CALIFORNIA ELECTIONS ASSEMBLY DISTRICT 58 :...

With five Republicans pursuing the GOP nomination in the 58th Assembly District, their primary race has evolved into an often-frustrating search for money and a sometimes-scrappy quest for identity.

Like the predominantly Republican coastal district they seek to represent, the candidates are split between Los Angeles and Orange counties. Three--City Council members Jan Hall and Jeffrey Kellogg, and physician Seymour (Sy) Alban--are from Long Beach. The Orange County contenders, developer Peter von Elten and Mayor Thomas J. Mays, are from Huntington Beach.

The winner of the Republican primary will face Democrat Luanne W. Pryor and Libertarian Scott Stier in November. Democrat Joel R. Bishop will be listed on the primary ballot, but he has withdrawn from the race.

All five of the Republicans were hampered by Los Alamitos Republican Dennis Brown’s unexpected and late announcement that he would rather do God’s bidding than continue in the seat he has held for 12 years. Since then, Brown, who is studying to be a lay minister, has declined to become involved in the June 5 primary leaving his would-be heirs to fend for themselves.

Mays and Von Elten have in particular have engaged in an exchange of finger-pointing regarding their ties to special interests and their fund-raising efforts, while Alban, one of the best financed of the candidates, has gone after Kellogg and Mays with a flurry of mailers assailing their stands on abortion.

A freshman councilman with celebrity good looks, Kellogg has been hobbled by a lack of money and a ruptured Achilles’ tendon that has left him limping through his campaign wearing a cast.

Hall, a 12-year veteran of the City Council and former director of the Southern California Rapid Transit District (RTD), has also been hurt by a low campaign budget in a city where three local runoffs are soaking up campaign contributions and diverting them from the Assembly race.

“It’s tough,” lamented Hall, whose 3rd District base of support is one of those areas engaged in an expensive runoff match between the two men who want to replace her on the council.

Alban, a prosperous 66-year-old orthopedic surgeon, and Von Elten are pouring their own money into their campaigns, giving them an advantage over their less well-heeled competitors. Hall, 47, recently joked with a tinge of envy that Alban was sending out so many mailers that he must own a printing press.

The boyish-looking Mays has attacked von Elten for a dinner hosted by two Orange County planning commissioners who entertained representatives of South Orange County developers whose projects must receive commission approval.

Von Elten in turn has blasted Mays for a fund-raiser held at the home of a Huntington Beach planning commissioner and attended by about 90 people, including a major developer with a project due to come before the commission.

Von Elten accused Mays of engaging in a “developer shakedown,” by allowing the $150-a-couple event to be held at the home of Huntington Beach Planning Commissioner Kenneth Bourguignon.

“The only thing (Bourguignon) did was provide his home and some hors d’oeuvres and that was it,” Mays responded, insisting that the fund-raiser “was aboveboard. . . . It was strictly put on by COR-PAC,” the conservative Republican Political Action Committee. Mays also got an from the Huntington Beach city attorney indicating that the dinner was not improper.

Von Elten too defends his event. “I maintain there was nothing wrong with what I did. . . . It was simply an opportunity to meet me and get to know me. . . . Mine was not a fund-raiser where any money was requested, no money was given to me, and I have yet to receive any money.”

Mays, a 36-year-old analyst for McDonnell Douglas Space Systems Co., has charged that Alban and Von Elten would have difficulty acting independently in the Assembly because of the financial support they are receiving. Mays asserted that Alban will be compromised by money from the medical community, while von Elten, executive vice president and general counsel of Mola Development Corp. in Newport Beach, will be under the sway of the development community.

Von Elten, 46, has fired back by branding Mays a hypocrite who has, during his four-year Huntington Beach council career, been helped extensively by development interests that have contributed directly to his campaigns and mounted independent campaigns on his behalf.

Alban’s mailers have infuriated Kellogg, who grumbles that Alban is distorting his positions on oil drilling and abortion. Alban has repeatedly characterized Kellogg as anti-abortion because Kellogg personally opposes abortion and opposes government funding of abortions. But Kellogg, a 36-year-old Roman Catholic, has consistently said he would not vote to outlaw abortion.

Alban, probably the most liberal of the five contenders, says he has targeted Mays and Alban because their conservative stands differ the most dramatically from his.

“It’s not pro-choice if it’s pro-choice only for those who can afford it,” Alban said, explaining his attacks on Kellogg.

In the wake of last winter’s oil spill off the coast of Huntington Beach, all the contenders are portraying themselves as environmentalists. Mays was lauded for his involvement in cleanup efforts as Huntington Beach’s mayor, but it is Alban who has picked up the endorsement of the California League of Conservation Voters, an environmental group that rates politicians on their environmental positions and votes.

So important is the 58th District race to the league that the organization has loaned a full-time worker to Alban’s campaign. Alban was one of three 58th District candidates interviewed by the conservation league, which rated Brown’s record as the worst in the Assembly. Neither Hall nor Kellogg responded to a questionnaire, said the league’s Southern California director, Paul Koretz. Of the three who did, Koretz said they “all seemed decent enough on the environment” and all would be a vast improvement over Brown.

Koretz said Mays responded very effectively to the oil spill that soiled his beach town but said the league ranked him below Alban because he had failed to demonstrate environmental leadership on the council until the spill occurred.

Alban is mounting his first political campaign at a time when most people retire--66.

His age has prompted by another candidate to make snide remarks about going to Sacramento to retire, but Alban counters that it can only be an asset that he doesn’t want to be a career politician. Furthermore, he says no legislator should serve more than three terms.

Hall’s nine-year RTD tenure gives her name recognition, although not all of it is favorable. Widely praised by her board colleagues as a tough and bright director, her departure from RTD earlier this year stirred up controversy when she immediately took a job as a private consultant lobbying on behalf of the transit district.

The board, stung by criticism, canceled the contract, although Hall remained with CBC Consulting Inc. of Torrance, a small firm that primarily helps developers obtain government permits.

58TH DISTRICT CANDIDATES’ OPINIONS ON ISSUES What is your position on abortion? Seymour (Sy) Alban: Opposes legislation outlawing abortions or requiring minors to obtain parental consent for abortions. Would vote for government paying for poor women’s abortions, although says he would prefer to see such abortions privately funded. Jan Hall: Opposes legislation outlawing abortions and requiring parental consent for minors. Supports government paying for poor women’s abortions. Jeffrey Kellogg: Personally opposed to abortion but would not vote to outlaw abortions. Supports legislation requiring minors to obtain parental permission and opposes government funding for any abortions. Thomas J. Mays: Opposes abortions and government funding for abortions. Supports parental consent requirements. Peter von Elten: Supports a woman’s right to have an abortion and government funding for abortions. Opposes parental consent requirements. What is your position on Proposition 112, which would bar speaking fees and limit gifts to state legislators while creating a commission that could pave the way for higher legislative salaries? Seymour (Sy) Alban: Supports the limits on speaking fees and gifts but would prefer the reform not be tied to pay raises. Jan Hall: Concerned about tying ethics reform to pay raises but supports the limits on gifts and speaking fees. Jeffrey Kellogg: Opposes the ballot item because it ties ethics reform to legislative pay, supports the limits on gifts and speaking fees. Thomas J. Mays: Supports it. Peter von Elten: Opposes a pay raise for legislators but supports limiting gifts and barring speaking fees. What is your position on the death penalty? Seymour (Sy) Alban: Favors death penalty in selected cases, such as those involving multiple murder victims, atrocities or the murder of a law enforcement officer. Jan Hall: Favors it. Jeffrey Kellogg: Favors it. Thomas J. Mays: Favors it. Peter von Elten: Favors it. What is your position on Proposition 111, which would gradually raise the gas tax by 9 cents to pay for highway projects and also loosen limits on state spending? Seymour (Sy) Alban: Supports it. Jan Hall: Supports it. Jeffrey Kellogg: Opposes it, arguing that while transportation improvements are necessary, he favors neither the tax increase nor lifting the spending limits. Thomas J. Mays: Supports it. Peter von Elten: Supports it. What is your position on the so-called Big Green initiative, a sweeping, environmental proposal on the November ballot that would phase out cancer-causing pesticides, protect redwood forests and require efforts to slow global warming? Seymour (Sy) Alban: Supports much of the initiative but would vote against it, because of concerns that it will hurt state agriculture and because it is co-sponsored by the Democratic gubernatorial candidate, Atty. Gen. John K. Van de Kamp. Jan Hall: Supports it. Jeffrey Kellogg: Opposes it because of Van de Kamp’s involvement. Thomas J. Mays: Doubts he would support it because of its cost and Democratic sponsorship. Peter von Elten: Opposes it. “Big Green I think is just too big.” Do you support prohibiting the sale of assault weapons? Seymour (Sy) Alban: Yes. Jan Hall: Yes. Jeffrey Kellogg: No. Thomas J. Mays: Probably, although generally opposes gun control. Peter von Elten: Yes. Would you require employers with five or more full-time employees to provide them with basic health care coverage? Seymour (Sy) Alban: Yes, and might support giving those employers state tax credits. Would also consider providing health insurance to the unemployed, perhaps financed by increased alcohol taxes. Jan Hall: Yes, and might give the employers state tax credits. Jeffrey Kellogg: No. Thomas J. Mays: “I don’t know.” Says a task force of state and private representatives is needed to find ways of providing health insurance coverage to all Californians. Peter von Elten: No. Suggests that the state might regulate insurance industry profits on medical coverage, hand out stiffer penalties to physicians caught double-billing and more closely monitor the use of medical tests and X-rays. What is your position on offshore oil drilling? Seymour (Sy) Alban: Opposes all new offshore oil drilling, except in a national emergency. Would require oil tankers to be double-hulled and supports creating an oil spill fund financed with a per-barrel tax on oil. Jan Hall: “I’ve seen areas where it works (such as Long Beach), but I think there are areas that are very fragile--and I would state categorically that Huntington Beach is one of them--and it’s totally inappropriate and shouldn’t be pursued.” Supports double-hulling of tankers and a spill fund financed by the oil and shipping industry. Jeffrey Kellogg: Says the decision of whether to drill offshore should be made “case by case.” Would prohibit drilling in environmentally sensitive areas, such as near wetlands. Opposes creating an industry-financed oil spill fund, supports double-hulling of some smaller tankers and would support requiring oil companies to post bonds when drilling. Thomas J. Mays: Opposes offshore oil drilling along the entire California coast, says tankers should be required to come into port rather than use offshore moorings to unload, supports double-hulling. Does not object to a spill fund but says, “I think it should be done at the federal level.” Peter von Elten: Opposes new oil drilling off the California coast, supports creating an industry-financed spill fund and double-hulling requirements. Would you support legislation barring discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation? Seymour (Sy) Alban: Yes. Jan Hall: Yes. Jeffrey Kellogg: Yes. Thomas J. Mays: No. “Everybody is guaranteed the same rights under the Constitution,” he said. “I don’t feel special-interest legislation is the right way to go.” Peter von Elten: Yes. Do you support Proposition 115, an initiative that would amend the California Constitution to speed trial proceedings and set broad new limits on the rights of criminal defendants? Seymour (Sy) Alban: Yes. Jan Hall: Yes. Jeffrey Kellogg: Yes. Thomas J. Mays: Yes. Peter von Elten: Yes.