Antonovich Challenger Announces Candidacy

Second-term Pasadena City Councilman William Paparian announced Tuesday that he will challenge County Supervisor Mike Antonovich in next June’s election. Charging that Antonovich is “a prisoner of his perks,” the 42-year-old lawyer said he would become part of a three-person majority that would reverse trends toward service cutbacks and lavish expenditures on board amenities.

“With a new supervisor representing (Kenneth) Hahn’s district and (Gloria) Molina already on board,” Paparian said, “I would be the third, swing vote to bring L.A. County in line with the voters’ wishes for competent, caring and compassionate government service.”

Paparian, elected to the council in 1987, has been an independent voice, reprimanding colleagues about personal expenditures and pressing for two-term limits for council members. He has also been a leader in pressing for the exclusion of “neo-Nazis and “white supremacists” from the ranks of sheriff’s deputies providing security for the Rose Parade.