ELECTIONS LONG BEACH CITY COUNCIL : Bread-Butter Issues Dominate Campaigns : Conflict Charges, City-Police Friction Enliven Basically Quiet Election Season

Such bread-and-butter issues as crime, police protection and services for constituents have dominated three council campaigns in this election season, otherwise spiced by conflict-of-interest charges hurled in one of the district races.

With slightly more than a week to go before the April 10 elections, the campaigns have, for the most part, been relatively quiet, lacking the punch of some battles in previous years.

The friction between city management and the police union has been evident in the election, with two union-backed retired police officers attempting to unseat incumbents and create a more favorable environment for the union in City Hall, which just ended a bitter labor fight with the union.

Noticeably absent from the roster of candidates are minorities, despite the fact that they make up about half the city’s population. Only one woman is running for the council, whose only female incumbent, Jan Hall, is not seeking reelection in the 3rd District.

Five of the nine council seats are up for election, but incumbents Warren Harwood of the 9th District and Ray Grabinski of the 7th District are unopposed.

Councilman Evan Anderson Braude faces three challengers in the downtown 1st District. One of them, former legislative assistant Joy Melton, is running a second time against Braude for the seat once occupied by her former boss, Marc Wilder.

In the shoreline 3rd District, retired police Cmdr. Doug Drummond has complicated what many had considered would be an easy win for third-time contestant Jim Serles, who twice before lost bids for Hall’s seat. Brandishing Planning Commission minutes and campaign donation reports, Drummond has accused Serles, a planning commissioner, of accepting contributions from developers and then improperly voting on their projects.

The city attorney’s office is investigating, but Serles has produced evidence showing some of the alleged conflicts apparently stemmed from clerical errors. Serles has acknowledged that two votes were in violation of state ethics laws, but he says the votes were an oversight.

In the 5th District in northeastern Long Beach, incumbent Les Robbins, a Los Angeles County deputy sheriff, is under fire from retired Long Beach Police Sgt. Max Baxter, a former police union board member who doesn’t like Robbins’ votes on various police matters.

MEET THE CANDIDATES

Candidates in three contested districts state their views. J4