San Pedro Takes Charitable View of Election

It was an old-time political rally, with buttons, straw hats and--of course--campaign promises. The place was the steps of City Hall in San Pedro; the time, Tuesday afternoon, the office at stake: mayor.

The first candidate, psychologist Al Hoagland, is an admitted political newcomer (“I’m the new kid on the block”), who obviously hasn’t heard of the one-man, one-vote rule. He asked supporters to “vote early and vote often.”

The second candidate, retired school principal Joe Marino, promised free passage on the Terminal Island ferry, free movies at the San Pedro drive-in and free ice cream cones at Currie’s ice cream parlor in exchange for votes. He neglected to mention that the ferry, the drive-in and the ice cream shop no longer exist.

The third contender, retired businessman Jess Robinson, insisted he was a model of clean living. “I invite the news media to dig up a sweet young thing,” he said, “introduce us and follow us around day and night to see if they can catch me.”

If it sounds like these candidates will never make it to political office, they won’t--at least not in this race. San Pedro, after all, doesn’t have a mayor. As part of the City of Los Angeles, it is represented by Mayor Tom Bradley.

Hoagland, Marino and Robinson are running for honorary mayor.

The election, run by the San Pedro Chamber of Commerce, is a fund-raising event. Each candidate is sponsored by a civic group, and each chooses a charity. The candidate who raises the most money for his charity wins.

This year’s beneficiaries will be the YWCA and San Pedro Centennial Committee, chosen by Hoagland; the San Pedro High School Athletic Fund, chosen by Marino, and the Seamen’s Church Institute, chosen by Robinson. The fund raising will begin Feb. 15 and continue for two months.

Although the honorary mayor receives no pay, there are perks to the job. Once, according to chamber Executive Director Leron Gubler, a delegation from New Mexico--including the governor--visited San Pedro and asked to meet the mayor. Bradley was 25 miles away in downtown Los Angeles, so the chamber trotted out the honorary mayor for the occasion.

This year’s race will be hotly contested because the winner will preside over San Pedro’s 100th birthday celebration, which begins next month. Gubler said the candidates will sell vote tickets and attend special fund-raisers to stake their claim to the office.

As Gubler said: “This is the one election that you can buy.”