Bernardi Says No to Hall’s Code of Ethics

Los Angeles City Councilman Ernani Bernardi on Friday rejected as meaningless a code of ethics he was asked to sign by challenger Lyle Hall in the northeast San Fernando Valley’s 7th District race.

“Lyle violated his own code in the primary campaign,” Bernardi said. “Yet he asks me to sign a code that I have never violated in all my years of political campaigning.”

Hall on Thursday challenged Bernardi to sign a pledge to exchange campaign literature 24 hours before it is distributed and to refrain from personal attacks and distortions during their campaign leading to the June 6 election.

“There will be no need to distort the facts to defeat Lyle,” Bernardi said.

He said that Hall, a former president of the city firefighters’ union, has strong labor support because “he has always pushed for exorbitant salaries and pension benefits at the cost of city services.”

“Giving him a vote on the city budget would be putting the fox in charge of the henhouse,” Bernardi added.

Hall has denied that if elected he would be beholden to the city employee unions.

Meanwhile, both candidates were courting also-rans in Tuesday’s primary in an effort to win their endorsements.

Each met privately Friday with Al Dib, an Arleta community activist who finished third among eight candidates. He got 12% of the vote. Dib said he probably would announce his choice Monday.

Bernardi, the council dean with 28 years of service, received 42% of the vote but fell short of the majority required to avoid a runoff against Hall, who finished second with 26%.

Lunch With Tovar

Bernardi will have lunch today with Irene Tovar, who finished fourth with 10% of the vote. Tovar is a Latino activist who has strong roots in the district’s increasingly Latino community. Hall also has phoned Tovar.

Those who hope to elect a Latino to the seat someday are urging Tovar to back Bernardi because the 77-year-old councilman is likely to vacate the office sooner than 49-year-old Hall. But Hall and Tovar both have friends in common within the United Farm Workers.

Bernardi also will meet today with Jules S. Bagneris III, a Lake View Terrace homeowners’ leader who finished fifth with 7% of the vote.

In a related development, the city clerk’s office asked Hall’s campaign to correct omissions in its last campaign fund-raising reports. Hall’s campaign failed to identify the employers and occupations of many of its contributors.

Hall’s political consultant Harvey Englander said the campaign was making every effort to obtain the required information.