Council, School Board, Treasurer Races : 16 to Vie Against 6 Burbank Incumbents

A waitress, a 19-year-old member of the U.S. Army reserve and four frequent Burbank City Council critics are among a diverse field of 14 residents who will run for three City Council seats in the Feb. 28 municipal election.

Those who filed papers to formalize their candidacies by Thursday’s deadline include Mayor Al F. Dossin, 59, and incumbent council members Mary E. Kelsey, 72, and Michael R. Hastings, 35. The 4-year terms of the three, who were elected in 1985 on a slow-growth platform, are expiring.

In the city’s school board race, four candidates will compete for two seats, including board President Audrey Hanson and Vice President Vivian Kaufman. Also, three candidates are opposing City Treasurer Jack Whitney, who is seeking reelection.

The only candidate for city clerk is incumbent Merle Woodburn, 67, who has served for 4 years.

Four of the council’s most vocal “gadflies” who continually berate the five-member board are among the council candidates. Jules Kimmett, 70, a school custodian, and Melvin Perlitsh, 59, a retired postal worker, have each run unsuccessfully for office several times. Dianne Adams, a businesswoman, and Tom Kaptain, 30, a businessman, are political newcomers.

Other candidates running for the council are:

Lee Paysinger, 53, a waitress and member of the city’s Library Board, said she wants to control growth in Burbank, as well as appoint residents from various communities to serve as liaisons between neighborhoods and the council.

Tom Flavin, 42, an executive with an investment and finance corporation, and vice chairman of the city’s Planning Board, said the council needs a business professional to deal with decisions.

George Bonney, 55, a Los Angeles County Fire Department captain, said he wants to preserve residential neighborhoods that are threatened with spreading commercial development.

Lud Grande, 64, a tax preparer and self-described cowboy who has lost two previous bids for the council.

Morris Goodstein, 67, the owner of Morey’s Shoes who has continually battled the council on development issues in downtown Burbank.

Thomas Milstead, 19, a member of the U.S. Army reserve and a graduate of Burbank High School, said he wants to change what he called the “negative” image of Burbank.

Timothy Murphy, 35, a deputy public defender in San Fernando and chairman of the Neighborhood Awareness Committee, a homeowner group that has lobbied for slow-growth issues.

In the school board race, Hanson, 58, and Kaufman, 58, will be challenged by Denise Wilcox, who listed herself as an educator, and S. Michael Stavropoulos, a neurosurgeon.

Stavropoulos has a pending lawsuit against the school board, which he accused of illegally keeping his ninth-grade son out of Muir Junior High School. School officials said the boy lives outside Burbank and cannot attend the school without special arrangements.

Whitney, 79, who has served as treasurer for 9 years, will be opposed by Joe H. Adams Jr., 53, a senior state auditor; Dianne Maritt, an accountant, and Jim Rogers, a retired bank executive.