BURBANK ELECTIONS : Howard Sees Developers Behind Loss

On the day following her ouster from the Burbank City Council, Mary Lou Howard was feeling all right. She said everything was going to be fine. Really.

But it looked like she would have a hard time convincing people. The phone rang nonstop with supporters and friends wanting to offer consolation. A bouquet of yellow roses from well-wishers arrived at the front door.

The 53-year-old Howard, one of Burbank’s most colorful politicians and the first female council member, was defeated in her quest to win a fourth term Tuesday. Councilman Robert R. Bowne and Planning Board Chairman George Battey, both rivals of the veteran councilwoman, were elected to the two open seats.

“I’m not surprised,” Howard said Wednesday morning as she sat in her hillside home. “I feel good about the campaign. We ran a very positive campaign. No one likes to lose, and no one is a good loser. But things change, and people obviously wanted a change.”

Howard said the defeat was engineered by Battey and major builders who resented her affiliations with neighborhood groups and residents opposed to increased development. She said a deluge of mailers attacking her philosophy and character did irreparable damage to her campaign.

“There were between seven and nine hit pieces on me,” Howard said. “The developers wanted me out. We have a council now that’s very pro-development, and I stood in the way. They didn’t like my involvement with homeowners.”

Followers of Howard saw the defeat as the end of a grass-roots era dominated by the popular councilwoman, who can often be seen driving around town in her gold Mercedes-Benz with the “MS MAYOR” vanity plate. Calling herself a “people person,” she said she prided herself on being accessible to citizens who were afraid to approach other officials.

Had she been elected in the runoff, Howard would have been only the second council member in Burbank history to serve more than three four-year terms.

Councilman Tim Murphy, Howard’s campaign manager and her lone ally on the five-member panel, said Howard’s constituents may have taken her for granted in the election.

“Through time, she has made a lot of friends and a lot of enemies,” Murphy said. “Those allies may have assumed that she’d always be there, and they didn’t work hard enough. The enemies saw this as the chance of a lifetime, and they worked very hard to get her out.”

Murphy said he was surprised at the reaction of people gathered at City Hall on Tuesday to watch the election returns.

“It was shocking to see the glee and joy, to see the reaction of people that someone who had contributed so much to the community was losing,” he said. “It was weird. It wasn’t joy that their candidates were winning. It was joy that she was losing.”

Murphy said Burbank citizens are losing someone who lent them an ear. “She also has a reputation in the state and in Washington that this council doesn’t have and won’t be able to build for years to come.”

But critics of Howard have said her people-oriented manner is a cover for a calculating and shrewd political mind that plotted to bring down those who differed with her.

In 1985, Howard backed challengers who defeated incumbents with whom she constantly clashed. She said the male-dominated council had ostracized her and failed to respect her. She then became the leader of a council majority that seemed to agree with her philosophy.

However, the relationship with the three council members she backed--Mary Kelsey, Al Dossin and Michael Hastings--soon deteriorated. By 1989, when new council members were elected, Howard found herself in the minority again.

Howard said she has suffered far greater trauma than her election defeat. She referred to the suicide two years ago of her husband, attorney Jack Howard. His death came four days after one of her greatest political triumphs--voter approval of a planned-growth initiative proposed by Howard.

“Two years ago, the worst thing that could have happened, happened,” Howard said quietly. “Nothing could measure up to that.”

As for the future, Howard said she will remain involved with the city, but does not plan to run for public office: “It’s just not in my future. I’m a Democrat, and I live in conservative Burbank.”

Still, Howard hopes to have some voice in city politics. “I’m not going away,” she said, smiling.