Inglewood Vote Yields Runoffs, Scardenzan Win

Political newcomers Tuesday won the right to move on to June runoffs in two of Inglewood’s City Council races, and two-term incumbent Anthony Scardenzan was reelected outright with 54.7% of the vote.

In a battle springing from a political family feud, John Gibbs--former aide and son-in-law to the late Assemblyman Curtis Tucker--forced two-term Councilman Daniel Tabor into a June 6 runoff. Gibbs won 39.8% of the vote to Tabor’s 37.1%, with three other candidates splitting the balance.

And in the upset of the night, Jose Fernandez, a 29-year-old aide to state Sen. Cecil N. Green (D-Norwalk), in his first political race, put together a coalition of senior citizens, longtime activists and Latino voters to outpoll three better-financed and better-known opponents. Fernandez drew 32.9% of the vote and will face former Councilman Bruce Smith, who received 30.2%.

Shortly after winning reelection, Scardenzan, citing Fernandez’s government experience and college background, said he would endorse him. Scardenzan said the city would benefit from a Latino councilman.

Turnout on the sweltering election day in Inglewood was 10.7%, with 4,952 of 46,342 voters going to the polls.

Scardenzan Wins

The race in Council District 2 was the toughest ever for Scardenzan, a hard-nosed Italian immigrant who likes to say he serves on the council out of gratitude to the country in which he has prospered. Mark Ganier, an Inglewood schools maintenance supervisor, outspent Scardenzan and mounted a campaign of relentless attacks that put Scardenzan on the defensive.

But Scardenzan won a third term with 478 votes, outdistancing his nearest rival by nearly 250 votes. Ganier won 26.2% of the votes; consultant Daniel Langston got 10.5%, and businessman Andrew Chapralis, 8.6%.

At a small victory party at his home in a multi-ethnic north Inglewood district, Scardenzan said voters had rejected Ganier’s “outrageous” negative campaign and focused instead on the incumbent’s record.

“I have to thank the voters for their intelligence,” said Scardenzan, 60, a businessman who said he had worried about being forced into a runoff because Ganier had campaigned full time, while Scardenzan continued working at his Gardena tool and die shop.

‘Fears Were Wrong’

The voters “showed my fears were wrong. I presented my record and the services I had to offer. He spent his time trying to destroy my image.”

Scardenzan’s campaign emphasized anti-crime efforts, most prominently a successful drive last year to hire 20 new police officers through an assessment district, and his work on projects such as Inglewood’s Sister Cities student exchange program with his birthplace, Pedavena, Italy.

The Sister Cities program was the target of an attack by Ganier, who accused Scardenzan of using taxpayer funds to travel to Pedavena. However, city records and city officials backed Scardenzan, who angrily responded that he had paid for his two program-related trips to Italy.

Scardenzan said he has not forgiven Ganier. “I think the man should be punished for what he did. He insulted my family, my name and my personality.”

Nevertheless, Ganier congratulated Scardenzan.

“He was the incumbent,” Ganier said. “I was doing everything I thought was necessary to win. As far as I’m concerned, there was nothing personal.”

Ganier blamed his loss on low voter turnout.

Scardenzan said he wants to concentrate on fighting drug traffic and overdevelopment in the next four years, and said he hopes to work with the Inglewood school district to strengthen the Inglewood Technical Institute, a vocational program he helped create.

Tabor Faces Gibbs

Scardenzan’s fellow incumbent, 34-year-old Tabor, did not fare as well in his race to be reelected in the prosperous, politically active and predominantly black 1st District.

The bitter contest is a product of recent Inglewood political history. After Tabor unsuccessfully challenged the late Assemblyman Tucker in the 1987 Democratic primary, Tucker vowed to end Tabor’s political career. Many saw Gibbs’ aggressive campaign, which had the backing of Tucker’s son and successor, Assemblyman Curtis R. Tucker Jr., as the fulfillment of that threat.

“The voters have said they don’t want him anymore,” Gibbs said, referring to Tabor’s performance. At a celebration at his Manchester Avenue campaign headquarters, Gibbs, 32, noted that he emerged from obscurity to win 58 more votes than a high-profile incumbent who grew up in the district. He predicted victory in the June 6 runoff and derided Tabor’s claim to being the front-runner.

“We can lay this claim that Danny Tabor was the front-runner to rest,” said Gibbs. “We can bury that. We’re going to take the high road and emphasize my capabilities.”

Gibbs had led the challengers in criticizing Tabor for allegedly neglecting the district in favor of activism on a range of issues. Among the other candidates, former Councilman Andrew Isaacs got 14.8%, Tyrone Smith got 4.7% and LeRoy Fisher got 3.5%.

Tabor remained characteristically calm on election night, despite the clear damage to his reputation as a rising young star in black politics.

But Tabor’s comments indicated that the already bitter tone of the campaign will not improve as the June showdown approaches. Tabor, who has a reputation for oratorical prowess, challenged Gibbs to as many debates as Gibbs is willing to have. Gibbs accepted.

Along with low voter turnout, Tabor blamed his second-place finish on “deceitful” attacks by Gibbs.

“We weren’t able to get all of our voters out,” Tabor said. “He ran a low, disrespectful, negative campaign. We’re going have to do a better job of selling Danny Tabor. The choice is between someone who has spent eight years on the council working for the voters and someone whose claim to fame is that he worked for his father-in-law.”

Tabor described a Gibbs’ campaign brochure mailed last week as filled with innuendo. For example, the brochure asks, “What was Danny Tabor arrested for in Nevada?” Tabor said it is common knowledge that while at a League of Cities Conference last year he was arrested for trespassing at a nuclear test site along with numerous other elected officials.

Gibbs said all the candidates had attacked Tabor.

“He was the incumbent,” he said. “What were we supposed to do, say nice things about him?”

And he defended his mailer. “What I printed wasn’t deceitful because it was factual. There were no lies. I just asked questions.”

Smith Against Fernandez

The tone was somewhat more mannerly in the 3rd District. But the energy was just as high in a battle to fill the seat left open by Councilwoman Ann Wilk, who died last December.

As the election results came in at Inglewood City Hall Tuesday, the lead switched among three of the five candidates for the two runoff spots. Two of them were former candidates: Bruce Smith, a businessman and two-term councilman who lost his seat to Wilk in 1987, and Claude Lataillade, 37, a TRW engineer who did not make the 1987 runoff.

Close behind was Jose Fernandez, 29, making his first run for public office with a relatively small campaign fund. As of March 18, Fernandez had raised only $3,360 to Smith’s $13,116, with Lataillade raising $8,255 and candidate Muhammad Nassardeen raising $6,850.

But the final vote totals showed Fernandez with a 41-vote margin over Smith. Fernandez led with 32.9% of the vote to Smith’s 30.2%, with Lataillade having fallen to 27.5%.

“It’s not how much you raise,” an elated Fernandez said afterward. “It’s how you spend the money.”

The district is a mix of longtime white homeowners who tend to dominate at the polls, a large Latino population and a smaller but substantial black population. Fernandez attributed his surprise showing to his coalition of senior citizens, Latino voters and supporters of former Councilwoman Wilk, whose family endorsed Fernandez.

One of those former Wilk backers, Margaret Miller, is one of several effective veteran activists who jocularly refer to themselves as “little old ladies in tennis shoes.” Of Fernandez’s victory, she said: “Our long-term experience in this city is that, if you are really in touch with the people, it doesn’t take money.”

If elected, Fernandez would be the first Latino office holder in a city where Latinos are about 30% of the population.

But Fernandez emphasized he is not merely a candidate for Latinos and said he plans to reach out to supporters of Lataillade and Nassardeen, the two black candidates.

Fernandez said his runoff campaign would stress his goals of increased economic development and senior services, and took issue with Smith’s claim that Smith’s eight years of council experience make him the most qualified candidate.

“Those people know his record. If they would choose to return him to council, they would have voted for him Tuesday,” he said.

Smith, 69, countered by saying Fernandez’s main strength had been his prominent use of the Wilk name in his campaign.

“It’s a little awkward to run against a dead woman, and that’s how Fernandez won,” Smith said. “He used Wilk’s identity.”

Smith added: “I have the experience to be a councilman and that’s something none of the other candidates can offer.”

In an interview at City Hall, Smith said his priorities include fighting crime and improving neighborhoods. He said he will work to clear the streets of illegally parked cars, a phenomenon he blamed on “the Hispanic explosion in the city of Inglewood . . . every one of them owns three or four cars and they live three or four to a house.”

When pressed on whether this statement showed insensitivity, Smith backed away from his initial focus on Latinos, saying, “Hell, everybody parks their car on the street, but they can’t have clean streets if they do that.”

Fernandez did not respond directly to Smith’s comments about Latinos. But he said the parking problem is due to a proliferation of apartment buildings in the district that occurred while Smith was councilman.

Times Staff Writer Sheryl Stolberg contributed to this story.

Complete Election Results (Inc.) designates incumbent Runoff candidates in italics . Winners in bold type. Inglewood Primary City Council candidates compete within districts. If no candidate gains 50% of the vote, the top two vote-getters in that district will be in a runoff election June 13. CITY COUNCIL 46 of 46 precincts DISTRICT 1

Vote % John C. Gibbs 849 39.8 Daniel K. Tabor (Inc.) 790 37.1 Andrew Q. Isaacs 316 14.8 Tyrone Smith 101 4.7 LeRoy N. Fisher 76 3.5

DISTRICT 2

Vote % Mark Ganier 229 26.2 Daniel Checo Langston 92 10.5 Andrew J. Chapralis 75 8.6

DISTRICT 3

Vote % Jose Fernandez 390 32.9 Bruce U. Smith 359 30.2 Claude Lataillade 326 27.5 Muhammad Nassardeen 98 8.3 Robert Strums 13 1.1

SCHOOL BOARD SEAT 1

Vote % Caroline Coleman (Inc.) 2,025 44.3 Thomasina Reed 1,202 26.3 Jewett L. Walker Jr. 878 19.2 Emanuel Gary Jr. 470 10.3

SEAT 2

Vote % Larry Aubry (Inc.) 2,648 62.9 Mildred Tennyson McNair 1,557 37.1

Joseph T. Rouzan Jr. was unopposed for Seat 3.