Ehrle Victory Ignites Fears of Shake-Ups in Anaheim

William D. Ehrle’s overwhelming victory in Tuesday’s special Anaheim City Council election will bring an army of new political appointees to municipal posts and possibly a new city manager, city officials predicted Wednesday.

City Manager William O. Talley, a target of Ehrle’s campaign, said he will “ask the council about what it wants to do” as soon as Ehrle is sworn in next week.

“I’ve told my immediate staff that this is the time when their leadership and professionalism are being tested. . . . I’ve heard of a number of resumes being written and job interviews taking place, and that’s unfortunate. . . . It’s not in the best interest of government.”

Ehrle trounced Planning Commissioner Charlene La Claire nearly 2 to 1 in Tuesday’s balloting. There were 10 other candidates in the race, but none developed into a serious contender.

Basks in Victory

Basking in victory Wednesday as he prepared for a short Palm Springs getaway, Ehrle acknowledged that he had said during the campaign that he wanted to fire Talley, but he added that he intends to study Talley’s contract before making a final decision.

Ehrle left no doubt, however, that the new three-person majority on the council--composed of Ehrle, Mayor Ben Bay and Councilman Fred Hunter--is planning a major shake-up at city hall.

“To the victors go the spoils,” Ehrle said. “What the voters are telling me is that they want some new blood and energy in our city.”

Ehrle said Hunter, who defeated an eight-year incumbent in last November’s election, had been unable to win positions on city commissions for any of his supporters because the council has been evenly split. “None of his supporters (or mine) have had an opportunity to serve,” said Ehrle.

The first to go, Ehrle said, will be three planning commissioners whose terms expire next month, including La Claire.

Ehrle denied that La Claire would be fired from the commission as punishment for running against him for the unexpired term of Don R. Roth, who was elected to the county Board of Supervisors. Nor, he said, is he trying to prevent her from using her commission status on the ballot when he seeks reelection 18 months from now.

La Claire, however, said Wednesday that she believes otherwise.

“A week after the November (1986) election, Ben Bay called me and said that if I did not get out of the race then, I would be fired from the Planning Commission,” La Claire charged in an interview.

“That’s an absolutely false accusation,” Bay said when told of La Claire’s statement. “That really surprises me.”

Another candidate in Tuesday’s election, Manuel R. Hernandez, said he was led by Ehrle and his supporters to expect an appointment to an unspecified city commission if he would drop out of the race. Hernandez finished fifth.

Both La Claire, preparing for a trip to the Sierra, and Hernandez said they would tell their stories to Dist. Atty. Cecil Hicks’ staff today.

Most observers, including the candidates, agreed Wednesday that La Claire was hurt in the election by her own negative campaign mail, which, she admitted, had caused a backlash among some voters.

One of the mailed flyers, for example, quoted a psychiatrist’s report that Ehrle had a permanent psychiatric disability. La Claire said the mailer didn’t work because voters believed that the condition described by the psychiatrist in 1984 was related to the death of Ehrle’s son in a freak accident.

The psychiatrist’s opinion had been solicited by Ehrle in connection with a worker’s compensation claim he filed in connection with his resignation as project director for the Santa Ana Unified School District’s Exploratory Learning Center.

Election Cost $75,000

But Bay and other officials said voters also were angry that La Claire had seen fit to force an election--at a cost to the city of $75,000--when council members Miriam Kaywood and Irv Pickler refused to agree with Bay and Hunter to appoint Ehrle to the vacant seat. Ehrle had finished far ahead of La Claire and just behind Hunter in last November’s election, before Roth left the council.

Bay and Ehrle said the figures from both elections showed that La Claire never had a chance to win, even if she had not resorted to negative “hit” mail.

Despite all the recent controversy and the uncertainty about Talley’s status, city spokeswoman Sheri Erlewine said Wednesday that “if you didn’t know there was an election, you wouldn’t guess that anything was occurring around City Hall at all.”

City employees--who supplied a big bloc of votes for Ehrle--said there was little talk of the election.

“We expected Ehrle to win,” said secretary Linda Chavez. “It’s not as if it was any surprise.”

Employees in the second-floor city clerk’s office walked barefoot to rest feet worn out by the strain of election-night duties, but otherwise there were no signs that anything was different.

“It’s business as usual,” said Zoning Administrator Annika Santalahti. “Anybody who works here knows that things go on, and the same concerns happen with the public no matter who wins. You sort of do things the way you did them before, only you have to get to know somebody new, how they work and what they need. It’s like that after every election.”

“With any change you wonder what’s going to happen,” Santalahti added. “But nobody around here has said anything, other than wanting to know the percentage of the win.”

However, one city official who requested anonymity, said there was “a certain amount of tension, starting well before the election.”

“I have job options outside this place, and I’m seriously considering them at the moment,” the official said. “Because even if Bill Talley can hold on to his job, there are many of us who probably prefer not to work here, given the atmosphere. I just don’t know why I should suffer through this kind of thing.”

Analyzing the election results Wednesday, Talley charged that it was labor groups representing city employees and their union allies throughout the county that made a big difference for Ehrle, along with the support of the California Angels.

Talley, who has been city manager 11 years, said he had never seen such labor involvement in a city election and warned that city management’s ability to stay independent of undue labor influence will be severely tested.

Talley said he was first targeted in last November’s election, by Hunter.

Now, after going through it twice, Talley said:

“I’ve been hurt emotionally, professionally and financially. . . . It’s hard to defend yourself when you think someone has lied about you, or said things that are simply inaccurate because true professionals don’t go around attacking like that.”

A major complaint against Talley involves his handling of litigation between the Angels and the city over planned modifications to Anaheim Stadium and surrounding property.

Talley, a defendant in the Angels’ lawsuit, which seeks to block the stadium projects, said the city would be obligated to continue paying for his defense if he is fired.

But Talley added quickly that he is not speculating about his fate.

And Bay agreed that Talley may yet persuade the council to let him stay.

Times staff writer Marcida Dodson contributed to this story.

Final Results 73 of 73 precincts reporting

Anaheim City Council, Short Term (1 to be elected)

Votes % William D. Ehrle 8541 57.8 Charlene La Claire 4895 33.1 Roger M. Emard 477 3.2 Gustave (Gus) Bode 206 1.3 Manuel R. Hernandez 117 .7 Bill G. Burnett 97 .6 W.R. (Bob) Baker 96 .6 Rosamond C. Fergen 82 .5 Karl Law Waterman 80 .5 Andy Deneau 70 .4 Rick F. Vaught 55 .3 Jim Grover 46 .3