April Vote May Put an End to Election-Style Musical Chairs

Two City Council incumbents who are running for mayor hope the April election will end the turmoil that has made recent municipal elections resemble a game of musical chairs rather than a carefully considered changing of the guard.

Last March, then-Mayor Jack B. White and Councilman Leo W. King lost their seats in a bitter recall election. But just four months later, in a special election to fill the vacancies created by the recall, King was elected mayor and White won the open council seat.

Now, White and King, along with Frank Mamone, are running for mayor in the April 12 election. Both White and King said the outcome should end the job shuffling and political jockeying that has marked municipal politics for the past two years.

‘Been Through Enough’

“I’m hoping that this will bring it all to a close,” King said. “This city has been through enough.”

In addition to the mayor’s race, one incumbent and five challengers are vying for two City Council seats.

But even if the game of musical chairs ends with the April election, disagreements between King and White, who were uneasy allies from 1980 to 1987, have become more pronounced.

In an interview last week, King criticized White, who had served three terms as mayor, for making a bid to return to the post. But White, the city’s first elected mayor, said he has every right to run again.

Says City Came First

King said he had not previously challenged White for the mayor’s post because he put the good of the city before his political ambitions.

“I felt the town should come first,” he said. “We’ve had enough strife, enough turmoil, that we didn’t need the competition.

“Now the situation is reversed, and he feels that he can do a better job,” King said. “I am serving as mayor just as well as he did. . . . I’d like to be mayor for a full term.”

White responded that he always intended to run for mayor and that there had never been any understanding preventing King from running for mayor.

“I don’t know how he can think he’s the only one who can run for mayor,” White said. “That’s very immature.”

Under state law, White and King were not allowed to run in the July election for the seats they had lost in the recall. But the recalled mayor could run for the council post, and the recalled councilman could run for mayor.

Both face reelection because they are filling terms that expire in April.

Challenger Mamone, who is making his fourth bid for mayor, said his chances may be better this time because some voters are upset that White and King got back on the council so soon after being ousted.

“That left a bad feeling in everybody’s mind when they were recalled and then switched seats,” he said.

Differences Stressed

Each candidate said he offers a distinct alternative to the others.

King, a 14-year council veteran, claims to have brought government closer to the people during the eight months he has been mayor, introducing an “open door” policy that he says had been lacking.

“I have been putting out a lot of fires that didn’t get attended to before,” King said, adding that he received a glut of complaints about city operations when he took office. “These complaints have decreased while I’ve been in office,” he said.

King, 59, a retired county engineer, said he has more time to hear citizens’ concerns and act on city business than White, who heads the Los Angeles County district attorney’s investigations bureau.

“We’ve been able to make council more open to the people and let them know you want to solve their problems,” he said.

White, 54, countered that the mayor should oversee city staff and not get involved in day-to-day operations.

Would Delegate Authority

“The mayor’s job is to set policy and let staff run things,” he said. “Just because someone calls the mayor should not mean that he (the caller) gets preference over everyone else.”

Despite his heavy work load in the district attorney’s office, White said he is accessible to city staff and residents and devotes ample time to city business.

“If you were really ill, you wouldn’t go to a doctor with no patients,” White said. “To get something done, you go to a busy person.”

White said his background in administration makes him better qualified to oversee, along with the City Council, a 250-employee city government with a $20-million budget.

Development has become a major issue in the mayoral race, and both King and White support controls on apartment and condominium projects. Both candidates say they support staff-recommended amendments to the city General Plan that would provide guidelines for future development.

City’s Growth an Issue

A moratorium, passed by a unanimous vote and due to expire this August, suspended planning and development on 641 apartment and condominium units, according to city officials.

King said the multifamily condominium and apartment projects on crowded lots that dot the city have diminished Baldwin Park residents’ quality of life.

“The public told me they wanted them stopped; they wanted a handle on it,” he said. “It’s my hope that through public hearings we can find how many more, if any, of these developments the public wants to have.

“I’m not saying that all condominiums and rentals are bad . . . but we have to preserve more open space and hold down (city-provided) services,” King said.

Neither King nor White views the issues behind the recall--an unpopular utility tax and public opposition to a controversial redevelopment project--as factors in this election.

The utility tax, which imposed a 5% levy on electricity, gas, water and telephone services, has been reduced to 2% under a schedule that will phase it out entirely in November.

Dispute Dying

King said the controversy over the Sierra Vista Redevelopment Project, which would displace hundreds of residents, is dying.

White agreed that it would not be a campaign issue but said the $200-million project will remain controversial because it involves the most expensive land in the city, along two miles of coveted San Bernardino Freeway frontage.

“There will always be controversy with Sierra Vista,” White said.

Mamone said the uproar over the Sierra Vista project and the utility tax show that the incumbents are out of touch with the city’s needs.

“I feel there are a number of things that need looking into, and we need more responsible city government,” said Mamone, who runs the Villa Capri Mobile Home Park. “I hope to change things in this city.”

Mamone accused King and White of furthering the uncontrolled growth targeted by the moratorium. He also charged that the incumbents have let the Baldwin Park Redevelopment Agency make ill-advised agreements on projects the city has undertaken, giving cut-rate deals to developers at the expense of taxpayers.

‘Who Wins?’

“If the city buys a property for $100,000 and then turns around to sell it to a developer for $1, who wins?” he asked. “It takes the taxpayers a long time to make that up.

“Let the property owners deal directly with the developers . . . and sell their places directly for a fair price.”

Mamone also criticized the incumbents for arbitrarily levying the utility tax.

“I wouldn’t support any tax on the citizens unless they were allowed to vote on it,” he said.

King said that if he wins, he will make the environment his top priority. He pledged to support the moratorium and other measures to control growth.

“If we don’t do something about the environment now, we’re missing the boat,” he said.

White said his and King’s decisive reelection last July showed that voters favor his policies as mayor. He said he would continue to promote planned growth and economic development.

“If people like the way we’ve gone for the past eight years,” White said, “they’ll reelect” either him or King.

Council Race Looms

White’s bid for mayor leaves only one incumbent, Richard T. Gibson, running for the two open seats on the council.

He has five challengers, of whom three--Bette L. Lowes, Herchel Keyser and Terry O. Hughes--have made previous bids for city office.

Lowes, a 55-year-old homemaker, ran against King in the July mayoral race, finishing third behind Mamone. Hughes, a corporate attorney, came in second in July to Councilwoman Julia S. McNeill, who succeeded her late husband, Robert H. McNeill.

Keyser, a 55-year-old retired city employee, was a leader in last year’s recall drive. He also supported an unsuccessful attempt to recall King and Gibson in 1985.

The two others vying for council seats are Eddie J. Brady, 58, a retiree, and George T. Archibeque, 49, a superintendent in the steel industry.

THE CANDIDATES

The three candidates for mayor in the April 12 race are:

Incumbent Leo W. King, 59, a retired county engineer and 14-year council veteran, has been mayor for eight months.

Councilman Jack B. White, 54, heads the Los Angeles County district attorney’s investigations bureau and has served three terms as mayor.

Frank Mamone, 65, runs a mobile home park and is making his fourth run for mayor.

The six candidates running for two open council seats:

Incumbent Richard T. Gibson, 35.

Bette L. Lowes, a 55-year-old homemaker, ran against King in the July mayoral race.

Terry O. Hughes, a corporate attorney, ran in July against Councilwoman Julia S. McNeill.

Herchel Keyser, a 55-year-old retired city employee, was a leader in last year’s successful recall of King and White.

Eddie J. Brady, 58, is a retiree.

George T. Archibeque, 49, is a superintendent in the steel industry.