Challenger Takes on 3-Term Incumbent in Long Beach : Council Critic Wants to Join the Opposition

At one time, Wallace Edgerton and Dan Rosenberg could have been called allies on the biggest issue in the 2nd Council District.

Both tout their work to lower density in south Long Beach neighborhoods, where, in the last few years, single-family homes have been torn down and replaced with apartment buildings.

Rosenberg was one of the first residents to petition neighbors and lobby the City Council to pass a measure restricting apartment construction in an area that has taken the brunt of new development. Half of the 10,000 apartment units built in the city between 1984 and 1987 went into the 2nd District.

Edgerton quickly picked up on the issue, drawing praise from his colleagues and some citizen groups for pushing downzoning, or lowering the number of units allowed per lot.

Now the two men are facing each other in the April 12 election, as Rosenberg challenges Edgerton for the council seat he has held for three terms.

Edgerton calls Rosenberg a “non-candidate.” He also calls him “wacko.”

“I’m sure that if something were to happen to me, they would put me on a life-support system” to keep Rosenberg out, Edgerton says.

Despite his prominent role in the apartment issue, Rosenberg is viewed by his critics as a council gadfly who is usually ineffective.

“I’m not a gadfly. I’m a lightning rod,” Rosenberg said.

Calling himself the architect of the building moratorium that the council adopted in November, 1986, Rosenberg notes that he founded several neighborhood organizations and led petition drives that collected thousands of signatures.

But one group that Rosenberg formed has divorced itself from him.

He drives issues “to the ground,” said Bob Pace, head of the South Long Beach Residents Assn. “Some good comes out of it. But he has a lot to learn about how to deal with people.”

Likewise, the 650-member Long Beach Area Citizens Involved--which has given Rosenberg credit for his work in pushing the building moratorium--is supporting Edgerton’s reelection.

Sid Solomon, president of the group, said recently that some of Rosenberg’s ideas are “very, very good.” But, Solomon added, Rosenberg “doesn’t know how to be effective in getting his programs through.”

The council as a whole was slow in realizing the impact of development in the 2nd District, Solomon said. But once the issue was brought before the council, most members acted appropriately to ameliorate the problems, he said. Edgerton, for example, voted to make retroactive a sweeping series of restrictions on apartment constructions the council put in effect in late 1986. (But he was on the losing side of the split council vote that resulted in about 2,000 more apartment units built in the area.)

“We’re happy with him,” Solomon said.

Dave Newell, president of the gay Long Beach Lambda Democratic Club, said his organization cannot endorse Edgerton because he is a Republican, “but we are supporting him.”

The challenger, on the other hand, does not have the support of any organized groups, other than the one he heads: Grass Roots Action for Safe Planning. City officials have questioned whether such a group exists, but Rosenberg says his new group is an informal coalition of hundreds of concerned residents.

Rosenberg has won the support of some residents who admire his persistence.

“He’s trying to help the community,” says Carol Loveday, an apartment manager for a 92-unit building at Orange Avenue and 7th Street, an area where parking is at a premium. Loveday says that when she has collected signatures on Rosenberg’s petitions, “People say, ‘Oh, if it’s for Rosenberg, I’ll sign it.’ ”

Rosenberg comes to council meetings armed with technical material, often suggesting the city has committed some wrongdoing. City officials consistently rebuff his various allegations, such as the city’s alleged failure to notify the public about hearings or changes in zoning.

No Longer Listen

He knows he is not well liked at the council dais, which he approaches every Tuesday--usually to address issues revolving around less building and more parking and parks in the city. Lately, officials have been cutting Rosenberg’s microphone off at the end of the five-minute speaking limit.

“I am irritating,” Rosenberg concedes. “Sometimes, you have to be irritating to be effective.”

He is so disliked among council members that when council districts were redrawn last year, Councilman Evan Anderson Braude was “rubbing his hands in glee” because he would no longer represent Rosenberg’s area, Edgerton says.

Braude put it this way: “I just don’t want to have him (Rosenberg) back again, and if he’s on the council, I’ll get him back again.” Edgerton emphasizes that to get anything passed on the nine-member council a member needs to get along with others. Edgerton added that he--and others at City Hall--no longer listen to Rosenberg.

The divorced father of two grown children, Rosenberg said he worked as a medical technologist for 20 years and quit in 1970 to pursue his interest in anthropology. He graduated from Cal State Long Beach in 1971 with a degree in anthropology, according to school records. He has taught English as a second language part time in the Paramount School District but said he has quit to devote full time to the campaign.

Rosenberg said he lives frugally on a limited income. In past years, when he hit hard times, Rosenberg said he had to eat out of trash cans and sleep in a camper. He blames some of society’s problems, such as an increase in the number of homeless people, on governmental “misuse and mismanagement of land and people.”

He said he anticipates raising and spending less than $1,000 for his campaign.

Edgerton, the father of three, is a stockbroker who occasionally teaches political science and public administration to college students. He graduated from the University of Southern California with master’s degrees in political science and public administration. From 1966 to 1974, he lived in Europe, where he taught public administration, business administration and political science in England, Germany, Spain and Italy.

Sides With Residents

The councilman says that in battles between residents and developers, he sides with the residents: “I’ve downzoned more than any council person in the history of Long Beach.”

Edgerton has opened a campaign office but says he does not plan to spend much time or money campaigning. Nonetheless, he has collected about $50,000 in donations. Most of the money came in before the closing of nominations, when he didn’t know who would run against him, Edgerton said. He added that he plans to spend $8,000 or $9,000 for this race--half of what he spent on his last campaign.

Rosenberg has accused Edgerton of accepting contributions from developers he has worked for in his private business. Edgerton denies the allegations. “I don’t deal with any developers. None,” he said.

Edgerton’s single largest contributor during the last half of 1987 was Wrather Port Properties, which gave Edgerton $5,000. Other large contributions included: $3,500 from Gerald Riedy and his wife--listed as “business consultant”; $2,500 from the Kilroy Co., which has built offices near the airport; $1,000 from Harbor Commissioner Joel Friedland; $500 from Harbor Commissioner George Talin and another $500 from his son Michael J. Talin; $1,000 from Mike Choppin of I.D.M. Corp., which is building the World Trade Center in Long Beach., and $1,000 contributions from D.L. Hauser & Co., a mortgage lender; Kendrick Enterprise; Phillips Steel Co.; Twin Wheels and Santa Fe Importers Inc.

In the past, Edgerton has been viewed as one of the more unpredictable council members. In 1980, a campaign opponent called him “Waffling Wally” because he became a supporter of renters’ rights. Until then, he had called rent-control advocates “left-wing radicals.” He is a Democrat-turned-Republican.

Edgerton says his flexibility reflects the changing desires of his constituents. And in the last year, he appears to have put the “Waffling Wally” moniker behind him by being more consistent in his votes. This will probably be his last reelection bid, he says.