3 of Woo’s Challengers Fail to Qualify for April Ballot

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

Bennett Kayser, former president of the Federation of Hillside and Canyon Assns., 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 announced Tuesday. Kayser had submitted 598 signatures, but 197 of them were found to be invalid.

Tony Trias, a former Los Angeles school board member from the Hollywood area who was considered a leading contender because of his name recognition in much of the district, 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.

Aside from 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.

To qualify, a candidate must submit 500 valid signatures of registered voters in the district. In the case of Kayser, Trias and Obata, the city clerk’s office said, some of the signatures were of residents outside the district, residents who signed petitions for more than one candidate and residents who are not registered to vote.

“It is an incredible disappointment,” said Kayser, who lives in Echo Park and is director of Save Hollywood Our Town, (SHOT), a residents’ group opposed to Hollywood redevelopment. Kayser was reviewing the petitions Tuesday afternoon to determine whether he will challenge the clerk’s ruling. He also signed a declaration of intent to run as a write-in candidate.

“Woo will have a slow-growth candidate against him whether it is my name on the ballot or as a write-in,” Kayser said.

Miscalculation

Trias could not be reached for comment. Obata said he fell short because he miscalculated how many signatures he would need to compensate for the invalid ones.

“I calculated a 21% error rate,” he said. “I didn’t know that I was off that much.”

Woo said the disqualifications--particularly that of Kayser--point to a general level of satisfaction in the district with his record the past four years. Woo represents the 13th District, which includes parts of Sherman Oaks and Studio City as well as Hollywood, Los Feliz and parts of Silver Lake and Echo Park. “I think it means there isn’t a large constituency for any candidate who claims Mike Woo is too soft on developers,” Woo said. “Those who claim the SHOT constituency is a massive constituency in Hollywood need to look at the numbers again.”

Kayser, who finished fifth in a field of six candidates in the 1985 election, blamed his inability to qualify for the ballot on an election consultant he had hired to collect signatures. Kayser said the consultant had promised to obtain between 100 and 200 valid signatures, but failed to submit any before the Feb. 4 deadline.

“This was really a shock to me,” Kayser said.

With the disqualifications, several City Hall observers speculated that Lohr-Schmidt would emerge as the leading challenger. Woo said he welcomed the turn of events.

“I don’t think there is a lot of room in the race for a pro-development candidate,” Woo said.

Lohr-Schmidt, who rejects the pro-development label, predicted he will defeat Woo.

“The only pro-development candidate on the ballot is Mr. Woo himself,” Lohr-Schmidt said.