Ronka Pulls Out of Council Race With a Slap at Wachs

Former Los Angeles City Councilman Bob Ronka, who was expected to pose a serious challenge to Councilman Joel Wachs, withdrew his name Tuesday from the list of candidates in the April 14 election in the new East San Fernando Valley district created by council redistricting last year.

Ronka took the opportunity, nonetheless, to take a swipe at Wachs for what he termed his “poor record” in his old district and urged community activists to enter the race.

“I believe Joel potentially has real problems in this district,” said Ronka, who represented much of what is now the new district before he gave up his seat in 1981 to run unsuccessfully for city attorney.

Ronka cited personal reasons for withdrawing from the race, including his mother’s ill health.

Uphill Battle

Ronka would have faced an uphill battle in matching Wach’s formidable campaign fund, which topped $635,000 in June. Ronka not only would have had to start from scratch in raising funds but would have been hampered by a 1985 city law that limits campaign contributions to $500 per donor, while allowing incumbents to use money collected over a long period of time.

With Ronka out of the running, no other candidate has been mentioned so far that could give Wachs reason to worry. Jerry Hays, president of the United Chambers of Commerce of the San Fernando Valley, said he plans to run against Wachs. But when Hays ran against Wachs in 1983, he finished second in a field of five candidates with 10% of the vote. Wachs won with 75% of the vote.

Wachs, reached at City Hall for comment, said he is “glad” that Ronka is not running.

“One always wants less opponents,” Wachs said.

He attributed Ronka’s criticism of him to his refusal to endorse Ronka in the city attorney’s race. He said that most of the criticism from his old district came from a few, politically ambitious homeowner leaders.

Ronka said he had been urged to enter the race by many of his former constituents, as well as many homeowner leaders in Wachs’ old district “who found Wachs to be inaccessible, insensitive and unresponsive to their needs during the years he served as their councilman.”

Ronka was succeeded on the council by Howard Finn, whose death last August prompted the council to approve a revised redistricting plan that became law over bitter opposition from Valley residents.

Finn’s 1st District, which had been left intact in the initial redistricting, was apportioned between Wachs and Councilman Ernani Bernardi to prevent a political life-and-death struggle between Councilmen John Ferraro and Michael Woo, who had been thrown into the same district.

The city came up with a redistricting plan in an effort to settle a U.S. Justice Department lawsuit seeking increased Latino representation on the council.

The new Y-shaped 2nd District, which is more conservative than Wach’s former district, takes in all of Sunland-Tujunga, including Shadow Hills, most of Van Nuys and parts of North Hollywood, Studio City and Sun Valley.