Job Is Still Getting Done in 14th District

When Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley proposed that a prison be built on city-owned property in Saugus, outraged Santa Clarita Valley residents barraged City Hall with protests.

Angry letters were addressed to the offices of all 15 council districts, including those of council members Michael Woo, Joel Wachs and William McCarley.

Councilman McCarley?

That was the name on a letter sent last week to the 14th Council District, represented by Arthur K. Snyder until he resigned Oct. 4 after holding the seat for 18 years. Since then, there has been no councilman for the district, where seven candidates are waging intense campaigns to succeed Snyder.

Designated Caretaker

However, the Saugus protester got his message to the right man. The city’s chief legislative analyst, William R. McCarley, was designated as caretaker of the 14th Council District by council President Pat Russell upon Synder’s resignation. McCarley is the new boss of Snyder’s district staff, which is still charged with meeting the needs of residents of Eagle Rock, Highland Park and the rest of the Eastside district until a new council member is elected, possibly as late as March.

Meanwhile, McCarley refers the prison-site protest to Russell. He won’t take a stand on the issue, nor anything else of a political nature.

“I’m a caretaker and not a council member,” McCarley said. “I don’t have a vote. My job is apolitical. I’m just here to keep things moving. There are lots of things in the pipelines. We need to take care of them with the least disruption to the community possible.”

Problems in the 14th District obviously didn’t cease when Snyder resigned. Residents still call district offices to complain about barking dogs, potholes, clogged sewers, gang problems, unkempt property and other grievances.

But staff members have been admonished not to get involved in political issues. “We don’t have a say in anything anymore,” one deputy said. “We can’t stir the pot.”

Calls from constituents are fewer than they were when Snyder was still in office. Apparently, many residents of the 14th District assume that they lost all representation when Snyder resigned.

“People are not utilizing us as much anymore,” said Conrad Corral, who continues to serve as district field deputy in Highland Park. “It seems a lot of people don’t know we’re still here.” He said staff members are attending more community meetings than ever “to make sure the public knows we are still around.”

Arline DeSanctis, Highland Park field deputy for Wachs in the adjoining 2nd Council District, said she receives about half a dozen calls a week from concerned residents of the 14th District. “Many are retired and fearful that no one represents them,” she said. “Once we reassure them that Synder’s staff is still working, then they are fine.”

Removal From Directories

All mention of the 14th District has been removed from office directories at City Hall. There is only a blank line on the directories between the 13th and 15th District listings. Snyder’s name was also scraped off the doors to district headquarters in Room 333 within a week after his resignation. The only sign on the door now is: “Chairman, Government Operations Committee,” which had been Snyder’s key assignment.

But district staff members said regular visitors still find the office, which has been in the same location in City Hall for more than 50 years. And they stress that field offices for the 14th District in Eagle Rock, El Sereno, Lincoln Heights and Boyle Heights are still open.

The district staff has been in flux since January, when Snyder announced that he would resign but set no date. Speculation over when and whether Snyder would actually step down dragged on for months. Meanwhile, his staff members felt uncertain and anxious about their own positions. One field representative described the transition from Snyder to McCarley’s caretaker administration as “a hassle before, during and afterward.”

Changes Instituted

McCarley, who has the power to hire and fire district workers, instituted a few changes, including a requirement that employees account for their workday in and out of the office. Five of the 20 staff workers have left and others are searching for new jobs because they expect to lose their positions when Snyder’s successor takes office. McCarley said the workload has been eased gradually, allowing deputies “to wind down a little bit, rather than face the sudden trauma” of being jobless.

2 Recall Elections

Snyder, a former Republican who changed his affiliation to independent, weathered two recall elections in a career marked by a series of scandals and political resurrections. Several community leaders said voters were disappointed that Snyder resigned without completing his term, which would have ended in 1987, because he was known for his effectiveness in obtaining significant improvements for his district.

Caroline Aguirre, president of the Highland Park Coordinating Council, a coalition of community groups, said, “People have always felt that Snyder really represented the constituents of his district, which was proven in the last recall election when he had such a landslide victory.” In that August, 1984, balloting, 61% of the voters rejected recall.

Aguirre praised district staff members for “doing an excellent job in running things.” But, she said, “The community is looking forward to the election” of Snyder’s successor.

‘It Gets Done’

Katie Smith, a community activist in Eagle Rock, said she and neighbors still call on field deputy Shirley Minser for assistance, despite the absence of a councilman. “When we need help,” she said, “we know that, if we call Art Snyder’s offices, it gets done.”

Not only is Snyder’s staff still working, so is Snyder. Even though he relinquished all power when he stepped down, Snyder reports to his former office three times a week and regularly attends staff meetings “to listen to the problems and advise them on what ought to be done,” he said.

Snyder called this “a continuing effort not to allow things to fall between the cracks while there is no actual member of the council representing the district.”

Snyder, an attorney, is expected to maintain his political affiliations as a lobbyist at City Hall. Some observers view his continued activities in the district as an attempt to cultivate clients. Snyder denies that, saying, “I don’t intend to keep my nose in things forever.”

He still appears at public hearings to express his opinions on issues he addressed as a councilman. He is opposed to giant microwave towers in a residential zone in Eagle Rock (the towers were built illegally only 1,000 feet from his home) and to construction of a junkyard next to the Los Angeles Retarded Citizens Assn. offices in Lincoln Heights.

Although he no longer represents the district when he attends hearings, Snyder said city officials “pretty much understand what I am doing there,” which, he said, is protecting the interests of his former constituents.

He also said he advises McCarley of his opinions. At Snyder’s request, McCarley obtained City Council approval this month of a tax assessment district in Boyle Heights to fund the planting of several hundred trees along the streets, a project initiated by Snyder.

Request for Olympic Funds

At a staff meeting a week ago, Snyder also formulated a request to the Los Angeles Olympic Foundation for almost $8 million in Olympic surplus funds for improvements within the 14th District, including enclosing the swimming pool at Roosevelt High School, expanding the Los Angeles Youth and Athletic Club in the former Lincoln Heights jail and developing a soccer facility in El Sereno.

In his tearful farewell speech last month, Snyder called on council members to “please watch over the 14th District.” Aidi Posadas, district chief of staff, said several council members have heeded Snyder’s request, including Councilman David Cunningham, “who just popped in last week” offering to assist workers with any problems.

After 13 years with Snyder, Posadas said, she expects to join Snyder’s private staff after a new council member is elected. But most other district staff members say they are uncertain about their futures.

A few say they hope the new council member might retain them because of their experience and knowledge of the district. Minser, field deputy in the Eagle Rock district office for 11 years, said, “I’d like to stay here.” She has been a resident of Eagle Rock more than 35 years.

Corral, who also works from the Eagle Rock office as the field deputy for Highland Park, where he grew up, said he too would like to stay. “But that is not up to us,” he said, noting that he is looking for other work. Meantime, Corral works as a volunteer during his off-duty hours in the campaign of Assemblyman Richard Alatorre (D-Los Angeles), considered to be the front-runner among candidates for Snyder’s council seat.

Another of Snyder’s veteran district staff members, Ross H. Valencia, has taken a leave of absence to campaign for the council seat.

Election Hopefuls

Other candidates who will appear on the ballot in a Dec. 10 special election are Gilbert A. Avila, former special assistant to Gov. George Deukmejian; barbershop owner John Silva; Dorothy Andromidas, a housewife and member of Lyndon H. LaRouche’s National Democratic Policy Committee; Antonio Rodriguez, an attorney and executive director of the Los Angeles Center for Law and Justice, a legal aid center for the poor, and Steve Rodriguez, a city planner on leave who twice challenged Snyder for the seat.

To win the council seat, a candidate must receive 50% of the votes cast plus one. If no candidate wins a majority in the December election, a runoff will be held, probably in late February or early March, city election officials said.