For First Time, Council Rejects Nominee for Commission : Politics: Members usually approve appointees out of professional courtesy. Some blame nominee’s support for recall bid.

Call it political hardball, West Hollywood style.

Last week, the City Council rejected Councilman Sal Guarriello’s candidate to fill a vacancy on the city’s Human Services Commission. The vote, following half an hour of raucous arguments, was accompanied by a chorus of catcalls and whistle blowing from a small contingent of Guarriello supporters in the audience.

It was the first time the council had turned down a direct appointment. Normally, the members approve one another’s choices out of professional courtesy.

Critics charged the council majority--John Heilman, Babette Lang and Abbe Land--with injecting politics into the process. “They voted against (nominee Ron Goins) because he has attacked their policies and because he was prominent in the recall campaign against John Heilman,” said Tad Bright, an activist on the east end of the city. “This is a case of excluding people who disagree.”

The incident even raised the ire of Mayor Paul Koretz, who is normally unflappable.

“I think it is absurd that we would consider rejecting any council member’s nomination,” he said before the vote Monday. “It is his or her right.”

Heilman, Land and Lang see things differently. They voted no, they say, because of questions about Goins’ commitment to vital human-services programs, including a controversial homeless shelter on La Brea Avenue. Goins has argued that the city should instead use the shelter for people with AIDS. Also at issue were questions over Goins’ ability to get along with city staff.

Heilman accused Guarriello of politicizing the appointment process. Earlier this month, Guarriello removed his representative on the Human Services Commission, Elizabeth Burns, without the benefit of explanation. He was able to do so because of a newly adopted measure giving each council member exclusive authority to remove direct appointees without interference. Goins, a close Guarriello ally who was active in the Heilman recall effort, was to be the successor.

“I won’t stand for a commission stacked with political hacks,” Heilman said. “This nominee would be destructive for the community.”

Guarriello said that he nominated Goins for the commission because Goins comes from the east side of the city, an area Guarriello said has been neglected by social-service organizations. Goins is credited with working to clean up the area, in part by helping to rid Plummer Park of drug dealers. Last week’s vote would appear to illustrate how much Guarriello is isolated from his colleagues. He is often the outsider on issues, with many decisions going against him by a 4-1 vote.

Equally significant, he no longer has the support of the powerful tenant rights group, Coalition for Economic Survival. Although he had CES backing during his April, 1990, election, he was removed last February from the group’s steering committee.

CES Executive Director Larry Gross said Guarriello was removed because of his involvement with the recall effort against Heilman. Although Guarriello’s wife, Rita, was active in the recall, he denies any involvement.

The loss of CES support is significant because only one person has ever been elected to the council without the organization’s backing. Guarriello, whose term ends in April, 1994, would not say if he is considering a reelection campaign.

For now, however, he remains defiant.

“There has always been friction between me and John, Abbe and Babette,” he said. “This council is about politics. And I won’t stop fighting for the people who elected me.”