Holden Turns Table, Attacks Broome’s Record

City Council candidate Nate Holden, who has been on the defensive for his record as an RTD director, turned the political table Thursday and attacked his opponent, Homer Broome Jr., for a “dismal” performance on the Los Angeles Board of Public Works.

Holden, who is considered the front-runner in Tuesday’s election for the 10th Council District office, accused Broome and his fellow public works commissioners of neglecting street maintenance and tree-trimming needs that he said reflect the deteriorating state of city services.

He also criticized Broome, who served six years on the board before resigning as its vice president, for voting to approve a controversial waste-to-energy plant in South-Central Los Angeles and blamed the board for the city’s failure to meet federal requirements for its sewage treatment plant.

“Now you know he’s a real nonachiever,” said Holden, who claimed that Broome has been reluctant to discuss his “dismal” record as a public works commissioner during their runoff campaign.

Defended Record

Broome, however, staunchly defended his record as a public works commissioner in one of two City Hall news conferences held by each candidate.

“I stand on my record as a public servant,” he said.

Broome, who has persisted in linking Holden to the troubled Southern California Rapid Transit District, had called his own meeting with reporters to challenge his rival to a debate. Holden has refused to debate ever since Broome began hitting hard at Holden’s RTD record, including questioning some of Holden’s expense accounts and travel.

After being told of Broome’s challenge, Holden said he would appear with his opponent tonight at a community forum, but not before he had leveled his own charges.

Holden in turn blamed Broome and the Board of Public Works for lapses in the 10th District for such city services as trimming trees, fixing potholes and sweeping streets.

Broome, however, maintained that the board may approve contracts to do such work but is far removed from the actual operations. He added that during his term, the Public Works Department “has maximized their resources to its fullest extent” in providing city services.

Upgrading Plant

Holden also claimed that the Public Works Board acted much too slowly in upgrading the city’s Hyperion Sewage Treatment Plant. As a result, the city paid a $625,000 fine imposed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for delays in meeting federal deadlines to improve the sewage system, Holden said.

Broome admitted that the board had “overestimated or underestimated benchmark dates” in complying with federal deadlines but said that the city is “moving in the proper direction.” He also noted that the sewage problems began long before he joined the board.

Finally, Holden criticized the board for going along with the proposed LANCER trash incinerator, which critics claim poses health risks and environmental hazards.

Broome said that he had voted only for the LANCER “concept” and would await further health-risk studies before deciding how he would vote on the issue, if elected to the City Council.

Holden said Thursday that he is flatly opposed to LANCER and that Broome’s vote as a Public Works Board member helped clear the way for a firm called Ogden Martin Systems Inc. to build the incinerator plant.

Extensive Business

Holden, who had been attacked by Broome for voting to approve an RTD contract with a firm that has extensive business in South Africa, said his opponent had voted for a company that is “in bed” with the same regime.

“How can my opponent on one hand say he’s for the people in this district and then embrace a contractor doing business with the racist South African government?” Holden asked.

Ogden Martin had been granted an exemption from the city’s anti-apartheid policy because a subsidiary had past business dealings with South Africa, an official in the city administrative office said, but that relationship has since been severed.

In a related matter, City Council President Pat Russell appointed Myrlie Evers, a former candidate in the 10th Council District, to replace Broome on the Public Works Board.

Evers, an Atlantic Richfield executive who finished fourth in the April primary and has endorsed Broome, would complete a term that ends in June, 1988, if approved by the City Council. As council president, Russell named Evers after Mayor Tom Bradley failed to name a successor to Broome during the required 45 days.