Debate Focuses on City Budget as 6 Run for 2 Council Seats : Politics: Voters will also decide whether to impose two-term limits on future members.

Two years after an anti-incumbent mood swept three veteran City Council members from office, Temple City voters will have an opportunity to limit future council members to two consecutive terms.

However, the six candidates running for two seats in the April 14 election have shown only mild interest in the term-limit measure, called Proposition L. Instead, they are debating the city’s $7-million budget, which some say could easily be trimmed.

They complain that the present council has allowed spending, especially for salary hikes and new employees, to skyrocket.

A total of $140,000 in salary raises were awarded last year. Since 1990, two full-time employees have been added, and one part-time position was converted to full time, at a cost of $99,000 for all three, City Manager Denise Ovrum said.

The candidates are: incumbent Thomas D. Breazeal, Harry Budds, Kenneth G. Gillanders, Robert B. Pitts, John M. Rogers, and Chuck Souder. Councilman Patrick Froehle, who is completing his second term, is not seeking reelection.

Breazeal, the only incumbent in the race, portrays himself as the lone fiscal conservative on the council and is supporting another candidate he hopes can strengthen his hand in budgetary matters. If elected to a second term, Breazeal said, he may call for a freeze on certain salaries and for the demotion of two employees he feels are overcompensated. He would not name the employees or their positions.

Breazeal, 54, authored Proposition L, which would impose a two-term limit on council members, starting April 14. The measure needs a majority vote to pass. Breazeal wrote arguments for and against the measure. He is not taking a public position on it but vowed not to run for a third term even if the measure fails.

Referring to recent council actions, including ordinances restricting mini-malls and condominium development, Breazeal said: “I’ve probably got done more as mayor than maybe any other mayor in the city’s history. I would like to say I’m far more perceptive and knowledgeable than the rest (of the candidates).”

Breazeal is endorsing Souder, 51, a planning commissioner and owner of a business that conducts physical examinations of truck and bus drivers. Their alliance has drawn criticism from Kenneth G. Gillanders and Robert B. Pitts, who accuse Breazeal of wanting to form a voting bloc.

Breazeal dismissed the charge, saying he simply believes that Souder will be as thrifty as he is when it comes to money matters.

Gillanders, 59, a special claims representative for Farmers Insurance Co., was one of the three incumbents voted out of office in 1990 in a race that the winners said was a mandate against unresponsive council members. Gillanders, running for his fourth term, said his defeat was merely part of a statewide trend. He opposes term limits.

Like Breazeal, Gillanders said the city spends too much, but he holds Breazeal partly responsible. He said Breazeal voted in favor of “monstrous” and unnecessary studies: a $13,500 survey for a proposed senior citizens center and a $76,000 downtown revitalization plan for spiffing up Las Tunas Boulevard.

“Many of the things Mr. Breazeal is claiming as campaign rhetoric are among the most expensive things,” he said, adding that he thinks the downtown plan was a waste of money. “What makes them think landlords are going to go along with anything they prescribe?” Gillanders said, adding that if elected, he would look into reorganizing City Hall to save money.

But Pitts, 51, said he is wary of fiscal conservatives on the council going overboard. “Let’s not be so tight with the purse strings that we’re going to keep the city in the Dark Ages,” he said. “Fiscal responsibility is not just controlling money. It’s spending wisely.”

Pitts, who manages and acquires property for Southern California Edison, is running for the fourth time. He came within 98 votes of winning in 1988, finishing behind Breazeal. Pitts said he supports term limits, wants to cut down on condominium and apartment building, and improve public safety through community meetings, such as a recent conference on gangs in Temple City.

He also stressed that he is spending only his own money on the campaign.

Harry Budds, 51, is chairman of the Planning Commission and cites among his accomplishments the development of the city’s mini-mall ordinance. Budds is a former Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputy and directs jail industries for the Sheriff’s Department.

“I was pretty upset . . . by the deterioration of downtown, the explosion of mini-malls,” Budds said. The candidate said he hoped the council’s downtown revitalization plan will encourage more “small-town, pedestrian-oriented shopping.” But he also opposes the condemnation of private property for redevelopment, even for sprucing up Las Tunas Boulevard.

Budds said the only spending he objects to is the $300 monthly salary council members receive. He said the payment should be abolished.

“That’s $18,000 a year,” he said. “(Council members) should be volunteers, just like all the other commissioners.”

Souder named downtown revitalization as his primary concern. He said that he would work to carry out plans for renovating Las Tunas but that it is too early to list specific ideas.

Souder also said he would be inclined to vote with Breazeal on fiscal matters. He supports a citywide evaluation of employees to see whether their jobs could be performed more efficiently.

“Tom (Breazeal) has been vocal in council meetings about money that has been overspent,” he said. “You can stand up and scream about overspending. But without three votes, it’s gone.

“Businesses have to be very lean and mean as far as employees go,” he said. “I’m not looking to hatchet anybody. . . . But maybe there’s a better way to cut the grass.”

John M. Rogers, 45, said the main reason he is running for council is “concern for our youth. Organizations like the PTA, the City Council and the Board of Education have got to work together. I want to keep Temple City safe and relatively crime-free.” Rogers is a service representative for L.A. Cellular Telephone Co. and has coached Little League and American Youth Soccer Organization teams.

Like Pitts, Rogers said he is refusing all contributions. Unlike other candidates, Rogers said he does not think the city is wasting money.