Chula Vista Voters Have Big Field to Pick From in Mayoral Race : Election: January death of Gayle McCandliss necessitated Tuesday’s special balloting.

Chula Vista voters go to the polls Tuesday to elect a mayor who will fill the unexpired term of the Mayor Gayle McCandliss, who died of cancer in January, a little more than a month after she was sworn in.

McCandliss was only 36, and her untimely death has presented local voters with a crowded ballot. Ten candidates, including political novices and veterans alike, are running in the special election.

The top vote-getter will serve as Chula Vista’s third full-time mayor, a job that pays $41,640 a year, until 1994.

There are an estimated 58,000 registered voters in Chula Vista. With only a small turnout expected, some city officials say that as few as 2,000 votes could be enough to elect a mayor for San Diego County’s second-largest city, with a population of about 138,000.

The race has been spirited, with candidates exchanging barbs over who is in the pocket of the developers and who will better slow the developers’ march toward the rolling hills and wooded canyons of the city’s newly acquired Otay area.

Growth has emerged as the principle issue in the campaign. Candidates who have accepted contributions from developers were routinely attacked by their opponents at forums. Most observers said a candidate needs $15,000 to $20,000 to mount a successful campaign, but most candidates’ budgets are smaller than that.

Councilman Tim Nader, who is picked by most observers to win, shocked everyone last month when he contributed $30,000 of his own money to his campaign. Nader, a criminal prosecutor with the California attorney general’s office, said he acted to stifle charges that he was beholden to special interests. He said he is not sure how much of the $30,000 he will spend.

“I wanted to put to rest any rumors that I was being bought by special interest money. I put up to shut them up,” said Nader, 33.

But, instead of putting rumors to rest, Nader created another controversy with his big contribution to himself.

Because he is unable to use the $30,000 self-contribution for personal use--the money will have to remain with his campaign committee--his opponents argue Nader fails to understand financial matters, and they question his ability to make fiscal decisions for the city.

“Tim wanted to eliminate one issue, but he created another one,” said former Mayor Greg Cox, who endorsed Chris Chase.

Nader, who has served on the council for 4 1/2 years, said he is a slow-growth candidate. He prides himself on “voting against half of the developments since I’ve been on the council.”

“I will be a control-growth mayor. . . . The problem with development in Chula Vista is developers and pro-growthers are using a 1950s-style approach. They’re forcing people into their autos,” Nader said.

Other leading candidates are:

* Former City Councilman Frank Scott, 57, a stockbroker. He served on the council for 17 years, before stepping down in 1986.

* Nick Aguilar, 44, an attorney and eight-year member of the Sweewater High School District school board. Aguilar is a manager at UC San Diego.

* Chris Chase, 40, executive director of the South Bay Family YMCA.

* Bob Beyerle, 26, owner of Neighborhood Plumbing, the most colorful of the candidates. Beyerle is also a musician and used to play with the punk rock group Neighborhood Watch.

Punk rocker Jello Biafra, former leader of the Dead Kennedys, appeared at one of Beyerle’s fund-raisers. Biafra ran for mayor of San Francisco about a decade ago and came in fourth in another election with a crowded ballot.

The field of candidates is rounded out by Robert Piantedosi, Joseph Albert, David Campbell, Jerry Forbes and Frank Drew. Drew has made seven unsuccessful attempts for public office in Chula Vista, and Piantedosi was defeated by McCandliss last November.

Chase enjoys the support of Cox, who was an immensely popular mayor, but he has also been painted as the developers’ candidate. Scott called him “a puppet” of the developers, but Chase makes no apologies for supporting growth.

“Growth is here in Chula Vista. I’m for economic growth. . . . I’m not putting on the brakes completely. This area is growing. The regional growth around is growing and we can’t control that,” Chase said. “ . . . We’ve lost the Plaza Bonitas (shopping center). Chula Vista can’t afford to lose shopping centers and companies.”

Like several of the other candidates, Scott said he favors slow growth and promised to stop “the rich developers who are developing Otay Mesa and who want to ram a toll road down our throats.”

But Scott said he also favored “a rational growth plan,” to ensure that vital services like police and fire can keep up with demands in newly developed areas, while saving canyons and environmentally-sensitive areas.

Although Scott criticized Nader as “fiscally irresponsible” for contributing $30,000 to his own campaign, he also had words of praise for him.

“I supported Tim when he ran (for councilman), but I never realized he was so politically ambitious,” Scott said. “He usually votes right, against rampaging growth.”

Aguilar, who lives in one of Chula Vista’s newer communities east of Interstate 805, said he wants to stop the division of the city into the affluent east side, with open space and low density, and the west side, which is marked by higher density, deteriorating neighborhoods and more crime.

“Growth is one issue. The other major issue is the management and allocation of resources so the west side is not neglected,” Aguilar said. “The decisions being made now will determine whether we have one Chula Vista in the 21st Century, or whether we will have a divided community.”

Aguilar said he is not reluctant to accept contributions from developers in his quest for the mayor’s office.

“They are not a dominant force in my campaign, neither in contributions or any other aspect. The mayor should be able to interact with various sectors, including developers, workers and residents,” Aguilar said.

Of all the campaigns, Beyerle’s has been the most colorful. His association with punk rock groups and ownership of a record label that attracts anti-establishment groups makes him appear as a less than serious candidate.

But Beyerle has campaigned hard, walking precincts, registering new, younger voters and attending community forums where he debates issues with other candidates. He said he is the only candidate who was born in Chula Vista, and, with his plumbing company, is the only one who runs a small business in the city.

“I represent the citizens who currently don’t have a voice in City Hall. I’m talking about the poor, the elderly, the blue collar workers who can’t compete with the rich developers who are received in the mayor’s office,” Beyerle said.

“I find it very frustrating that poor people who need city services most have the least access to those services. For example, all of the new parks are being built on the east side,” Beyerle said. “I will stop giving breaks to the developers. I will concentrate some spending on culture and the arts, which will be made available to all our citizens.”

Beyerle said that “if it were a realistic possibility, I would be a no-growth candidate.”

“But, on the other hand, people do have to live somewhere. My solution to growth will be to rebuild and refurbish what we have now. . . . Developers have contributed to the deterioration of the west side,” Beyerle said.