ELECTIONS POMONA COUNCIL : New Balloting System Alters Race Strategies : Campaign: Candidates say the switch from citywide to district elections will enable more door-to-door campaigning. Four council seats and the mayor’s job are at stake.

Next month’s city election promises a bigger-than-ever City Council, elected with the help of what may be a smaller-than-ever load of political junk mail.

That’s because, candidates say, the redrawing of political boundaries and the change from citywide to district elections make it possible to go door-to-door shaking hands.

Council candidates now need to reach about 7,000 voters in each district, instead of the 42,000 eligible to cast ballots citywide.

Candidate Penni Moffatt said she couldn’t hope to walk the whole city, but she and her husband think they can personally call on the 2,000 “high-propensity” voters in District 4.

Another District 4 candidate, Rebecca A. Ryan, believes her candidacy “would be hopeless in a citywide election” since she cannot afford $3,000 to send out a political mailer or even pay the $600 fee charged by firms for a list of the likeliest voters. But by trudging door-to-door throughout the district, handing out flyers, she aims to garner enough votes to qualify for a runoff.

The March 5 city election will be the first since voters decided last June to revamp city government by electing council members by district and by enlarging the council from four to six members, plus the mayor.

In addition to the two new seats, Councilman Mark A.T. Nymeyer is not running for reelection, thus guaranteeing the election of at least three new council members.

In all, four council seats and the mayor’s job are at stake. Mayor Donna Smith is seeking reelection citywide against five candidates. Councilwoman Nell Soto is running for a second term in District 1 against four challengers.

In races where no candidate receives a majority, the top two finishers will meet in a runoff April 16.

Here is a look at the three races in which new council members are assured of being elected.

Five candidates are on the ballot in Nymeyer’s District 4, which is located in central Pomona east of Garey Avenue. One of them, Planning Commission member Jerry A. Keane, is not campaigning because of health problems. Keane said he found out he would be sidelined by shoulder surgery after he filed as a candidate, but it was too late to withdraw his name from the ballot.

Others running in District 4 are Moffatt, Ryan, William Paul Shelton and Paula Hastings Lantz.

Moffatt, who operates an electrolysis and skin care clinic, has Nymeyer’s endorsement. She is campaigning on a strong record of community service, including five years on the city Parks and Recreation Commission and eight years on the city Merit Commission. She opened her business in Pomona five years ago after a 15-year career in nursing.

Lantz, who works with families of babies that are delayed in their development, is a lifelong resident of Pomona. She said she wants to end the squabbling and personal vendettas that have dominated council meetings.

Lantz supported the recall last year of Councilman C.L. (Clay) Bryant, whose clashes with other members kept the council in turmoil, but said his removal alone has not produced good government. Council members still vote for or against a measure simply because they don’t like the colleague who proposed it, she said. Her policy would be to shun special interests and unify the community. “I would try to work with everyone,” Lantz said.

Shelton, who operates a pool service, claims the current council “has been vulnerable to special interests,” citing the influence of billboard companies that have been seeking to weaken city billboard regulations and of hidden interests that proposed legalizing card clubs. The council last year put the card club measure on the ballot, then withdrew it. The billboard issue is unresolved.

Shelton is a founding member of Pomona Heritage and has pushed for a city ordinance to protect buildings of historic value. He was an active participant in the move to recall Bryant.

Ryan, who teaches writing in adult education classes, said her interest in city politics developed from watching the clashes between Bryant and other council members. “I thought there must be a more logical way to run government,” she said. “I want to return some sanity to government.”

Council members will be elected for the first time in the two new districts: District 5, which serves Phillips Ranch and the Westmont area, and District 6, which serves the northern part of Pomona.

Only two candidates are running in Council District 5: Charles Blanton, who is president of a design studio, and Ken West, a fiscal administrator with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

Blanton, a member of the Planning Commission, is stressing his service to the community, including membership on civic committees involved in everything from affirmative action hiring in the Fire Department to planning Pomona’s booth at the county fair.

“I have worked with City Hall for six years,” Blanton said. “I know how to go to the source. . . . Serving on the Planning Commission is a real insight into government and how it works.”

West is a former president of the Phillips Ranch Homeowners Assn. and served on the city’s Community Life Commission. He has more than 16 years of experience as a governmental accountant and fiscal manager.

With the city facing a projected $3.8-million budget deficit next year, West said his financial background would be useful on the council. Dealing with budget problems, he said, “is second nature to me.”

In District 6, which takes in the portion of Pomona north of the San Bernardino Freeway, four candidates are on the ballot: Edward S. Cortez, Stephen Quintero, Robert L. Stoddard and Willie E. White.

Cortez, chairman of the Planning Commission, has lived in Pomona 30 years and operated a business for 20. He also has a long list of other civic activities and currently serves on the city Revenue Advisory Council.

Cortez said he offers political independence and a willingness to make hard decisions. On the controversial city utility tax, for example, he said the city should halt planned reductions in the tax until it finds other sources of revenue. “The alternative,” he said, “is to cut services. If you want quality, you have to pay for it.”

Quintero, a junior majoring in journalism at Cal Poly Pomona, said he decided to run because the absence of an incumbent seemed to offer political opportunity. “The seat is open. Everyone is equal,” he said.

He said his goal would be to return Pomona government to the stability it had a dozen years ago when former state Assemblyman Charles Bader was mayor.

Stoddard, a salesman for a Pomona paper company, has only lived in Pomona three years, but grew up in nearby Diamond Bar and attended Ganesha High School. Bryant made a “mockery of city government,” and his recall has created a political renaissance in Pomona, Stoddard said.

He said the city needs economic growth to provide more tax revenue and should hire more police officers to deal with crime. He said the utility tax is “a bad tax, but it’s necessary. If we do away with it, there are going to be programs cut.”

White, who is outreach director at the YMCA of the Pomona Valley, came within 71 votes in 1983 of becoming the first black person elected to the City Council, but lost to Nymeyer 3,404 to 3,333. White lost by 307 votes in a rematch four years later.

This time, White has the advantage of running in the district with the city’s highest black population. District 6 is 33% black and 25% Latino. White has long campaigned for district elections as a means of improving ethnic and racial representation on the council. The Pomona council currently has two Latino members but has never included a black.

White is running on his long record of community service during his 35 years in Pomona. He founded a food bank for needy families, started a leadership program for youth and has been attending Pomona City Council meetings regularly for 22 years. “I spend more time at City Hall than some of the council members,” White said.

POMONA CANDIDATES

DISTRICT 4

Jerry A. Keane, 33

Mechanic

(no photo available)

Planning Commission member. Ran for mayor two years ago and earned 12% of the vote. Says will not actively campaign because of health problems related to 1986 auto accident.

Paula Hastings Lantz, 44

Infant educator

Born in Pomona; graduate of Pomona High School and Pomona College. Master’s degree from Claremont Graduate School. Counsels families with babies whose development is delayed.

Penni Moffatt, 39

Electrolysis and skin care clinic owner

Served on city parks and recreation and merit commissions. Founded Westmont Homeowners Assn. Also served on Pomona Futures Committee.

Rebecca A. Ryan, 47

Adult education teacher

Teaches writing at Pomona Adult School and Citrus College. Holds bachelor’s degree from University of North Alabama; working toward master’s in public administration at Cal State Northridge.

William Paul Shelton, 35

Pool service owner

Founding member of Pomona Heritage. Graduated from sheriff’s academy in Riverside. Show dog handler and judge. Active in committee that recalled Councilman Bryant.

DISTRICT 5

Charles Blanton, 43

Design studio president

Pomona resident 14 years; member of Planning Commission. Served on Pomona Futures Committee and affirmative action board for Fire Department.

DISTRICT 5

Ken West, 39

Fiscal administrator

Former president of Phillips Ranch Homeowners Assn. Served on Community Life Commission for four years. Head of payroll and disbursements for Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

DISTRICT 6

Edward S. Cortez, 50

Service station owner

Pomona resident nearly 30 years; businessman for 20 years. Planning Commission chairman. Youth work volunteer. Member of Pomona Revenue Advisory Council.

Stephen Quintero, 21

College student

Lifelong Pomona resident. Graduate of Damien High School. In junior year at Cal Poly Pomona, majoring in journalism. Was assistant editor of college magazine and sports editor of college newspaper.

Robert L. Stoddard, 40

Salesman

Grew up in Diamond Bar. Attended Ganesha High School, Mt. San Antonio College, Cal Poly Pomona. Employed as salesman for Carr Paper Co.

Willie E. White, 54

Youth outreach director

Pomona resident 35 years. Campaigned for district elections. Established food bank. Founded junior police program. On staff of Pomona Valley YMCA. Parks and Recreation Commission member.