Ex-Commerce Officials Return in Council Bids : Local Elections

Since three city councilmen were variously swept out of office for illegally owning shares in a card club in 1984, several things around City Hall have undergone drastic change--including the political fortunes of three of their longtime followers.

City Clerk Ruth R. Aldaco, a 24-year employee once allied with disgraced Mayor Robert Eula, decided to resign when the new council majority wanted her transferred to the secretarial staff of the public library.

And, in keeping with a city ordinance, Ruben C. Batres and Mary R. Guerrero were required to step down after several years on the Planning Commission because they had been appointed by the ousted officeholders.

Now, Aldaco, Batres and Guerrero believe their fortunes are about to be reversed. They have become candidates challenging the April 8 reelection of two members of the new five-member City Council--incumbents G. R. Lawrence Maese and James B. Dimas Sr., who is also mayor.

In a series of candidate interviews, the challengers said they want to restore order to a city government that was torn apart by the card club scandal and has been disorganized ever since. They claimed that new jobs and promotions have been doled out to a few city workers on the basis of favoritism, not ability. And they argued that Maese was unfairly appointed to succeed one of the ex-councilmen instead of being required to face voters in a special election.

‘The Old Guard’

Dimas countered that the three challengers are merely a vestige of “the old guard” once led by the ousted councilmen.

“If a candidate really wanted to get involved in a campaign because they have new ideas, that would be fine,” said Dimas, who was appointed by his council colleagues to a one-year mayoral term last April. “But . . . they haven’t really come out and said what they can offer the city.” Instead, the mayor charged, “they’re trying to find any fault they can find with the present administration.”

So, in this tiny industrial city of roughly 3,900 mostly Latino voters, the race for the council posts--each paying $412 a month--has so far focused not on issues of municipal government but on the motives and qualifications of the candidates themselves.

Of Aldaco, Dimas said, “She’s just running out of spite” because of the council’s move to replace her as city clerk.

While the 57-year-old Aldaco refers to her city departure as a “forced resignation,” she said she seeks office only because “I think I can do a damn good job, and I’m qualified.” She also noted that no woman has served on the council since the early 1960s. “I think it’s about time. . . . “

32-Year Resident

According to a biographical statement filed with the city, Aldaco has lived in Commerce for 32 years and been active in the Rosewood Park Elementary School PTA, two senior citizen organizations as well as the Women’s Club of Commerce. She has received training as a certified municipal clerk, but is now retired.

Aldaco said she is mostly troubled by the way the council, led by Dimas, has “stacked” its membership by appointment. “I’m in favor of getting elections back to the voters,” she said.

After former councilmen Eula and Ricardo Vasquez resigned and pleaded guilty to federal fraud charges in late 1984, the council appointed Arturo Marquez and Maese to serve the unexpired terms. (Councilman Arthur Loya also pleaded guilty and lost a reelection bid in April, 1984.) At the time they made their appointments, council members defended their action by arguing that a special election would be too costly, especially considering that Maese’s term would expire this spring.

“I’m not saying they’re not qualified people,” added Batres, who has teamed with Aldaco to run as part of the same political slate, although voters can still cast ballots for one but not the other. But Batres said that, while the appointment of Maese may be “understandable,” the decision that gave Marquez his nearly three-year term should have been submitted to voters. (Mayor Dimas pointed out that Batres was also a contender for the seat. “If Ruben had been selected, he would have taken the appointment,” Dimas speculated.)

At 53, Batres is making his third run for the council, having lost four years ago by a margin of less than 60 votes. He has lived in Commerce nearly 30 years, attended Rio Hondo College and has been active in the Commerce Evening Lions Club and the Bandini Elementary School PTA. He works as a supervisor in a furniture factory.

Would Have Opposed Position

When asked to identify all the recent council decisions to which he has objected, Batres replied: “I don’t really follow every issue. I try to attend as many council meetings as I can.”

Batres said he would have voted against the council’s move to give recently retired Public Works Director Manny Jimenez a special two-year part-time job for which he is paid $35,000 annually. (The council allowed Jimenez to work for the city only 90 days a year so he can still draw his maximum retirement pay.)

Batres and Aldaco said they are in the midst of jointly raising about $14,000 to wage their campaign. About $500 will come from The Industry Council, a private organization of Commerce business leaders who will also try to remain neutral in the race by contributing like amounts to other candidates, Aldaco said. And other businessmen are expected to make small donations. “People in industry want to keep it $99 so their names don’t have to be reported” on the candidates’ campaign finance reports, which are public records.

Candidate Guerrero, 58, said her campaign war chest won’t be anywhere near as much as Aldaco and Batres hope to raise. “I’m trying to keep myself independent. I have not asked for money from anybody. . . .

“I’m leaving it up to the people,” she said. “If they want me in, I’ll be in.”

Friendship With Mayor

In Guerrero’s 36 years in Commerce, the homemaker has been active in Girl Scouts, several parents’ organizations, the Commerce Garden Club and several senior citizen groups.

She acknowledges having gained her former Planning Commission post in part through her friendship with ex-Mayor Eula and the ousted councilmen. But Guerrero said: “I do not intend to fight their battles. I have been independent even of them. The meeting agendas will prove that I did not go their way” on every occasion. “I have been outspoken and I have never been held back by anyone.”

Guerrero also objected to the rehiring of Jimenez and charged that the city administration has “hired a lot of relatives and friends. . . . Some of them are not even capable of reading English and I know that is pretty bad.” When pressed for specific examples, however, the candidate said, “Well, I don’t really want to give names.”

Dimas, a 44-year-old Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy seeking his fourth council term, acknowledged that several city employees are related by blood or marriage. For example, he said that fellow Councilman Robert J. Cornejo is the father-in-law of Parks and Recreation Director Tom Maples. (Cornejo confirmed the relationship, but said that Maples got the job based on his qualifications.)

“If there are too many relatives on the city payroll it’s from the prior administration,” Dimas said, “which is one of the things I’ve been fighting.”

Dimas has lived in Commerce 19 years and is a graduate of East Los Angeles College, with a two-year degree in police science. He is a past president of the Lions Club, the Jaycees and is a member of the Montebello Elks Lodge.

‘The People Know Me’

“I feel very positive that I’m going to be reelected,” the mayor said, “because the people know me, they know what I stand for.”

Dimas said he plans to spend about $6,000 on his campaign, and pledged to report every contribution, regardless of size.

While he characterizes himself as an “independent” official unafraid to take an unpopular stand, Dimas said he agreed with the council’s decision to fill its vacancies by appointment. And he said rehiring Jimenez was also warranted because of the public works director’s extensive experience in working with state and county transportation officials.

Finally, the only candidate who declined to file a biographical statement was 76-year-old incumbent Maese, who served on the first Commerce City Council in 1960, only to resign the following year. At that time, some city leaders had charged that he was ineligible to vote because he had once served time in an Arizona prison after wrongly being convicted of rape. Maese had received a pardon, but had never sought to have it confirmed by a California court until 1962.

“I don’t have anything more to tell these people,” Maese explained, noting that he found it wiser to save the $440 fee that the city charges those who file campaign biographies. “I’ve lived in this same house for the last 36 years. . . . I was one of the proponents of the incorporation of Commerce. . . .

“I don’t think there’s anybody in this community who knows more people than I do,” Maese said. “And I don’t think there’s anybody who goes out of their way to help people more than I do. I never refuse anybody. When I promise something, I keep my promise.”

Maese said he knows his experience in Arizona may be raised by some of the council challengers. “I can’t stop them from talking about it, but it doesn’t bother me any more. My conscience is clear.”

Maese, who said he expects to raise about $2,500 for the campaign, also agreed with Dimas that the council decision to rehire Jimenez was necessary. “He’s saving the city all kinds of money day after day.”

Although some challengers have questioned whether Maese is too old to serve, the incumbent declared: “I feel very good. I’m all over the whole town every day.”