In Palos Verdes Estates, Candidates Come to Praise

In the bedroom city of Palos Verdes Estates, five candidates are running for two open City Council seats in a April 12 election campaign marked more by praise than criticism of the present council and city administration.

“The direction of this city is good,” said retiring Councilman Ronald Florance, who is leaving office after eight years.

City finances, stretched thin a few years ago, have improved and a long-term capital improvement program is rebuilding storm drains and fixing streets.

Although one candidate believes the city can handle its finances better, all generally agree with Florance’s upbeat view and are emphasizing what they can contribute--whether fiscal expertise or free time--to keep this momentum going.

The candidates are unanimous in a desire to preserve the quality of life and the atmosphere of the city, which is marked by greenery and open parklands. They support the current city review of building regulations in the face of the controversy over oversized homes, although they caution that whatever is done must be reasonable and must respect property rights.

No candidate plans to spend more than $3,500 to get elected to the office which pays no salary, only expenses. One candidate is limiting his costs to the $200 filing fee.

And through citywide mailings, coffee hours and talks to organizations, they are giving Palos Verdes Estates, a city of 15,050 with a median income of $74,208, its first contested council election since 1962, when a controversy over a church attracted a challenger.

The reason for this year’s large field is obvious: open seats as a result of Florance’s decision to retire and the resignation last June of Councilwoman Barbara Culver, who became the appointed city clerk.

Candidates are James R. Nyman, 41, management information services director for the City of Inglewood; Rita M. Bayer, 61, a volunteer in various Palos Verdes Peninsula community organizations; Raymond D. Mattingly, 64, a retired hospital administrator; Robert A. Kirkman, 72, a retired engineer, and Michael T. Williams, 34, a Los Angeles attorney.

City Treasurer Hazel L. Elder, 66, who has held office since being appointed to an unexpired term in 1969, is unopposed for reelection.

The ballot also contains a proposition renewing for another four years the city’s special property tax that helps pay for police, fire and paramedic services. The proposal, which requires a 67% majority, calls for an annual $265 tax on the 5,310 parcels or dwelling units in the city. The tax would raise $1.4 million and cover 30% of the public safety costs.

‘Absolutely Vital’

“It is absolutely vital that we pass this,” said Ann Hugh, chairman of the citizens committee working for the measure’s passage.

She said failure would force cuts in the Police Department and fire and paramedic services provided by Los Angeles County under contract.

She said Palos Verdes Estates, which receives only 14% of the property tax its residents pay and has little commercial activity to provide sales tax, is dependent on this tax to retain high-level public safety services, which includes a police response time of 4.6 minutes.

The tax was passed initially in 1980 by an 85% margin. It received an 88% “yes” vote in 1984 and there is no organized opposition this year. Hugh said the committee may spend $6,000 in quest of the same result this year.

In the council race, Nyman, a city resident since 1975, is emphasizing his experience in finance, land-use planning and city government. He is a member of the city financial advisory committee, a citizens group formed to explore how Palos Verdes Estates can raise more money.

Nyman said Florance asked him to run for council.

“I am the candidate with the most experience on city committees,” he said. “None of the others have done it. None brings 15 years of city experience. I know how cities work and how budgets are established. We can’t afford to pay for consultants. The best way is to get someone to donate their time (as a council member).”

Bayer, a 32-year resident whose husband owns a business consulting firm, has been active in a support group for the Palos Verdes Community Arts Assn. and a board member of an auxiliary for the Assistance League of San Pedro-Palos Verdes. Four years ago, she was the first woman elected to the board of the Palos Verdes Golf Club, on which she still serves.

Bayer said she became a candidate because she loves Palos Verdes Estates and its people.

“In my other organizations, I deal with budgets and with people,” she said. “I’m accessible and available on a daily basis.”

Mattingly, who has lived in the city for 21 years and recently retired as an administrator with National Medical Enterprises, a hospital chain, said his strong points are executive and financial experience and his availability.

“Most of the council members work,” he said, adding that it is difficult for them to inspect some things, such as construction projects, that they are voting on. “As a retired person, I will have the time to spend as much time as necessary.”

Kirkman, who has lived in the city for 26 years, also stresses his “100% availability” after retiring six years ago after years of working on classified military projects and owning a financial trading business.

As the candidate most critical of city government, Kirkman said the city should be more diligent in finding new sources of revenue and should make their financial statements easier to understand.

Kirkman said he is adept at “clarifying abstruse financing and presenting it in a fashion that can be understood.”

Williams, an associate of the Gibson, Dunn and Crutcher law firm, moved to Palos Verdes Estates two years ago and said he is running because he and his wife plan to remain there.

“Instead of sitting on the sidelines and being a Monday morning quarterback about the way the city is going, I want to have a say about the future,” Williams said.

A fan of the city’s famous peafowl, Williams said he was introduced to a uniquely local issue shortly after arriving when he became attorney for Friends of the Peacocks. The group was locked in a legal dispute with the city over a plan to control the flock of birds that some criticize for being noisy and destructive.

He said his work as a corporate attorney has given him experience to be a councilman. “I’m trained to evaluate facts, do a thorough analysis and render a decision,” Williams said.

City finances are getting attention in the campaign and while all of the candidates are supporting the police, fire and paramedic proposition, they are raising questions about the practice of tying important city services to four-year special taxes that arouse anxiety in city officials because they depend on voter approval.

(There is a second tax--which will be up for renewal in two years--that pays for street and parkland maintenance.)

Nyman said public safety is a basic service and should be covered in a measure without a so-called sunset clause.

“I am offended by the idea of voting for this every four years,” he said.

In general, he said, he favors reconvening the financial advisory committee to look at long-term financial measures, including a substitute for the utility users tax which finances capital improvements.

Mattingly, Bayer and Williams all say they want the taxes extended for longer periods. Mattingly and Bayer suggest eight years and Williams six. None is offering a counter proposal to voter-approved taxation.

“The propositions create anxiety,” Williams said, “but it’s the people’s money and it’s a community decision.”