Man Who Fought Raider Deal Is Elected in Irwindale

Frederick Barbosa, best known as the man who tried to stop Irwindale from landing the Los Angeles Raiders, felt vindicated on Wednesday.

Thought to be a dark-horse candidate, Barbosa swept into office on a wave of public disillusionment over Irwindale’s failed bid for the professional football team, winning one of three open City Council seats in the tiny San Gabriel Valley city.

The barrel-chested engineer’s election was a shock to some candidates, the mayor, and even Barbosa himself. Barbosa, who sued Irwindale in 1987 and effectively held the Raider deal hostage for more than a year, had expected to be heckled and harassed by voters while going door-to-door with campaign flyers and buttons.

“I was pleasantly surprised,” a smiling Barbosa said Wednesday after returns showed he had captured the second-highest number of votes, outpolling 16-year incumbent Joseph Breceda. “When it looked like I was elected, I thought, ‘Whoa! We’re moving in the right direction.’ ”

“I didn’t expect him to come out like he did,” Breceda said. “Maybe he’s right, about what he’s been saying about the Raiders. Maybe I was wrong.”

To no one’s surprise, one of Barbosa’s priorities will be to recover the $10 million in good-faith money that Irwindale surrendered to Raider owner Al Davis.

Barbosa also pledged sweeping changes at City Hall, including the removal of Raider deal-maker Charles Martin from two of his three posts as city manager, city attorney and city clerk--all of which he has held for 23 years. Martin, 66, who had indefinitely postponed his retirement three years ago so he could work on the Raider deal, said he will reveal his plans next week.

The 41-year-old Barbosa was the only Irwindale resident to be named as a plaintiff in two lawsuits that sought to dismantle the Raider stadium project three years ago. The first, filed by Los Angeles City Councilman Ernani Bernardi and a group called Irate Irwindale Residents Advocating the Environment, resulted in a court injunction barring the city from negotiating with the Raiders until it completed an environmental impact report on the proposed stadium. The report took more than a year to finish.

The second suit, filed by Barbosa and the same group, is still pending. It claims the $10 million was an illegal gift of public money and seeks to invalidate the agreement between the Raiders and Irwindale.

Barbosa filed suit at a time when Irwindale residents were still ecstatic about the Raiders. Restaurants and businesses sprouted up along Irwindale Avenue, the main thoroughfare of the rapidly industrializing city. Black and silver T-shirts sporting a homemade “Irwindale Raiders” logo were sold by the dozens. And the local watering hole, the Rapscallion Seafood House & Bar, threw a party to welcome the team.

Public enthusiasm dwindled when the deal ran into trouble. The city’s chief negotiator, redevelopment consultant Frederick P. Lyte, was fired in 1988 after a falling-out with then-Mayor Patricio Miranda. There were problems with the proposed stadium site, a gravel pit west of the 605 Freeway; glitches developed in a financing package; and other cities--Oakland, Sacramento, Los Angeles--waved meatier offers at Davis. Finally, Irwindale was out of the picture.

Residents weren’t angry enough, however, to sweep two other incumbents from office. Robert Diaz and Miranda were easily reelected.

But the voice of discontent, the man who would not be silent, became an overnight champion for the disenchanted of Irwindale who believe their city was snookered.

A descendant of Irwindale’s first settlers and the son of Henry Barbosa, a former councilman, and Margaret Barbosa, a former city clerk, Barbosa never thought he would run for public office. “I didn’t want to get involved in politics,” he said. “But it came to the point where I had to stand up and be counted, or shut up. That’s why I’m here.”

Barbosa sees his victory as more than just a statement against the Raider deal. “I guess people wanted a change,” he said.