6 Members of Secret Screening Panel Revealed : Los Angeles: One man who had objected to keeping the committee anonymous calls it ‘fairly well-rounded.’ Two men with Valley-area ties are included.

The leader of Los Angeles’ oldest homeowner federation, a South-Central community activist and the dean of the USC School of Architecture are on the six-member panel that began interviewing semi-finalists for Los Angeles planning director, it was revealed Friday.

Release of the panelists’ names by the city’s Personnel Department helped calm some homeowner activists who feared that the secret committee’s membership might be stacked against their viewpoints.

“In general, I think the panel looks fairly well-rounded,” Bill Christopher, a veteran homeowner activist and former Los Angeles planning commissioner, said upon seeing the roster.

Christopher had expressed concern Thursday about the panel’s tilt after learning that Marina del Rey attorney Debra L. Bowen, viewed as an ally of homeowners, had been dismissed from the group because her name had been leaked to the media.

Helping to ease such concerns was the discovery that Jerry Daniel of Tarzana was on the panel.

Daniel led a legal battle royal by homeowners in the 1980s that forced the city of Los Angeles to bring its growth-stimulating zoning into sync with its more restrictive community plans.

Daniel is chairman emeritus of the Federation of Hillside and Canyon Assns., a coalition of middle-class and affluent homeowner groups based in the Santa Monica Mountains and Hollywood Hills.

He is also a member of the governing board of the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, a parks-acquisition agency.

Perceived as a counterpoint to Daniel on the panel is Juanita Tate, executive director of Concerned Citizens of Los Angeles.

Also on the panel are George A. Caravalho, city manager of Santa Clarita; Robert S. Harris, the USC dean; Robert Paternoster, director of planning and building for Long Beach, and Francine F. Rabinovitz, a consultant on planning and education issues.

The panel, which Friday began interviewing 12 semi-finalists for planning director, is charged with referring the highest-scoring candidates to Mayor Tom Bradley for his consideration.

More interviews will be held next Friday.

Bradley must appoint a new director from among the referrals. His appointee must also be confirmed by the City Council.

Jack Driscoll, head of the Personnel Department, had previously refused to release the names, saying the panelists might be lobbied by the candidates or their supporters.

But he said Friday that secrecy was no longer a realistic goal because he expected their names “to get out” after the interviews.

In an interview Thursday with The Times, Driscoll said the panel had five members, but actually there are six.

“I forgot,” Driscoll said.

Barbara Fine, who, like Daniel, sits on the federation board of directors, said disclosure of the composition of the selection panel gave her increased confidence that “an attempt has been made to come up with a balanced group.”

But Gordon Murley, president of the hillside federation and a longtime Woodland Hills activist, said his concerns remained. “Jerry Daniel is very knowledgeable . . . but he’s a great compromiser,” Murley said.

There was agreement among homeowner activists that Tate is the most easily identifiable pro-growth voice on the panel.

Tate’s main planning goal, Fine said, has been to increase the amount of low-cost housing in South-Central Los Angeles.

“She’s not a homeowner representative,” she said.

But some observers said Tate gives the panel a good balance. “She’s pro-growth and a match for Daniel,” said Art Snyder, a former city councilman who is one of City Hall’s most prominent lobbyists for development interests.

Profiles of Panelists GEORGE CARAVALHO

The city manager of the bedroom community of Santa Clarita since 1987, Caravalho has forged a reputation as an aggressive and creative administrator willing to explore new ideas. He was city manager of Bakersfield before that and held administrative posts in San Clemente, San Mateo, Milpitas and Seattle. He is past president of the California City Managers Assn., an arm of the California League of Cities.

ROBERT S. HARRIS

Dean of the School of Architecture at USC, Harris has been active in planning issues in Los Angeles for many years. He is co-chairman of the Downtown Strategic Plan Advisory Committee and the Mayor’s Design Advisory Committee. He is a founder and past president of the Urban Design Advisory Council and served as a board member with the Los Angeles Conservancy and Los Angeles chapter of the American Institute of Architects.

FRANCINE F. RABINOVITZ

Rabinovitz is a planning and education consultant and professor of public administration at USC. She has studied a variety of urban planning issues, such as the effect of local election systems on minority voting strength. In Los Angeles, she was involved with the city’s efforts to comply with a court order-- sought by homeowners--that directed the city to bring its zoning laws into conformity with its community plans.

Compiled by Jeanette Avent and Steve Padilla

JERRY DANIEL

A Tarzana resident, Daniel is a longtime homeowner association activist and chairman-emeritus of the Federation of Hillside and Canyon Assns., a coalition of middle-class and affluent homeowner groups in the Santa Monica Mountains and Hollywood Hills. Daniel also serves on the governing board of the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, a high-profile state agency that acquires parkland.

ROBERT PATERNOSTER

As director of planning and building in Long Beach, Paternoster has overseen the city’s downtown redevelopment and its efforts to transform its image from an old Navy town to an international Pacific Rim port. Considered politically astute, Paternoster often takes a team-player approach to many issues. He is part of a city team reviewing a proposed Disney theme park that Long Beach is competing for against Anaheim.

JUANITA TATE

Tate is executive director of Concerned Citizens of South-Central Los Angeles, a grass-roots organization founded in 1985 to protest construction of a trash-burning incinerator in the neighborhood. Since then, the group has expanded its focus and plans to begin construction in the spring of a 40-unit residential project for low- and moderate-income residents in South-Central Los Angeles.

PROFILE OF PANELISTS: B5