Six Seeking Appointment in Pasadena

Six residents of District 6 have now offered their names as candidates to replace Director William Bogaard, who has resigned to devote more time to his job as executive vice president and general counsel for First Interstate Bancorp.

Maria Low, a Pasadena attorney who ran against Bogaard in 1983, and Robert Beggs, president of a Pasadena-based mortgage finance company, were the last to announce their candidacies. The deadline for applications passed last week.

They join Nina Cash, William Cathey, Kathryn Nack and Dorrie Braun Poole in the field to represent the southwest corner of Pasadena on the Board of City Directors.

Four Votes Required

All six will be interviewed by the board at a public hearing at 4:30 p.m. Thursday. A majority of the board, four members, must agree on a replacement for Bogaard; failing that, the board must select one of the six by drawing lots. Each of the six will be asked a series of questions formulated by Directors William Thomson and Rick Cole.

Low, who has a general law practice, came close to defeating Bogaard in the last general election, falling about 100 votes short. She said that she often has the same “political reactions” as her old political adversary but that she considers herself more conservative.

“When it comes to business development, I’m a little more conservative than Mr. Bogaard,” she said. “He felt that business development meant a lot of construction. But he was against some very good construction developments that would have avoided worse ones later on.”

During his eight years on the board, Bogaard generally opposed economic subsidies for downtown development.

Low, the third lawyer among the six candidates, added that she was “very much for preservation” of buildings of historic significance in Pasadena. “But I draw the line between sensible things and things that are not economically viable,” she said. She said she had supported recently approved plans to tear down the main building of the Huntington Hotel and replace it with a replica.

Interest in Finances

Beggs is president of Garretson Mortgage Co., a mortgage banking company. A lifelong resident of Pasadena, he has taken a special interest in the city’s financial problems, he said. “I’ve attended committee meetings convened by the mayor to listen to the problems of the city’s unfunded debt for the policemen’s and firemen’s pension fund,” he said.

He said he generally approves of the way Bogaard has represented his district in the past eight years. “I like the way the city of Pasadena is progressing,” Beggs said.

The public hearing at which the candidates will be interviewed will be held in the Council Chambers of City Hall, not at Allendale school as originally announced.