Trolley Issue Won’t Run Over Reelection Bid, Picus Predicts

Campaign signs for Los Angeles City Councilwoman Joy Picus’ opponents dot the well-manicured lawns along the proposed route of a light-rail line through Picus’ West San Fernando Valley district.

Many of the homeowners are upset that Picus has continued to push for a study of the trolley line, which they say will bring noise, vibrations and ugly overhead wires to their stable neighborhood.

Opposition to the trolley is an example of the neighborhood-oriented issues involved in Picus’ attempt to win a fourth four-year term in the 3rd District.

Her foes have tried to portray her as failing to fight for preservation of Valley residential neighborhoods. Hoping for victory, they remember an earlier campaign, when Picus was first elected in 1977, defeating incumbent Don Lorenzen. He had pushed through a street lighting project over the strong objections of property owners who had to pay for it.

Calls Trolley Fight Different

Picus, however, said she does not expect to become another Lorenzen, and that the furor over light rail is not comparable to the revolt against the new street lights.

She contended that light-rail opponents are “very loud but limited in number.”

Picus, 58, is a former suburban housewife who used to be called the “Mary Poppins of the City Council” because of her always-smiling, schoolmarm demeanor.

Elected with the backing of friends she made through years of involvement in the Cub Scouts, PTA and League of Women Voters, she has evolved into an outspoken feminist and savvy politician who enjoys strong financial support from corporations and developers.

A Times Poll analysis of her contributions showed more than 70% coming from business interests, broken down this way: 39% real estate interests; 11% service providers; 9% financial institutions; 9% attorneys, and 5% industries and manufacturing.

Picus faces five challengers in the April 11 primary election in the 3rd District. The two best known are Peter Ireland, 42, a deputy to county Supervisor Deane Dana and the son of actor John Ireland, and Jeanne Nemo, a Republican activist backed by county Supervisor Mike Antonovich.

The other challengers are Paul McKellips, 30, a businessman; Mort Diamond, 56, a hot dog vendor, and Ron Rich, 40, a car salesman.

Nemo, 60, a former teacher who sells real estate, ran against Picus in 1985 and finished second in a field of five with 21%. Picus had 56%.

Candidates need more than 50% of the vote to win the April 11 election. Otherwise, the top two vote-getters will meet in a June runoff.

Picus’ opponents have long claimed that Democrat Picus is out of touch with her district, whose western half is Republican. But that has not hurt Picus in the past in nonpartisan city elections. Renters have appreciated her support of rent control. She has successfully campaigned among older voters. And she has a strong electoral base among fellow members of the Jewish community. A total of 34% of her contributors are Jewish, a Times analysis of her contributions revealed.

The district is largely white and middle class, with patches of poverty. Expensive ranch homes in Woodland Hills are minutes away from shack-like dwellings in Canoga Park, a largely Latino barrio dating from the early 1900s.

Old and New

High rises mark the Warner Center, planned as the Valley’s downtown. Yet the tall glass buildings and the nearby shopping center, with its big-name department stores, are a jarring contrast to old business areas such as Reseda, where a jumble of signs hail discount stores and video arcades.

The challengers hope to take advantage of what they see as growing discontent with Picus because of her vacillating stands on whether portions of Canoga Park should be renamed West Hills, her support of development of an arts park in the Sepulveda Basin Recreation Area and her refusal to rule out building the light-rail line through residential areas.

They said they were encouraged by the defeat of Councilwoman Pat Russell in a Los Angeles International Airport-area district two years ago because of anti-growth sentiment. Russell was defeated by Ruth Galanter, who was running for office for the first time.

“I definitely think she’s slipped on the popularity scale,” Milena Miller, president of the Reseda Community Assn., said of Picus.

Miller--speaking for herself, not her group, which takes no position in elections--said she voted for Picus three times, but this year plans to vote for Ireland because of the councilwoman’s position on light-rail.

“It looks to a lot of people along that route as though she is a lot more concerned about development of Warner Center than residents who would be affected,” Miller said. The light-rail line is designed to connect the Metro Rail terminus in North Hollywood with Warner Center.

Picus said she wants to wait for a study on whether possible environmental damage from the line could be eased. Ireland opposes the study favored by Picus of a route through residential neighborhoods on Chandler and Victory boulevards. Instead, he favors a route along the Southern Pacific railroad’s Coast Main Line running diagonally across the Valley from Burbank to Chatsworth.

However, Joel Palmer, president of the Tarzana Property Owners Assn., said he expects Picus to win reelection “because none of the opponents have seized on any issue” that has angered large numbers of constituents or “shown how they could do a better job.”

Picus said a poll she commissioned shows that she is viewed favorably by a majority of her constituents. She declined to release the survey, however.

But she is taking no chances. She has hired professional political consultants to conduct a full-fledged campaign on her behalf.

“I have always taken my challengers seriously,” she said. “I once surprised a guy who didn’t take me seriously. I’m not going to let that happen to me.” She was referring to Lorenzen.

DIFFERENT WORLDS

At first glance, two San Fernando Valley City Council districts seem to embody two different worlds. The 3rd District is predominantly Anglo and white collar, while the 7th District is almost 50% Latino and strongly blue collar. But middle-class homeowners dominate both. Balloting results show voters in both districts they liked Ronald Reagan. They voted against gun control in 1982 and, over the years, for tax-limit ballot measures. And in both districts, the City Council races revolve around the desire of families to preserve their neighborhoods.

Here is how the population in each district breaks down:

RACE / ETHNICITY

3rd District 7th District Anglo 90.3% 64.5% Black 1.5 8.7 Other 8.3 26.8 Latino 10.8 43.9

WORK

3rd District 7th District White collar 67.2% 44.8% Blue collar 22.3 41.8 Service 9.6 11.7 Other .9 1.7

ANNUAL INCOME

3rd District 7th District Under $15,000 18.3% 23.4% $15,000 to $25,000 16.6 19.0 $25,000 to $50,000 38.8 40.0 $50,000 to $100,000 22.2 15.1 $100,000 and over 4.3 1.8

HOUSING

3rd District 7th District Single family 67.6% 74.1% Owner occupied 56.9 62.9

Some numbers overlap because the Census does not consider Latinos a separate race. Census officials say that most Latinos list themselves as white and of Latino ancestry.

Information provided by The Times Marketing Research Department and the Rose Institute of Claremont McKenna College.