ELECTIONS / LANCASTER COUNCIL : Controversial Incumbent Is Target in 12-Candidate Race

Lancaster residents on Tuesday will pick from a dozen candidates to fill two seats on the five-member City Council in an election that has largely focused on an unusual issue: Whether the city should dump one cantankerous councilman.

Decried by foes as the main obstacle to the city’s progress but praised by allies as the common man’s only friend on the council, George Theophanis has faced blistering criticism from his council colleagues and an unusual, independent campaign to block his try for a second term.

Almost lost in the furor is the decision by Councilman Bill Pursley, the other councilman with an expiring term, not to seek reelection after spending much of his three-year term fighting conflict-of-interest allegations. His open seat helped draw the large field of candidates.

Pursley, Mayor Henry Hearns and Councilman George Root went so far as to take out a one-third page newspaper ad, denouncing Theophanis for his “disruptive and spiteful nature” and calling his removal “imperative to the future of our city.”

Meanwhile, a group called Concerned Citizens of Lancaster--advised and supported by powerful local political figure Frank Visco--has mounted a similar campaign against Theophanis. Visco refused to identify the group’s other backers, and the group has not filed campaign contribution reports.

Theophanis’ critics say he appears confused at times, has a reputation for berating city staff members and using profanity, and has refused to oust one of his city commission appointees who lives outside the city. City law requires such appointees to live in the city. He also is ardently pro-development.

But, Theophanis in recent months also was the only councilman to protest the city’s failure to get appraisals for land purchases, the only one to support public council votes on land purchases, and the only one to pursue legal questions on a potential conflict-of-interest by the city attorney.

The following are brief profiles of the council candidates:

* George Theophanis, 68, is a retired businessman and one-term council member. Theophanis stresses his efforts on behalf of senior citizen projects, believes Lancaster should participate with Palmdale in a planned foreign trade zone, and generally has a pro-development outlook.

Most of those who deal with him seem to either love or hate the councilman. Supporters argue that he’s a watchdog who often tries to ferret out questionable activities by his council colleagues. But critics, including most of the council, picture him as arrogant and vindictive. Theophanis has reported raising more than $33,000 in campaign funds.

* Tara Gates, 42, is the chairwoman of the city’s Planning Commission and a sales manager for Martin Outdoor Advertising, a billboard company. Gates says the city needs to more aggressively promote itself through advertising and stresses her planning background as an advantage.

She supports long-discussed plans for a baseball stadium and convention center in the city and contends that divisiveness on the council has hampered the city’s progress. Gates, who works for high school board member Steve Landaker, has raised more than $13,000 and has many endorsements, including Pursley’s.

* Frank Roberts, 60, is a 50-year high desert resident, former president of the Antelope Valley Board of Trade and a dean at Antelope Valley College. He narrowly lost a 1990 bid for City Council and has long campaigned to get a University of California campus located in the area.

Roberts, a former cable television system owner, has been active in efforts to recruit non-aerospace industries to the valley and says council members should set policy instead of trying to manage details of city government. He is endorsed by a long list of business leaders and has raised nearly $20,000.

* George Runner, 40, is executive director of Desert Christian Schools in Lancaster and founder of the Family Action Network, an anti-abortion and anti-pornography group. Runner proposes forming an Antelope Valley business commission and warns that government activities are encroaching on business.

Runner has said he would oppose city funding for groups that provide abortion counseling. He is endorsed by Hearns and Pursley among others, and has raised nearly $21,000. His school has been operating a second campus without a required city permit this year.

* Michael Singer, 39, is a Los Angeles County fire captain and paramedic who ran a write-in campaign in 1990. Singer, who favors growth controls, also is an officer in and has been endorsed by the Lancaster Coalition of Neighborhood Organizations, the city’s main homeowners group.

Singer says City Hall is dominated by real estate interests and residents’ concerns are ignored. He says growth must be keyed to the region’s available resources such as water, favors televising council meetings to inform voters, and complains of torn-up city streets. Singer has raised about $3,500.

* Deborah Shelton, 35, is the director of a local phone line for latchkey children, and an officer in and endorsed by the Lancaster Coalition of Neighborhood Organizations. Shelton, who has raised about $2,500, also is backed by Root and Planning Commissioner Richard Cox.

Shelton complains of bickering between the council and Planning Commission and says that unlike some current council members, she has no real estate involvement creating potential conflicts of interest. She wants the city to sponsor after-school day care, favors a city-funded civilian crime patrol program and building a city golf course.

* Ronald Thomason, 46, is a 23-year Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputy assigned to the Antelope Valley. Thomason said he decided to run for a council seat to pursue a law and order platform, calling himself a “one issue” candidate. Thomason gives Lancaster’s current government a highly favorable rating.

A former Marine and Vietnam War veteran, Thomason said he moved to the Antelope Valley to get away from crime and gangs, only to have them surface there too. He complains that crimes such as burglaries, robberies and assaults have been increasing. He has raised about $2,200.

* Behrooz (Bruce) Farhangi, 56, is an economics and political science instructor at Antelope Valley College and vice president of the Desert Democratic Club. Farhangi says the city should have its own police force and push for construction of a high-speed rail line to Los Angeles.

He favors electing council members by district instead of at large, having voters instead of the council pick the city’s mayor, giving council members salaries of $36,000 to $40,000 a year but imposing term limits, and eliminating the city manager’s job. He has raised less than $1,000.

* Richard Brown, 57, is a facilities director for the Lancaster School District and retired Army sergeant who promises to pay special attention to the needs of senior citizens and mobile home park residents. Brown says he will be free of special-interest influences and pledges to survey residents’ views.

Calling public office his “lifelong dream,” Brown faults city officials for failing to recognize schools as the city’s “single most valuable resource.” Brown also talks about the need to better manage the valley’s water supply. He has raised less than $1,000.

* William Seargeant, 64, is a retired schoolteacher and general contractor. He complains of “mushrooming, ill-planned developments” in the city and of a looming water shortage. Seargeant calls the current council “pathetic” and wants the city’s projected future growth cut by half.

Seargeant favors increased efforts to promote water reclamation, wants the city to develop a low-cost industrial park to attract businesses from other areas, and increased use of civilian personnel by the Sheriff’s Department to free deputies for urgent tasks. He has raised less than $1,000.

* Paul Malone, 65, is a retired Air Force employee who entered the campaign to protest a City Council decision last year that gave most of the city’s residential trash collection routes to one company, forcing many residents to pay higher rates when they lost their previous hauler.

Malone gained attention last year when he dumped a bag of trash on a counter at City Hall in protest, and was arrested and prosecuted for the offense. Malone says the city should have its own landfill and perform its own trash collection. He has raised less than $1,000.

* Glenn Martin, 69, is an elected board member of the Antelope Valley-East Kern Water Agency, a water wholesaler for the region, who supports Theophanis, criticizes city redevelopment activities, believes City Atty. David McEwen should be replaced and that City Manager Jim Gilley’s salary should be cut.

Martin has had a long-running feud with city officials over their claims that his property is filled with junk in violation of city ordinances. He has been prosecuted and jailed several times for code violations, most recently last year. He has raised less than $1,000.