ELECTIONS / EL SEGUNDO : Candidate’s Legitimacy Is Big Issue : Campaign: Hottest topic among four City Council hopefuls is how one of them got on the ballot for Tuesday’s vote.

In their four-way race to fill an unexpired term on the El Segundo City Council, the candidates have been talking about traffic, development and the city’s perennial complaints about jet noise from Los Angeles International Airport and foul odors from the Hyperion Sewage Treatment Plant.

But the hottest issue in next Tuesday’s election is the way one candidate--businesswoman and former school board member Janice Cruikshank--got onto the ballot.

“I’m carrying around a lot of darts in my back,” said Cruikshank, who has been under attack since August, when Councilman Scot Dannen accused her of perjury for signing a sworn statement that she had circulated her own nomination petition when, in fact, someone else had collected the names.

Cruikshank, 62, who served on the school board from 1980 to 1989, has admitted that she did not obtain the names herself. But she insists that the petition statement required her to swear only that she saw and verified the legitimacy of the signatures, not that she collected them.

“I did not commit perjury. I did not have to personally gather the signatures,” Cruikshank said, blaming the controversy on her past political clashes with Dannen.

While the matter is under review by the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office to determine if a criminal investigation is warranted, Cruikshank’s rivals have aimed some of their sharpest campaign rhetoric at her candidacy.

“If laws were being properly enforced, she would have been disqualified already,” said Michael D. Robbins, 32, a computer systems engineer.

Frank Wong, 58, a retired electronics engineer, said someone running for office “has to follow normal procedure.” Cruikshank, he said, “has her own conscience to live with.”

Electronics engineer Steve Bower, 45, has voiced the mildest criticism of Cruikshank. “I have no positive knowledge of what she has or hasn’t done, just what I’ve read,” Bower said. But he added: “People should attempt to follow the rules.”

The council called the special election after failing to agree on a successor to former Councilman Jim Clutter, who resigned in June because of ill health.

Robbins and Wong were among those who had applied to fill out Clutter’s unexpired term, which runs until April. With the exception of Wong, all candidates have said they will seek a full four-year term next year if they win next week.

Said Wong: “I’m taking it one step at a time and have not thought about the full term.”

Apart from the Cruikshank flap, the campaign has focused on two events that have yet to occur--the creation of a redevelopment agency and possible changes in the city’s General Plan.

Although El Segundo recently began a series of educational forums on the mechanics of redevelopment, City Manager Ron Cano said a decision about creating a redevelopment agency is eight months to a year away.

Meanwhile, an advisory committee is considering several changes to the General Plan, particularly in the high-rise office and industrial area east of Sepulveda Boulevard, where the aerospace industry’s slump is expected to bring about a major shift in development in the next few years.

Among other things, the revisions to the plan would create a procedure that would allow a mix of land uses--including retail and residential--in areas now dominated by aerospace firms. The council will not act on updating the plan until March.

Robbins, who has lived in the city for 7 1/2 years, contends that real estate interests and some advisory committee members are pushing large-scale development that would destroy El Segundo’s small-town atmosphere and create traffic gridlock.

“They want to rezone the city to allow for much higher densities, commercial and residential,” he said.

Robbins also opposes a redevelopment agency, saying it would “create too many opportunities for graft and corruption.”

Wong, a 22-year resident of the city, also said forces in the city are opting for mass development, particularly east of Sepulveda.

He said the redevelopment agency is being pushed as a vehicle for this growth, adding: “I want to see elected officials come forward and tell the people what’s going on instead of keeping it hush-hush.”

Bower, who moved to El Segundo in February, is supportive of the advisory committee. “A lot of good things are going on there,” he said. “They’re trying to be as flexible as possible so that when an investor comes along, he’ll have a framework to handle what he wants to build within some bounds.”

But Bower said redevelopment is premature because people are uneasy about it. “It has to be set up in a way that most residents and the community are comfortable about. . . . They’re not comfortable now,” he said.

Cruikshank, an El Segundo resident since 1974, said she does not view the advisory committee as a problem. “This committee is not setting laws or changing things,” she said, noting that the panel’s recommendations are subject to public hearings and a City Council vote.

At the same time, Cruikshank said, El Segundo does not need a redevelopment agency.

In addition to filling the council vacancy, the city’s 8,978 registered voters will be asked to approve Proposition B, a tax of up to $120 a year on residential and commercial property to support the financially strapped school district.

The tax, which would run for three years, requires a two-thirds vote for approval.

“This is a stopgap measure to maintain our programs until the state tries to solve its economic crisis,” said Supt. Bill Manahan. “Our financial situation is at a crisis point.”

The school district last year cut $600,000 in spending before approving a $9-million budget for fiscal 1991-92. The city came to the district’s rescue, providing $400,000 that permitted the rehiring of seven out of the 11 teachers and counselors laid off in June.

“Our estimation, based on the best information that we can get, is that we will not get any new state money next year,” Manahan said. Without the new tax, he said, “we will be in the same position next year as this year. Things will cost a lot more, and the city money will have run out.”

According to the district, money from the tax would be used to maintain academic and vocational programs, books and instructional materials and student health and safety. No money would be used for salary increases, benefits or hiring new employees.

There is no organized opposition to the tax measure.

Candidates for El Segundo City Council

Candidates are competing in a special election to fill the unexpired term of former Councilman Jim Clutter, who resigned in June because of ill health. The term runs until April. Candidates were asked their views about an advisory committee that is considering changes to the General Plan, and about creation of a redevelopment agency.

Janice Cruikshank

Age: 62

Occupation: Businesswoman, former school board member

Cruikshank does not view the planning advisory committee as a problem. “This committee is not setting laws or changing things,” she said, noting that the panel’s recommendations are subject to public hearings and a City Council vote. But she does not think El Segundo needs a redevelopment agency.

Michael D. Robbins

Age: 32

Occupation: Computer systems engineer

Robbins contends that real estate interests and some planning advisory committee members are pushing large-scale development that would destroy El Segundo’s small-town atmosphere and create traffic gridlock. “They want to rezone the city to allow for much higher densities, commercial and residential,” he said. Robbins also opposes a redevelopment agency.

Frank Wong

Age: 58

Occupation: Retired electronics engineer

Wong said forces in the city are opting for mass development, particularly east of Sepulveda. He said the redevelopment agency is being pushed as a vehicle for this growth, adding: “I want to see elected officials come forward and tell the people what’s going on instead of keeping it hush-hush.”

Steve Bower

Age: 45

Occupation: Electronics engineer

Bower supports the planning advisory committee. “A lot of good things are going on there. They’re trying to be as flexible as possible so that when an investor comes along, he’ll have a framework to handle what he wants to build within some bounds.” But Bower said redevelopment would be premature because people are uneasy about it.