ELECTIONS POMONA COUNCIL : Would-Be Successors to Political Maverick Bryant Tread Softly

Until he was recalled in June, C. L. (Clay) Bryant was the City Council’s maverick: bold and blunt, outgoing, outspoken and outrageous.

His would-be successors describe themselves as stable, solid and practical. They pause before they speak and choose their words carefully.

After a time of turbulence in city government, “people are looking for somebody with stability and common sense,” candidate Boyd Bredenkamp said.

Bob Dahms and Nancy Lopez, who are competing with Bredenkamp in the Sept. 18 special election to fill the unexpired portion of Bryant’s term, said they admired Bryant for his compassionate nature and his ambition to improve the city, but not for his style.

“You don’t need to make a public ordeal of your problems,” Dahms said.

Lopez said Bryant put too much energy into political battles. “Why waste time getting even, when there is so much to do?” she asked.

Still, even though the candidates have been cautious in their remarks, the campaign has been heating up. A Bredenkamp supporter has filed a complaint with the city clerk accusing Dahms of lying about his address when he registered to vote. And the mayor and council members have harshly attacked each other over their involvement in the campaigns.

By a 2-1 margin, voters in June recalled Bryant after a yearlong campaign in which he was accused of browbeating employees, catering to special interests and making racist remarks. Bryant denied the charges, insisting that he was under attack because he sided with the downtrodden against powerful business and civic leaders.

Bredenkamp helped start the drive to recall Bryant. Lopez circulated recall petitions.

Bredenkamp, in an effort to link Dahms to the ousted councilman, said Dahms had an anti-recall sign in his business window and was allied with Bryant. Dahms said he supported some things Bryant did and opposed others. As for the recall sign in his window, Dahms said he always allows all political candidates to post signs on his property.

The winner will complete a term that runs until 1993.

Bredenkamp, 49, grew up in Nebraska and was a truck driver for 10 years before coming to Pomona in 1974 to buy a doughnut shop on Mission Boulevard that he still operates.

He has been active in a number of youth and business groups and also serves on the Planning Commission. He and his wife, Judy, have two children, 16 and 20.

Bredenkamp is running with the backing of unions representing city firefighters, police officers and general city employees, the first time all three employee groups have united behind a candidate since 1960. He also has the backing of Mayor Donna Smith.

On the Planning Commission, he has consistently voted against new housing developments because they would increase the population, adding to school overcrowding. Bredenkamp said he has been trying to send a message to the council that it should work with the school board to relieve overcrowding. “You can’t have a quality city without quality schools,” he said.

The most serious problem facing the city, he said, is crime. Bredenkamp said the Police Department needs more officers and equipment.

Dahms, 33, said he too believes that crime is “at an intolerable level.”

“We need to provide a better, more efficient Police Department,” he said. “I’d like to take a look at the upper management and make sure we are running it as efficiently as we can within the resources the department has.”

Dahms said the city must step up efforts to combat gangs. “We need to create the stigma that belonging to gangs is no longer cool,” he said.

Dahms came to Pomona from Chicago 12 years ago, establishing a business involved in electronic security systems and military and aerospace work. Dahms said he has attended several colleges, but does not have a degree. He is a member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers.

He is president of the Central Business District, which is working to revive downtown Pomona, and also sits on several other boards of civic organizations. He has been so successful in business, Dahms said, that he can now devote most of his time to community service.

Lopez, 52, who was born in Pomona and has lived here nearly all of her life, is campaigning with the promise of becoming a full-time council member.

But, unlike Bryant, who prided himself on being the people’s watchdog on duty every day at City Hall, Lopez said she would not be looking over the shoulders of employees and would leave them alone to do their jobs.

Married 33 years and the mother of four children, Lopez has a long record of volunteering in community efforts. A founder of the Hispanic Youth Task Force to deal with gang problems, she conducts career weeks at Pomona schools and stages fiestas at the Civic Center on Mexican holidays in May and September.

Lopez said she would bring to the council a strong understanding of the community and its needs.

Of the three candidates on the ballot, Lopez is by far the most outspoken. “People in the community know me as very bossy, very forward, very direct,” she said.

She was the only candidate to run against Bryant last year at the regular municipal election, before he joined with two other council members to fire the city administrator and became a recall target. She lost, 4,110 to 3,230.

Although 30% of Pomona’s population is Latino, Lopez said her Latino heritage may work against her in the election. “There is a lot of support for me out in the community,” she said, “but people are saying that we already have two Hispanics on the City Council.” The council has five members, including the mayor, although a ballot measure approved in June will expand the council to seven members next spring.

Lopez said she is asking voters to “judge me on the basis of who I am and what I have done, not who I represent.”

Councilman Tomas Ursua said he thinks the big obstacle for Lopez is not that she would join Nell Soto and himself as the council’s third Latino but that she is under-qualified. “People are looking for a higher-trained elected official these days,” he said. He dismissed Lopez as a community volunteer with links to the Establishment. “She’s the kind of person who doesn’t question the system,” he said.

However, Lopez claims that the Police Department has not hired enough Latino officers and attacks council members for allegedly putting their political ambitions ahead of community service. “Everybody on that (council) right now has his own self-interest,” she said. “They are not interested or concerned for the community.”

Not surprisingly, Lopez is the only candidate on the ballot who is not being backed by an incumbent.

Mayor Smith has endorsed Bredenkamp, and Ursua has endorsed Dahms. Soto on Tuesday announced she is endorsing Dahms. Councilman Mark A. T. Nymeyer said he will remain neutral.

The endorsements carry some political weight, but also some extra baggage. Dahms and Lopez claim that Bredenkamp would be under the thumb of Smith.

Lopez said Smith is “looking for a puppet . . . someone she can manipulate and get some of the power she wants.”

Bredenkamp said his family and Smith’s have been friends for years through youth sports organizations in which they both participated, starting with Little League.

“The reason we are friends,” he said, “is that our basic philosophies are the same. Whenever we’ve gotten involved in any project, Little League or whatever, we’ve always worked for the good of the organization.”

He said that he would vote with Smith most of the time on the council because they think alike but that he has differences with her too. “I can think for myself,” he said.

Bob Mulligan, who heads the Pomona City Employees Assn., said his group and associations representing police officers and firefighters interviewed the three candidates and concluded that Bredenkamp was the most knowledgeable and experienced. Mulligan said the associations will provide volunteer labor and contribute money as well.

Bredenkamp has raised the most money, according to campaign reporting statements filed by the candidates for the period ending Sept. 1. Bredenkamp had amassed $10,999. Dahms had raised $8,569, including $1,250 from labor unions and $1,350 of his own money. Lopez reported $1,899 in contributions, including $1,110 from her husband.

In addition to the three candidates on the ballot, George Bosy, a motel operator who has clashed with the city over efforts to aid the homeless, took out papers to file as a write-in candidate, but failed to submit them by the filing deadline.

A LOOK AT THE POMONA CITY COUNCIL CANDIDATES

Boyd Bredenkamp

Age: 49

Occupation: Owner-operator of a doughnut shop.

Background: Six years on Planning Commission. Backing of city employee groups, Mayor Donna Smith and leaders of recall effort against former Councilman C. L. (Clay) Bryant.

Promises: Improved council-school board relations. “You can’t have a quality city without quality schools.”

Bob Dahms

Age: 33

Age: 33

Occupation: Owns electronic engineering business.

Background: President of Central Business District, leader of other business groups. Backing of council members Nell Soto and Tomas Ursua.

Promises: Speedier police response to crime calls. “We need to provide a better, more efficient Police Department.”

Nancy Lopez

Age: 52

Occupation: Housewife and community volunteer.

Background: Founded Hispanic Youth Task Force; plans school career days; organizes community fiestas.

Promises: Community will come first. “Everybody on that (council) right now has his own self-interest. They are not interested or concerned for the community.”