Filing Ends for Nov. 5 School Board, City Races

South Bay voters will pick trustees in all but two of 14 school districts in the Nov. 5 elections and select candidates for city council and other posts in four cities. Lawndale will vote on a ballot proposition that would change the city clerk’s post from elective to appointive.

School board elections in Inglewood are held in April and those in Redondo Beach are in March.

Filing for the school district and city positions closed last Wednesday.

Nine of 33 school trustees chose not to run for reelection. Races in the El Segundo and Palos Verdes Peninsula unified school districts and in the South Bay Union High School District each attracted eight candidates, and Torrance Unified came in a close second with seven.

Continuation School

The proposed relocation of a continuation high school is expected to be the most controversial issue in the Peninsula campaign. Incumbents Ann L. Hinchliffe and Rose Lachman are not seeking reelection, but may participate in a pre-election decision to move the continuation school to either the closed La Cresta Elementary School or the closed Margate Intermediate campus.

Board President Martin C. Dodell is the only Peninsula incumbent running again, but instead of seeking another four-year term, he chose to run for seat left vacant by the resignation of Patricia Johansen in June. That unexpired term has two years to go.

No election will be held in the Centinela Valley Union High School District, since no one is challenging the three incumbents who are seeking another term.

All Offices at Stake

All of the elective city offices are at stake in the Hawthorne election, and in Inglewood four candidates are seeking the post left vacant by the resignation of veteran City Clerk Iris Crochet.

Merle Mergell, a prominent political leader in Inglewood for many years, is a surprise candidate for the city clerk’s job. He was a councilman and mayor for a 12-year period ending in 1979.

The last day to register or transfer to vote in the November election is Oct. 7. Voters may apply for absentee ballots from Oct. 7 through Oct. 29.

Here is a list of the candidates, who run at large unless otherwise indicated. The occupations are those listed by the candidates on their nomination papers.

School Boards

Centinela Valley--Three candidates for three seats. Incumbents Ann Birdsall (Area 1), Aleta Hyden Collins (Area 5) and Terry L. Wood (Area 2). Since there are no challengers, no election will be held.

El Camino College--Four candidates for two seats. For Area 4: Incumbent Lila S. Hummel, who is reelected without opposition. For Area 5: Steve Busch, deputy probation officer; Colleen Mock, client program coordinator, and Stanley L. Dunn, businessman. Incumbent William Moss did not file for reelection.

El Segundo--Eight candidates for three seats (one vacant). Ruth B. Parks and Janice M. Cruikshank, incumbents; Ralph Aston, tool maker; David Blaser, software engineer; Dave Jones, insurance agent; Dennis Martin, public librarian; Stacey Palmer, project engineer, and John G. Schmidt, telecommunications manager.

Hawthorne--Five candidates for three seats. John D. Andersen, Rosemarie Caldwell and Leslie V. Smullen, incumbents; Vickie L. Bondy, computer programmer, and Faith Runnels, housewife.

Hermosa Beach--Four candidates for three seats. Karen K. Gale and Lynne M. Gonzales, incumbents; Angela Peterson, educator/homemaker, and Mary Lou Weiss, parent/education advocate. Incumbent Leslie Murdock did not file for reelection.

Lawndale--Five candidates for three seats (one vacant). Rosine Drees, incumbent; Leslie Ayers, emergency medical technician; Bonnie Coronado, concerned citizen; Robert P. Kruse, production control manager, and Ann Manson, retired aerospace worker. Incumbent James D. Vigneau did not file for reelection. Trustee Louis F. Ramirez died last month.

Lennox--Five candidates for three seats. Hector D. Carrio, James D. Haley and Edward A. Urrutia, incumbents; Fernando H. Alvarado, marketing manager, and Noelia Martinez, counselor.

Manhattan Beach--Five candidates for three seats. Gary R. Collins, incumbent; James A. Clairmont, economist; Robert A. Devine, attorney; Sam Donley, engineering management, and Rosalie Saikley, educator. Incumbents Norman D. Burd and Hanon S. Sinay did not file for reelection.

Palos Verdes Peninsula--Eight candidates for four seats (one vacant). For the unexpired term: Martin C. Dodell, school board member, and Cindy Miller, librarian. For the full terms, six candidates for three seats: Myrna M. Ahmed, nutritionist; S. (Sally) Burrage, community leader; Eric Engstrom, business student; Brenton F. Goodrich, attorney; Marlys Kinnel, occupation not listed, and Jeffrey N. Younggren, clinical psychologist. Incumbents Ann L. Hinchliffe and Rose Lachman did not file for reelection. Dodell, the current school board president, chose to run for the unexpired term.

South Bay Union--Eight candidates for three seats. Lyn Flory, Josh M. Fredricks, and Noel Palm, incumbents; Tom Downs, chiropractor/construction worker; Patricia Jersin, university professor; George M. Snyder, college instructor; William B. Trimble, accountant manager, and Robert Willougby, laser technician.

Torrance--Seven candidates for three seats. John Barberis, incumbent; Barbara Bender-St. John, homemaker/photographer; William R. Blischke, university administrator; Suzanne Distaso, technical writer; John A. Maul, electronics engineer; Charles S. Mashburn, businessman, and Ann Thomas, credit union teller. Incumbents Doris Casstevens and Fumiko Wasserman did not file for reelection.

Wiseburn--Four candidates for three seats. Walter Guerrero, Wayne Matthew and Marc W. Schramm, incumbents, and Daniel D. Juarez, audit manager.

City Elections

Hawthorne--For mayor (two-year term): Betty Ainsworth, City Council member, and John B. Bernadou, retired aerospace worker. For council, six candidates for two seats: Charles Bookhammer and David M. York, incumbents; Kathleen Corsiglia, homeowner; Ginny McGinnis Lambert, aerospace administrative assistant; Richard L. Mansfield, communications manager/administrator, and Ray D. Pearcy, businessman. For city clerk: Patrick E. Keller, incumbent, and Ann M. Werhan, school district employee. For city treasurer: Howard Wohlner, incumbent.

Inglewood--For city clerk, four candidates: Hermonita (Anita) Harris, legislative assistant; Mildred McNair, educator/businesswoman; Merle Mergell, businessman, and Lee Smith, business/career consultant. Iris Crochet resigned from the city clerk’s post in May.

Lawndale--Ballot Proposition E: Shall the post of city clerk be made appointive?

Rancho Palos Verdes--For City Council, four candidates for two seats. Jacki Bacharach and Robert Ryan, incumbents; Doris G. Tate, businesswoman, and Franklyn C. Weiss, corporate patent counsel.

Rolling Hills Estates--For City Council, four candidates for two seats. Jerome Belsky and Nell Mirels, incumbents; Sid Barth, retired Los Angeles police commander, and Dan Butcher, general contractor.