Burbank Primary : Incumbents Shaken by 3 Challengers’ Sweep

The two City Council members running for reelection in Burbank were shaken a bit Wednesday in the wake of the surprising results in Tuesday’s primary election.

“I am surprised and disappointed,” said Councilman E. Daniel Remy, who finished fourth in a race he once described as a referendum on his record. “I misjudged the voters in terms of their perspective of what is important. I have seen some tough campaigns, and this is turning out to be a tough campaign.”

Remy and Councilman Larry Stamper, who finished sixth among the 18 candidates, fell within 315 votes of not qualifying for the April 9 general election, according to unofficial primary results based on 11,328 votes cast.

Serious Doubts for Incumbents

The top six vote-getters qualified for the general election, in which three of the five City Council seats will be filled. But a sweep of the first three positions by candidates who ran anti-City Hall campaigns has created serious doubts about how well the incumbents will fare in April, according to many campaign participants and observers.

Not even the most vocal critics of the two incumbents expected such a poor showing.

“The people are angry,” said Al Dossin, an insurance agent who finished third, ahead of both Remy and Stamper. “When you have the majority of the people in this city angry with you and saying you are not responsive to their needs, this is what will happen.”

The results also exacerbated a well-known split on the City Council between Councilwoman Mary Lou Howard and the other four council members.

The top three vote-getters--Mary E. Kelsey, Michael Hastings and Dossin--were all endorsed by Howard, who has long been at odds with both Remy and Stamper over the direction of the City Council on issues ranging from City Hall staff appointments to the granting of redevelopment contracts.

Aside from the incumbents, Brian Bowman was the only candidate to qualify for the runoff without a Howard endorsement.

Campaign Issue: Howard Herself

The success of Howard’s endorsements has created a new campaign issue for Remy and Stamper: Howard herself, and the incumbents’ contention that she represents a threat to Burbank’s continued growth.

Both incumbents wasted no time Wednesday in seizing that issue.

Remy said in an interview Wednesday that the election has become a referendum on plans by Howard and her “hand-picked team”--Kelsey, Hastings and Dossin--to return Burbank to “an awkward, decaying little town that it was 10 or 15 years ago.” He said a City Council dominated by Howard would fire City Manager Andrew Lazzaretto, City Atty. William B. Rudell and “anyone else who gets in its way” as it set out to halt further growth and redevelopment and “turn the clock back” on the city.

“I am really worried about Burbank,” Remy said. “There is a major alternative here. We want a growing, thriving community. We have the momentum going now. A change in direction could take years to overcome.”

‘Old-Boy’ Mentality

Howard, who is not up for reelection, announced at the start of the primary campaign two months ago that she wanted to see the two incumbents defeated, charging that the council is run by an “old-boy” mentality that makes deals with developers at the expense of residents.

Stamper attributed the strong showing by Kelsey, Hastings and Dossin to the popularity that Howard, a housewife, enjoys throughout Burbank.

“She is the issue,” Stamper said. “She is an excellent politician, and she knows how to seize the right issues. Evidently she wants a monolithic council where everyone agrees with her on everything. But the development of this city is going to change drastically if she is able to bring in people who support her positions.”

Howard, meanwhile, described the primary results as a decision by the voters to “take back their government” and disputed claims that she had orchestrated the results. She said the incumbents were pulling her into the campaign as a “scare tactic” to persuade the general public that a vote against the incumbents would somehow cause a major disruption in the running of the city.

Denies Being Anti-Growth

“They are hoping that people will be afraid when they hear words like ‘takeover,’ ” she said. “I don’t think the people are going to buy it. Their group has had control of this city for years, and now the people are going to take the control back.”

Howard emphasized that it is not unusual for a council member to endorse candidates, and denied she is anti-growth.

“The issue of the campaign is not growth or me,” she said. “The issue is people. The candidates I supported are very supportive of the entire community, not just one segment--the developers. It is time that the government is given back to the people.”

Kelsey, who collected the most votes in the primary, said allegations that she and the other candidates are controlled by Howard are “a big lie.”

“People are not upset about Mary Lou Howard,” she said, echoing comments by Hastings and Dossin. “They are upset about the way these men are acting and handling things secretly and behind closed doors. I think we are hearing a lot of sour grapes from them.”