

Three seats.

Ann Joynt (i)

Perry N. Barit

Alex Beanum

Michael C. Cosgrove

John Crawley

Jim Hsieh

Sherman Kappe

Michael Kerr

Charles J. Kim

George Marsh

Mansour Meisami

Faith Peckham

Marshall H. Story

6.Commerce

Two seats.

James B. Dimas, Sr. (i)

Ruth R. Aldaco (i)

Manuel L. Jimenez

7.Cudahy

Three seats.

Jack Cluck

Wilfred Colon (i)

Guillermo DeAnda

Faye Dunlap

Joseph Graffio (i)

Valerie Hansen

Lewis J. Herrin

Gilbert Malijen Jr.

Alex F. Rodriguez

8.Hawaiian Gardens

Two seats.

Kathleen Navejas (i)

Donald Schultze (i)

Domenic Ruggeri

Richard Vineyard

Grant E. Winford

Joe Cabrera Zermeno

9.Huntington Park

Three seats.

William P. Cunningham (i)

Jim Roberts (i)

Luis Hernandez

Alan Kartsman

Raul Perez

10.La Habra Heights

3 precincts.

Two seats.

Richard Newbre

Diane Kane

Paul Tomko

Advisory measure: Should the annual fire fee be increased from an average $200 to $500 per parcel to provide paramedic service 24 hours?

11.Lakewood

Two seats.

Larry Van Nostran (i)

Joe Esquivel

Steven Hansen

Leonard Lang

Jeffrey Wood

Jack Guarino

Long Beach

Mayor:

Tom Clark

Ski Demski

Daniel Rosenberg

Ernie Kell (i)

Lou Robillard

David E. Kaye

Joe F. Wise

City Council:

1st District:

Joy Melton

Paul Croshaw

William F. Stovall

Evan Anderson Braude (i)

3rd District:

Jim Serles

Douglas Drummond

Louis C. Mirabile

5th District:

Max Baxter

Les Robbins (i)

7th District:

Ray Grabinski (i)

9th District:

Warren Harwood (i)

City Attorney:

John Calhoun (i)

City Prosecutor:

John Vander Lans (i)

City Auditor:

Robert Fronke (i)

Propositions:

Prop. 1: Shall the City Charter of the City of Long Beach be amended to provide for the creation of a Citizen Police Complaint Commission?

Prop. 2: Shall the City Charter of the City of Long Beach be amended to give the city Water Department jurisidiction over the city sewer system?

Long Beach Unified School District Board of Education

District 1:

Jerry Shultz (i)

Mary Stanton.

District 5:

Karin Polacheck (i)

Robert McKittrick

L.B. Community College Board of Trustees

Two seats.

C. William Avery

William G. Millington

E. Gerrie Schipske

Donald M. Weaver (i)

13.Norwalk

Three seats.

Grace F. Napolitano (i)

Marcial (Rod) Rodriguez (i)

Luigi A. Vernola (i)

Robert J. Arthur

Dean Bentsen

Peter L. Jacobs

14.Paramount

Three seats.

Elvira (Vera) Amaro

Allen (Joe) Parker

Don Plunkett

Mike Pete Delivuk

Henry Harkema (i)

William E. (Bill) Carpenter

Manuel E. Guillen (i)

15.Pico Rivera

Three seats.

John G. Chavez (i)

Richard L. Mercado Sr.

Gilbert De La Rosa (i)

Albert Natividad (i)

Nancy C. Smith

16.Signal Hill

CITY COUNCIL

2 seats.

Carol A. Churchill

Sara Dodds Hanlon (i)

Gerard Goedhart (i)

CITY CLERK

Kris C. Beard. Unopposed.

CITY TREASURER

Gayle S. Girard. Unopposed.

17.South Gate

Three seats.

Mary Ann Buckles

Johnny Ramirez

Larry R. Leonard

John F. Sheehy

Herb Cranton (i)

Jerry M. Garcia

Henry C. “Hank” Gonzalez

18.Whittier

Two seats.

Francois Pellessier

Thomas Barnes

Frederic Bergerson

Vicky Croes

Helen McKenna Rahder

David Todd

Donald Hawkins

Bob Henderson

Joseph Marsico

Gene Chandler (i)