ELECTIONS : Club Endorsements Spark a Controversy

The races for mayor and two City Council seats heated up this week in a controversy over a plan by the city to co-sponsor a candidates’ forum with a local Democratic Party club that has endorsed two candidates.

Amid charges that it had interjected partisan politics into the nonpartisan race, the council has decided to reconsider its decision to work with a new group called the Democratic Club of Azusa on the April 9 forum.

The dispute arose after a member of the club last week revealed the group’s endorsement of Mayor Eugene Moses and a council challenger. This week, five candidates in the April 14 election, including two incumbents, dropped out of the forum after learning of the club’s endorsements in a flyer that was circulated in the city.

City Clerk Adolph Solis said he canceled his planned involvement in the forum when he learned of the flyer.

“The minute they come out with that, that was it for me,” said Solis, who has been city clerk since 1984. “I’m the guy that runs the election. I can’t get involved in that junk.”

Solis said he had reservations about the arrangement between the city and the club when it was introduced by Councilman Stephen Alexander. The council unanimously approved the action, which allows for the forum to be run jointly by the city and the club.

Solis said he was given assurances from Alexander, who is a member of the club, that the forum would be impartial.

However, Gail Erlich, a Los Angeles County deputy district attorney, said the city’s decision to co-sponsor the event with a partisan organization appears questionable.

“It appears improper,” Erlich said, adding that she would need further information about the sponsorship arrangement before making any evaluation.

According to Solis, Alexander asked the city clerk late Tuesday afternoon to place the matter on the agenda for the council’s April 6 meeting for reconsideration. The council may decide to drop the Democratic Club’s participation, Solis said.

In the race for mayor, Moses is being challenged by Inez Gutierrez, president of the Azusa school board. Council incumbents Harry L. Stemrich and Anthony R. Naranjo, each seeking a second term, face four challengers: Golden C. (Jack) Bean, Susie R. Galletta, Cristina Cruz Madrid and Yolanda Trejo.

Moses, 58, who has been mayor for 10 years, said he is running on his record. Moses said he wants to limit the proliferation of apartments and attract more affordable, single-family homes to the city. His opponent, Gutierrez, 56, is focusing her campaign on leadership, saying she could work more smoothly with the city staff than incumbents have. “I think people are ready for a change,” she said.

Naranjo, 31, said he wants to focus on slashing what he called the city’s budget deficit. The city took $2.9 million from reserves to fund this year’s budget. He also supports more programs for youths.

Stemrich, 62, wants to bring “high quality single-family homes” to Azusa, which he said is the key to bringing more business. He also supports more youth programs.

Bean, 48, a communications consultant, supports continued city monitoring of the Azusa Rock Co. quarry. Bean said he supports added police protection and city-sponsored vocational programs for youths.

Galletta, 48, a gun shop owner, is a local activist who recently fought for the creation of a day-labor center. Galletta opposes efforts to reopen a landfill that closed last year.

Trejo, who would not disclose her age, works with computer software applications. An ally of Moses, she has run for the council before. Trejo said she would like to bring more low- and moderate-income housing to the city and is against reopening of the landfill.

Cristina Cruz Madrid, 42, an attorney, wants to foster better relations between business and the city, but she would like to place more limits on the quarry.

The controversy over the club’s endorsement began late last week when a letter endorsing Moses and Trejo and signed “Ron Legault, 1st Vice President, Democratic Club of Azusa,” was distributed throughout the city.

Wayne Wendt, the club’s president, said the flyer was unauthorized, even though the club had privately endorsed Moses, Trejo and Stemrich. The endorsements were to be made public after the forum was held, Wendt said.

Wendt said Stemrich was not included in the flyer because Legault was not sure the club could endorse the councilman, who was a Republican. Stemrich said Monday that he recently changed parties and is now a Democrat. Wendt said that the club endorses Stemrich and that he apologized to Stemrich on Monday evening.

Stemrich, along with mayoral challenger Gutierrez and Councilman Naranjo and challengers Bean and Galletta, all signed a letter withdrawing from the forum.

“This candidate forum has been tainted with pre-selected endorsements of two candidates prior to allowing all candidates a fair chance to share their views,” the letter said.

Moses and council candidates Trejo and Madrid have decided to remain in the forum, Wendt said, adding that the forum is still set and the other candidates are invited to attend.

Wendt said Wednesday that he would not oppose pulling the club out of the forum.

“We weren’t going to have a biased thing,” Wendt said earlier of the forum. The club has asked reporters from area newspapers to serve as questioners to ensure that the forum would be fair, according to Wendt. The club also has asked the local cable television company to broadcast the forum, he said.

Marlene Kagan, a state Democratic Party regional director, said it was not unusual for a local club to endorse municipal candidates and expressed surprise that the other candidates would drop out of the forum.

Alexander said Wednesday that he supports removing the club from the forum, even though he believes it did nothing wrong.

“To avoid all this posturing (by the candidates), I have asked the Democratic Club to remove its name from sponsorship,” Alexander said. He criticized Naranjo and Stemrich for joining the boycott since he said they knew about the endorsements privately.

“I don’t know if they’re sincere about their complaints,” Alexander said. Stemrich received the club’s private endorsement and an apology from Wendt after the flyer surfaced, but he said he felt snubbed and laid the blame on Moses. Naranjo suggested that the club was strongly influenced by Moses.

The mayor, however, blasted the candidates for “making a whole lot of something out of nothing.” Moses has been a member of the club since it formed late last year and many of the early club meetings were held at his home. Moses said he saw no problem with the endorsements.

He denied that he controlled the club or any of its members.

“I don’t know how much influence I have over the club,” Moses said. “I don’t tell these people to do anything.”

Aligned closely with the mayor, Trejo said she believed the other candidates were grandstanding and making an issue out of the Democratic Club to attack her and Moses.

“They’re trying to smear the club to get at Moses and me,” said Trejo, who is allied with the mayor. She cited another forum to be held April 4 by a youth organization and said the organizer of that forum is a staunch opponent of Trejo and Moses. She said she will attend that forum.

She dismissed the complaints about the Democratic Club forum as “all part of the unfortunate game-playing that goes on during the election.”

Another controversy developed early Wednesday, when campaign signs supporting Gutierrez appeared on public property, in violation of the city code. According to Solis, the man placing the signs was instructed to remove them. Gutierrez denied involvement with the illegally placed signs.