Schabarum Won’t Seek Reelection : Politics: The race for the county supervisor’s seat is thrown wide open. His decision could help resolve a pending redistricting lawsuit.

In a decision that could dramatically reshape Los Angeles County’s political landscape, veteran County Supervisor Pete Schabarum failed to file for reelection by Friday’s deadline.

His decision not to seek a fifth term could improve chances for settling a historic lawsuit designed to help a Latino win a seat on the powerful county board.

The loss of Schabarum, the senior member of the Board of Supervisors’ three-member conservative majority, also could shift the balance of power on the board. At the least, it will give the five-member board its first new member in a decade.

The blunt, cantankerous Schabarum ended his 18-year reign on the board without explanation, leaving his fellow supervisors and even his staff in the dark until the filing deadline passed.

Schabarum, reached at his Indian Wells condominium late Friday night, confirmed that he is not a candidate for reelection but declined to say why. He also refused to discuss his future plans. “Talk to you Monday,” he said. He scheduled a news conference for Monday to discuss what an aide called “his election plans.”

Supervisor Mike Antonovich, a fellow Republican, was particularly bitter about Schabarum’s decision. “It was a very selfish action,” said Antonovich, referring to possible successors who will have little time to make their own decision about whether to run.

“It was a slap in the face to the party volunteers, the governor and the President. . . . We need a team effort,” said Antonovich, who was in Santa Clara attending the state Republican Party convention.

“It’s typical Pete,” Supervisor Deane Dana said of Schabarum’s action. “He always does things a little bit differently.”

The filing deadline for other 1st District candidates in the June election was automatically extended until 5 p.m. Wednesday, Registrar-Recorder Charles Weissburd said.

Latino political leaders were expected to meet this weekend to try to unify behind one candidate in the race, which Supervisor Kenneth Hahn predicted would draw the interest of every politician in the district.

Supervisor Ed Edelman said he was “absolutely shocked” about Schabarum’s decision and said it now would be easier to redraw district boundaries if the county loses the voting rights suit.

“It will make it much easier to carve out a (predominantly Latino) district,” he said.

Schabarum last December helped kill a proposed settlement that would have placed him in a new, predominantly Latino district. He objected that the plan would hurt his reelection chances.

Schabarum refused to divulge his election plans right up until the deadline, even to his staff.

Anne Stevens, a secretary in his office in the County Hall of Administration, said, “He hasn’t been here all day.” She said she had no word of his whereabouts.

Word of Schabarum’s decision not to seek reelection followed a confusing sequence of events at the county elections office in Commerce.

Schabarum’s chief deputy, Tom Hibbard, arrived at 4:30 p.m., half an hour before the deadline, refusing to answer questions from reporters.

Hibbard then had a private meeting with the registrar and emerged about 5 p.m. He left without talking to reporters. Weissburd later said Hibbard only wanted to see who had filed for local and state offices on the June ballot.

Schabarum and other conservatives have been a major obstacle to settlement of the redistricting dispute, according to plaintiffs’ attorneys.

However, it is unclear what impact, if any, Schabarum’s decision not to seek reelection will have on the redistricting lawsuit by the Justice Department and civil rights groups, which accuse the county board of violating the voting rights of Latinos.

“This is an excellent opportunity for the parties involved to come together and settle the lawsuit,” said Al Avila, an aide to Councilman Richard Alatorre, who has expressed interest in running for Schabarum’s seat.

Richard Fajardo, an attorney with the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, one of the plaintiffs in the redistricting suit against the county, said he does not expect Schabarum’s decision to lead to a settlement.

“The judge had indicated when we started the trial that he was not going to entertain any settlements,” he said. “I don’t see anything derailing the trial.”

The political ramifications of Schabarum’s move were uncertain as well Friday, as potential challengers scrambled to see whether they should enter the race.

Among the most prominent prospective candidates were U.S. Rep. Esteban Torres (D-Covina), Los Angeles City Councilman Alatorre and Councilwoman Gloria Molina, and Assemblywoman Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-Los Angeles).

Latino candidates are expected to be more cautious than they would have been if the district had been redrawn to encompass more Latino neighborhoods. Under current conditions, with Anglo voters still accounting for a majority of the district’s voters, Latinos would be hard-pressed to win, community leaders have said.

Whether Schabarum’s departure will shift control of the powerful board from conservatives to liberals is still likely to depend on the outcome of the court case.

The existing 1st District, which encompasses the San Gabriel Valley east of Pasadena and some of the southeast county including parts of Pico Rivera, usually elects Republicans.

As of Friday, only one candidate, Jim Mihalka, a Los Angeles city paramedic from Glendora, had filed to run for the office. Among those who have expressed interest in running for the seat is Sarah Flores, an aide to Schabarum.

Schabarum’s colleagues were unsure about what led to the surprise decision.

Dana said he thought Schabarum “had had enough” of the board. “Pete was disappointed when he didn’t get the transportation job,” Dana said. Schabarum had heavily lobbied the Bush Administration to be appointed secretary of transportation.

Supervisor Hahn said Schabarum “had been very frustrated lately. He couldn’t even get a second to his motion on the two-term limit” for supervisors at Tuesday’s board meeting.

“To be in politics you have to like people,” said Antonovich in speculating why Schabarum decided to bow out.

“In politics, if you only serve your own ego, you get tired and quit,” said Antonovich. “In the end, he wasn’t a fighter and he just quit.”

In recent years, Schabarum, 61, a wealthy land developer, has acknowledged some weariness with politics.

Frank Schabarum, the supervisor’s 29-year-old son, said he learned about his father’s decision from a reporter but knew that his father had been agonizing over it for some time.

He said his father grew tired with the job. “When you are constantly being picked on, bad-mouthed by people, it kind of wears on you,” Frank Schabarum said.

He said he believes that his father will return to his commercial real estate business.

Schabarum, a former San Francisco 49ers halfback and three-term state assemblyman, was appointed to the board in 1972 by then-Gov. Ronald Reagan.

He was a frustrated maverick on a liberal-dominated board. But in 1980, he was catapulted to leader of the board’s conservative majority after the election of Mike Antonovich and Dana.

But the combative Schabarum has increasingly found himself isolated from his conservative colleagues.

During his tenure, Schabarum has championed private contracting of county services. He has incurred the wrath of county labor unions, AIDS activists and advocates for the poor because of his tight-fisted fiscal policies and sometimes abrasive style.

Schabarum recently undertook an initiative drive to limit the terms of state officeholders, and acknowledged that he would be subject to criticism for not placing limits on his own career. He proposed a similar two-term limit for supervisors.

Schabarum’s term ends Dec. 3.

In other races, Edelman, with a $1-million campaign fund, drew one little-known challenger, Gonzalo Molina, a schoolteacher, in the 3rd District. The district covers East Los Angeles, Hollywood, the Westside and parts of the San Fernando Valley.

In potentially the hottest county race, one-term Assessor John Lynch drew six opponents, including his former secretary, the president of the Los Angeles Taxpayers Assn. and an assessor’s employee named Kenneth P. Hahn. Hahn is no relation to veteran Supervisor Hahn, who has endorsed Lynch.

Filing to oppose Sheriff Sherman Block were Roland Biscailuz, a detective in the Lennox sheriff’s station and second cousin of the late Sheriff Eugene Biscailuz, and Joseph G. Senteno.

Times staff writers Cathleen Decker and Ashley Dunn also contributed to this story.