LOCAL : 3 Woo Challengers Fail to Qualify for Ballot, 3 Others Left in Running

Three challengers in the race to unseat Los Angeles Councilman Mike Woo--including the two front-runners--have failed to qualify for the ballot, leaving Woo and three relatively unknown candidates in the April 11 contest.

Bennett Kayser, former president of the Federation of Hillside and Canyon Assns. and the candidate who was expected to give Woo the toughest fight, fell 99 valid signatures short of the 500 needed to qualify, the City Clerk’s office said on Tuesday. Kayser had submitted 598 signatures, but 197 were found to be invalid.

Tony Trias, a former Los Angeles School Board member from the Hollywood area, fell short by 170 valid signatures, the clerk’s office said. Trias submitted 571 signatures, but 241 were determined to be invalid.

A third candidate, Howard Obata, was also disqualified. Obata, a postal clerk who is relatively unknown in the district, submitted 657 signatures, but 284 were invalid, the clerk’s office said.

In addition to Woo, three candidates qualified for the ballot: Berndt Lohr-Schmidt, an attorney who has opposed Woo’s efforts to impose restrictions on hillside building; Venus De Milo, a computer consultant who ran unsuccessfully for mayor and county supervisor, and Zahrina Machadah, a business consultant from Beachwood Canyon.