Finn’s Death May Spark Divisive Battle for Successor

Civic leaders in Howard Finn’s ethnically and economically diverse 1st District said Wednesday that they fear the councilman’s sudden death will touch off a divisive scramble to succeed him.

“Certainly things are going to be in turmoil,” said Dean Cohen, president of Sylmar Civic Assn. “Every group is going to have several candidates, and, if a special election is called, there will be short fuses to start up the political machinery.”

Cohen’s comments, echoed by others familiar with the East San Fernando Valley district, came the day after Finn suffered a ruptured aorta. Finn was stricken with chest pains during an afternoon committee meeting at Los Angeles City Hall and died early Tuesday evening at White Memorial Medical Center in East Los Angeles.

His death stunned constituents as well as his colleagues on the City Council, who must decide whether to fill the post by appointment or special election. Finn’s term runs until the spring of 1989.

Most community leaders interviewed Wednesday favor a special election, in part to ensure that Finn’s successor demonstrate some of his ability to bridge the gap among the various groups and forces in the district.

“Whoever takes Councilman Finn’s place is going to have to bring all these forces together,” said Edward Kussman, former president of the Valley chapter of the NAACP and a longtime Pacoima activist. “This person is going to have to be accepted by Pacoima, by the Latinos, by all the groups.”

‘Fireworks Are Going to Start’

Mel Wilson, executive vice president of the United Chambers of Commerce, said: “I’m sure there’s going to be a mad scramble. The fireworks are going to start.”

Finn “was a well-liked person. He could compromise,” Wilson stated, summing up what many community leaders said they will miss most in the councilman.

The district’s needs and interests vary widely.

In Sylmar, residents are fighting to preserve the rural horse-keeping nature of the area. In heavily black and Latino Pacoima, leaders are in the midst of improving economically depressed conditions and battling a high crime rate. Potential development of the Big Tujunga Wash stands to drastically affect rustic, affluent Shadow Hills and rural Sunland-Tujunga.

Among those mentioned by community activists as candidates to succeed Finn are Elton (Skip) Michael, a Los Angeles police detective who ran unsuccessfully against Finn last year; Jim Peterson, who was an aide to former 1st District Councilman Louis Nowell, and Marie Harris, a longtime Pacoima activist who ran unsuccessfully against Finn in 1981. Former Councilman Bob Ronka, whom Finn succeeded in 1981, was also mentioned as a possible candidate for appointment or election.

“I think it’s premature to think about that,” Ronka said Wednesday.

Most council members interviewed Wednesday said it was too early to speculate on the possibility of an appointment. But, of those willing to speak, opinion was mixed.

“I wouldn’t be opposed to an appointment,” Councilman Richard Alatorre said.

However, Councilman Ernani Bernardi said: “I won’t vote for an appointment. I think the people in the district should decide who should represent them.”

Latino Strength

The council has not filled a vacancy by appointment since John Ferraro was appointed in 1966, even though there have been six vacancies on the council since then, Assistant City Clerk Irvin Walder said.

Latino political activists see the prospects of a special election as a chance to test their voter strength in the East Valley, and one candidate has surfaced.

Even before Finn’s death, Latinos believed they stood a good chance of electing a Latino to the council from the northeast Valley after the 1990 census, when the council next redistricts. They point to the increasing Latino population in the area.

The recent redistricting, based on the 1980 census, puts the Latino population in the 1st District at 40%, and many believe that Latinos now make up more than half the district’s population. However, political experts say that Latinos, because of low citizenship and voter-registration rates, need to constitute 65% of the population to make a difference politically.

Possible Candidate

Jose Galvan of Sylmar, head of a Latino voter registration group called Concilio of Hispanic Affairs, said he will run if a special election is called.

Galvan, who ran against Finn in 1981, said the morale of Latinos in the northeast Valley has been lifted by the election to the San Fernando City Council of Ray Silva, whose victory in April was attributed to grass-roots campaigning and voter registration in Latino precincts.

Galvan said a special election could work to the advantage of Latinos if intense voter registration drives and old-fashioned precinct walking is used. He said northeast Valley neighborhoods would be targeted.

“Every candidate will be starting out on the same footing,” Galvan said. “You can never tell what’s going to happen in a special election.”

But many community leaders said it is too early to begin talking about political platforms, and they reacted sadly to the councilman’s death.

‘Concerned, Available’

“He was concerned about what was happening in the community and he was available,” Kussman of Pacoima said. “He knew the community, and he was involved with the community, and he made a specialty of helping Pacoima. He helped us get the only shopping center we’ve ever gotten in Pacoima.”

Wilson, of the chambers group, praised Finn’s perseverance in helping Pacoima win a designation of state enterprise zone, which is designed to boost the area’s depressed business by offering state and city incentives such as tax breaks and easier permit processing.

At a time when the city staff recommended against filing an enterprise-zone application, Finn pushed council members to approve funds to allow the city to apply for the designation.

Also in Pacoima, Finn obtained funds for a foot patrol in high-crime areas and was responsible for legislation aimed at stopping the proliferation of liquor stores, a problem that plagues the Van Nuys Boulevard commercial strip in that community.

He also increased police patrols in isolated sections of Sunland-Tujunga.

Help for Sylmar

Cohen of Sylmar said Finn was “very instrumental” in getting a paramedic ambulance at the Sylmar fire station. Finn also sponsored legislation that preserved horse-keeping property, much of which is in the 1st District.

Finn was particularly proud of his efforts to prevent expansion of garbage dumps in his district, which he repeatedly reminded his colleagues already received most of the city’s trash, and his efforts to regulate toxic waste. He wrote landmark legislation last year establishing an inventory of all hazardous materials used or stored in the city.

“He’s going to be sorely missed,” Kussman said.

For longtime activist Anson Burlingame of Shadow Hills, who was attending the committee meeting at which Finn was stricken, the loss was especially painful.

“I’m shocked. I was the last person to talk to him,” Burlingame said. “I was very impressed with him. He was honest. He was knowledgeable. He was a good friend.”

Times staff writer Richard Simon contributed to this story.