Pomona Voters May Decide on Bigger Council : Politics: June voters will consider C. L. (Clay) Bryant’s recall and may decide whether the City Council should be enlarged and citywide election of mayor scrapped.

Voters will decide June 5 whether to recall Councilman C. L. (Clay) Bryant and may be asked to enlarge the City Council to seven members and eliminate the elected post of mayor.

City Clerk Elizabeth Villeral reported Tuesday night that petitions seeking the recall of Bryant had enough signatures to qualify for the ballot. The council voted to submit the recall to voters at the June 5 state primary, saving the expense of a separate city election.

At the same meeting, the council instructed interim City Atty. Arnold M. Glasman to prepare amendments to the City Charter that would drastically change the city’s governing board.

The city now is governed by a mayor and four council members. All are elected in a citywide vote, although council members must live within district boundaries. Under the proposed system, seven council members would be elected by districts, and the mayor’s post would be rotated among them.

The council plans to hire a consultant to help draw district boundaries. The boundaries must be considered by the Planning Commission and then be approved again by the council before the proposal qualifies for the ballot.

Glasman said the city has only until March 8 to complete the steps to put a measure on the June ballot. If approved, the system would go into effect at municipal elections in March, 1991.

Ironically, the city spent more than $1 million successfully defending the current system against a suit that charged citywide council elections discriminated against minorities. Since then, however, the composition of the council has changed, and one of the plaintiffs in the suit, Tomas Ursua, was elected to the council last year.

Councilwoman Nell Soto said population growth mandates an increased number of council members. Pomona, which had 92,742 residents in 1980, now has 120,000 or more, Soto said.

Councilman Mark A. T. Nymeyer agreed, saying, “I think the 1990 census will tell us there are 135,000 people in this town, and it’s important to have seven districts.”

Soto said the city could increase harmony on the council by scrapping the system of electing a mayor directly. She said some council friction comes from jockeying for advantage in mayoral elections. By rotating the mayor’s position, she said, “everyone would know they would have a chance to be mayor sooner or later if they stayed on the council long enough.”

But Mayor Donna Smith said that if all seven council members elected to four-year terms were given a chance to be mayor, the post would rotate every 6 1/2 months. She said such a short stint as mayor would be confusing to residents.

Soto said the post would not have to be rotated that frequently. There is no reason why every council member should serve as mayor, she said, adding that she would be glad to forgo the honor herself. She added that the post of mayor carries no more real power than a seat on the council.

After the council meeting, Bryant said he believes placing the district election issue on the ballot with the recall will help his efforts to retain his seat by bringing out a heavy vote among minorities.

Bryant, who is white, has championed minority causes. After the council meeting Tuesday night, Bryant said, “That’s my secret weapon--the minority vote in this town.”

But Melody Peterson, who chairs the committee that has been working since last summer to recall Bryant, said: “Clay Bryant does not have the minorities in his back pocket. In every neighborhood, we walked to get signatures (on recall petitions), we got signatures. You cannot say the recall of Clay Bryant is a black, brown or white issue.”

Bryant, a 70-year-old retired engineer, has been elected to the council three times, was voted off the council once and has waged four unsuccessful campaigns for mayor.

The petitions circulated to recall Bryant list his alleged “vindictive, intimidating and contemptuous attitude toward this city, its citizens and employees,” his alleged description of opponents as idiots, nobodies and liars, and his “distortion and misrepresentation of the facts.”

Bryant has said Smith and others who have lost political power as a result of a realignment of the council are behind the recall. On major issues before the council, Bryant is usually in the majority, and Smith is often in the minority.

Peterson said 250 to 300 people collected 11,361 signatures to recall Bryant.

The city clerk turned the recall petitions over to the office of the county registrar of voters to determine if they had been signed by the required 8,304 persons, representing 20% of the city’s registered voters. The clerk said the county checked 9,605 signatures and determined that 8,485 of them were valid, qualifying the recall for the ballot.

Voters will be asked to decide whether to recall Bryant, and if he is recalled, whether he should be replaced by appointment or by a special election. If a special election is approved, it would be held about three or four months after the June 5 vote.