ELECTIONS : Council Candidates Focus on Funds, Gangs : Campaign: Two incumbents and six challengers are vying for three seats. The budget is the key issue.

Money--how to balance the budget and how to fund street repair--and gangs and graffiti are the main issues facing Covina, City Council candidates said.

Last year, faced with a $4-million deficit, city officials dipped into reserves and cut 33 positions to balance the $28.9-million budget. Twenty-seven workers were laid off and hours were reduced at the library and City Hall, which is now closed every other Friday.

After pressure from some angry residents, council members killed a controversial tax proposal that would have raised $2.2 million a year for street repair.

Three council seats are at stake in the April 14 election. Councilman Tom O’Leary isn’t running, but incumbents Chris Lancaster and Gary Coffey, each of whom has served four years, are seeking reelection. Other candidates are Robert P. Biancardi, Grace J. Burgess, John R. Gwynne, Hugh S. Jenings, John C. King and Roy Swan.

Most of the candidates advocate bringing in additional businesses to raise sales tax revenue and boost the local economy.

* “We all agree that money is the biggest problem,” said King, who worked for 9 1/2 years in the city’s recreation department. “I would call for an economic summit to plan goals.”

King, 30, who works for a Los Angeles public relations firm that assists businesses on environmental issues, would also support youth job and sports programs to combat increased gangs and graffiti.

* Burgess, an executive secretary for the Main San Gabriel Basin Water Quality Authority, said Covina needs community involvement and strategic goals to attract new businesses to its vacant lots.

The 27-year-old University of La Verne public administration major said state and federal money should be sought for road repair because cities are overburdened.

* “SOS--Save Our Streets,” said Jenings, a retired stockbroker. “Roadways, like people, need (tender loving care) too. During the 36 years we’ve lived in Covina, our street was topped once.”

Jenings favors restoring full-time library and City Hall hours, and has pledged to forgo his $400 per month council salary to help do so.

* Coffey, 45, a Los Angeles County firefighter and 21-year resident of Covina, said the city must be operated like a business, and, when faced with a deficit, cut services and lay off workers.

Coffey, a volunteer at the Covina Senior Center, is also liaison to the city’s Substance Abuse and Child Welfare Commission.

* Lancaster, owner of a consulting firm, said the city should help businesses and work in partnership with them. Sales tax revenue is the No. 1 revenue source in the city, he said.

The Cal Poly Pomona graduate also promised to lobby state legislators for more road maintenance money. Lancaster, 33, has a bachelor’s degree in political science and public administration.

* Biancardi, 29, owner of a print shop, said he would push for law enforcement workshops for youths and more enforcement of truancy and curfew laws.

He said officials should consider whether Covina would get better fire protection by contracting with the county rather than running its own fire department. He approves of using reserve money for road maintenance and repair.

* Swan, owner of a mortgage lending firm in Covina, said the city needs to target problems with gangs and the homeless. He is against increased taxes but said onetime business or license fees could raise money.

Swan, 46, is a member of the East San Gabriel Valley Board of Realtors.

* Gwynne, 39, an engineer who designs water treatment systems, has “Let’s Start New in ‘92” for a campaign slogan.

Gwynne has lived in Covina since 1954. He said community safety is a priority. He would push for more neighborhood watch and anti-graffiti programs and is against building more apartments in the city.