Ethnic Groups Give the Nod to Tolerance : Monterey Park: Observers see a new era after an election that put two minorities on the City Council, and ousted an incumbent who bluntly attacked illegal immigration.

In the 1980s, the city seethed and bickered as it struggled to adjust to an increasingly diverse population. As it enters the 1990s, it may be reaching an era of mutual tolerance among ethnic groups, political observers said after last week’s election.

The ouster of Barry Hatch--a controversial councilman who alienated some residents with his blunt attacks on illegal immigration--and the election of a Latino and a second Asian-American to the City Council indicate that “a pattern of accommodation is emerging,” said UCLA sociologist John Horton, who heads a research project studying social and political changes in Monterey Park.

On Tuesday, Hatch and Mayor Pat Reichenberger were swept out of office after a hotly contested six-way race for three seats on the five-member council. The two had backed a controversial, ultimately unsuccessful 1985 campaign to make English the city’s official language.

The winners were Asian-American engineer Samuel Kiang, the top vote-getter, followed by Latino businessman Fred Balderrama and art gallery owner Marie Purvis. City Clerk David Barron finished fourth, trailed by Reichenberger and Hatch.

“I think there definitely was an anti-incumbent backlash that affected both Pat and Barry,” said Councilwoman Judy Chu, who will be sworn in as mayor April 23 under the rotating mayoral system.

Referring to the political frictions in the city during the last four years, Chu said, “What the election showed is that people don’t want that type of tension any more.”

Kiang, who said he focused on the city’s estimated 4,500 Chinese-American voters, nevertheless attributed his victory to community support that crossed ethnic boundaries.

“That personal contact with voters was the most important thing,” said Kiang, who began walking precincts in October. “I felt no hostility at all. I was well-received.”

Balderrama blamed the city’s recent turbulent era on City Hall infighting and said the public at large wasn’t part of the quarrel. Purvis is on vacation and could not be reached for comment.

Reichenberger, meanwhile, didn’t take her defeat personally.

“Incumbents don’t have a good record (of winning) in the city,” said Reichenberger, who plans to pursue a doctorate in psychology after she leaves office this week.

Horton attributed Hatch’s defeat to the fact that many ethnic voters identify him with an anti-immigrant stance that often resulted in bitter clashes in the community. Even some who agreed with what Hatch said thought that he was too extreme, Horton said.

But Hatch said he would not do anything differently. “I never swayed from what I thought was right.”

Hatch, a teacher, said he plans to work toward advanced degrees that will help him increase his salary. He also plans to accept speaking engagements from groups that share his views on immigration and other issues.

The Monterey Park election results were consistent with a trend in the San Gabriel Valley, where voters ousted 18 incumbents. Generally, the phenomenon could be attributed to mounting dissatisfaction with how governments are handling problems of urban growth, Horton said.

Reichenberger and Hatch ran on a slow-growth platform in 1986, so the development issue apparently is not what hurt them with the city’s voters, who Tuesday overwhelmingly passed Proposition S. The measure, which would continue restrictions on residential development in the city, passed on a 4,106-983 vote.

Tuesday’s election showed a new political activism in the Asian and Latino communities, where growing numbers of voters are realizing the importance of participating in the political process, said Jose Calderon, a district director of the League of United Latin American Citizens. Of the city’s 21,886 registered voters, 32.4% cast ballots.

Exit poll information on ethnic data was not available.

Kiang and his supporters made a special effort to educate voters, especially Chinese-Americans, in the use of absentee ballots. He received 1,048 absentee votes, nearly double the number received by second-place finisher Balderrama.

Absentee ballots are more convenient for many immigrants, who may not be familiar with elections and may be intimidated by polling booths and the voting process, said Sophie Wong, who was active in Kiang’s campaign.

But, according to exit polls conducted in 1988 by Horton’s research team, candidates “can’t simply win on ethnic support,” Horton said. “They have to win on the issues.”

Chu, who was elected in 1988, and Kiang received strong backing from the Asian-American community, but had across-the-board support as well, he said.

Horton’s research team, funded by the Ford Foundation and UCLA’s Institute for American Culture, conducted exit polls during Tuesday’s election as part of its 2-year-old research project. Results will be released in a few weeks, he said.