Longtime Opponents Meet Again in Council Race

Political serenity appears to have a short shelf life in South El Monte.

Fifteen months after last being removed from office by voters, twice-recalled former Mayor and Councilman Stanley Quintana is back, running for a City Council seat.

His old foe, former Councilman John Gonzales, a leader in the last recall effort, has also resurfaced as part of a three-candidate slate that includes incumbent David Sanchez and newcomer Elvira Valdiviez.

Gonzales and his running mates want to defeat Quintana and incumbents Art Olmos and Al Perez--also vying for the three council seats up for grabs on April 14.

The heated race with distinct camps is politics as usual in this city of about 21,000 where campaigns generally cost a mere $2,000 to $5,000 but are door-to-door, intense and personal.

“It’s a continuance of when Quintana was there,” Gonzales said of the election battle. “Olmos and Perez gave Quintana all the power he had; they gave him votes (in council meetings).”

But Olmos and Perez accuse their opponents of stirring up voters in what would normally be a quiet race with few issues. They say they were erroneously linked with Quintana two years ago when the second recall attempt began. The campaigns against them fizzled for lack of voter signatures to put them on the recall ballot.

“I don’t know why they put my name and Perez with Quintana,” Olmos said. “In this town, if they don’t like the way you part your hair, they can recall you.”

Quintana’s decision to run again is not surprising for the feisty storage barrel broker whose family lives on the business site. First recalled in 1977, after seven years of service, Quintana put his name on the ballot repeatedly until he was reelected in 1984.

But six years later, Citizens of South El Monte for Good Government began a second recall effort. They accused Quintana of cronyism and wasting city money.

In the midst of the recall effort, Quintana was fined and placed on probation for falsifying a police report after a traffic accident. The incident simply added fuel to the recall fire and he was thrown out of office Feb. 5, 1991. Sanchez won his council seat in a special election in May.

Quintana, 65, who typically spurns the media, declined to be interviewed. He did not file a campaign statement giving voters information about himself, or his ideas.

Meanwhile, incumbents Olmos and Perez are running on their records.

A furniture upholsterer appointed to office in 1986 and elected in 1988, Olmos, 57, proudly touts his creation of the five-member Anti-Gang City Commission and two of its programs: the Family Wellness Program, which provides counseling to families, and Project U-Turn, which attempts to steer young, convicted gang members into school and jobs after their release from incarceration.

Olmos said he wants to bring businesses into South El Monte to boost the city’s sales taxes. He also wants to pursue state grants to avoid dipping into the city’s reserve fund. For the last two years, the council has pulled out about $200,000 annually to balance the city’s $7.8-million annual budget.

“I consider myself one of the people,” Olmos said. “I’m not on the council for the prestige.”

Perez, 60, an engineer first elected in 1972, also said he supports youth programs, the anti-gang commission and betterment of the city’s tax base. With declining sales taxes and the coming loss of the Champ Corp., a forklift manufacturer, the city needs to find ways of attracting money-generating businesses, he said.

Voters should choose him because of his experience, contacts and knowledge gained during 20 years on the council, he added. He said he will continue to run for office until voters reject him.

“I feel the people in the community will tell me ‘Ya basta,’ enough is enough,” Perez said.

Gonzales, 57, who believes that long-term incumbents lose their enthusiasm, wants to limit council members to two, four-year terms.

The current council has failed to closely oversee city operations, he said. As an example, Gonzales said the city was late two years ago in providing a financial audit to the state and did not receive child care funds as a result. Meanwhile, the council approved cuts in other community services, he said.

Residents must vote for the slate if they want conditions changed, Gonzales said. He and his running mates, he said, “are a group of people trying to bring back good government to the city council.”

Valdiviez, 51, also on the slate with Gonzales, is a high school secretary and president of the El Monte Union High School District employees union. She is active in the East Valley Organization, a church-based community service group.

The council needs to revive discontinued programs, such as the youth swimming team, to counter gang involvement, she said. The city staff and budget need closer scrutiny to cure the sloppy operation that she said plagues the city. If elected, she would be the first woman ever to serve on the city council and would bring needed new perspectives, she said.

“In order to make a difference in our community, you’re going to need the three of us in,” she said.

Sanchez, at 32 the youngest member of the slate, said he is running on the same issue that got him elected: that the council does not listen to the people.

The city’s youth boxing program was revived last month, he said, because he listened to what residents wanted and lobbied other council members, community activists and businesses. Similarly, he said his search for state funding enabled the city to get $550,000 for low-interest home rehabilitation loans. Now he wants to create an economic development committee to plan the city’s financial future.

“We need community involvement, especially now with our economic (hard) times,” Sanchez said. “We need business, residents and property owners. We need to work together.”