7 Antonovich Challengers Court Seniors

Seven candidates hoping to defeat Supervisor Mike Antonovich promised a gymnasium full of senior citizens Thursday that county government would become compassionate toward the needs of the elderly, the poor and the homeless if any of them were elected.

Social services have deteriorated since Antonovich and the rest of the conservative majority took control of the Board of Supervisors in 1980, the candidates charged at the forum at Sherman Oaks Park.

On social issues, candidate Glenn Bailey contended, Antonovich is “nothing more than a wishy-washy do-nothing.”

Bailey, 32, an environmentalist from Encino, charged that the county’s affordable-housing program is a sham--what the county considers affordable is out of the reach of those who need it.

Other candidates said there has been an erosion of the county’s trauma and emergency-care network.

Don Wallace, 47, a fire captain from Calabasas, noted that until recently, 23 hospitals provided trauma care for accident victims in the county, but the number has dwindled to 16. Three more hospitals, which say they are losing money, will drop out in September, he said.

Wallace has been endorsed by several Democratic politicians in the 5th Supervisorial District.

Senior Sponsors

The forum was sponsored by three senior citizen groups, including Seniors for Action, which, over the years, has invited many prominent politicians, businessmen, professors and journalists to speak at their gatherings.

The audience of 85 seniors seemed to like what they heard Thursday. They laughed or applauded when the candidates frequently blasted the two-term Republican incumbent, who did not attend. Baxter Ward, Antonovich’s best-known opponent, also did not appear.

An organizer put a crystal ball at Antonovich’s empty place on the dias because she said one of his staff had jokingly said that the supervisor, after consulting an astrologer, could not make it.

Peter O’Neil, 25, a television syndication executive, touted his proposal to provide free RTD bus service to ease freeway congestion. The candidate, from Pasadena, said providing free bus service would reduce the need for billions of dollars in freeway repairs and extensions.

“My plan will cost $150 million a year,” said O’Neil, a former marketing director in the National Football League.

A.C. Enriquez-Marquez, 27, who described himself as a moderate Republican, said he would work to wean the county’s pension fund from corporations that do business in South Africa. The doctoral student, from Pasadena, also said he favored instituting an equity pay system for county government workers.