ELECTIONS CITY COUNCIL : Political Rivals, Voters Show Little Evidence of Weariness : Government: Passions don’t seem to have cooled for the third election in five months.

The residents of Bell Gardens go to the polls Tuesday for the third time in five months, but if they are campaign-weary, it isn’t showing.

Less than a week before the election, the phone still rings continually in the city clerk’s office: One voter needs the address of his polling place; another is wondering if it’s too late to vote by absentee ballot.

On the streets, bright election signs are plastered everywhere. Campaign flyers, many filled with attacks on opponents, are stuffed daily into the residents’ mailboxes.

Lively debate over coffee at Eva’s Cookery focuses on the campaign. In this overwhelmingly Latino community, the voters seem to hold such strong opinions that not even the most shocking campaign rhetoric could change most votes.

Tuesday’s election is the final contest in a series of races that began with the bitter recall last December of four white City Council members who had approved a zoning change that critics charged was unfair to the city’s poor and Latino residents. They were replaced with a Latino council majority in a special election in March.

And now, the players and the issues remain largely the same as when it all began almost six months ago.

Two well-known slates have dominated the pack of 13 candidates. Three candidates--Douglas O’Leary, Josefina (Josie) Macias and Oliver Aubrey--have withdrawn from the race, although their names remain on the ballot.

O’Leary, one of the four recalled, dropped out Tuesday, and Macias, who won a two-year term in the special election, was unable to have her name removed from the ballot. Aubrey fell ill two weeks before the election and has been unable to campaign.

The incumbent slate is George T. Deitch, Rodolfo (Rudy) Garcia and Frank B. Duran. In one month as council members, they have made substantial personnel changes in City Hall, including firing longtime City Manager Claude Booker and approving measures to fund a student center at Bell Gardens High School and provide buses for elementary school students.

“We have done more in the short time we have been in office than the previous council did in years,” Deitch said. In recent days he has revived the message that proved successful twice among the city’s 42,355 residents: “Don’t forget what brought us here in the first place: No Rezoning!”

The slate of challengers--Yolanda Quintana, Danny Rico and Richard Webb--campaigned unsuccessfully in the March election. They are supported by Rosa Hernandez, the one remaining member from the original council. At the top of their list of priorities is rent control, an emotional issue in a city where 78% are renters.

In their campaign literature, the challengers accuse the incumbents of lying to get votes in the last election, when they said they favored rent control. They pointed out that the three did not back a rent-control ordinance proposed by Hernandez at a recent council meeting. Duran, Deitch and Garcia maintain that they are in favor of rent control but not the proposal brought before them by Hernandez, which would have allowed landlords a cost-of-living rent increase each year. In one campaign flyer, they warn residents that “under Booker’s and Hernandez’s rent control, your rent will go up every year.”

Other candidates include recalled former City Councilman Allen Shelby, who says he is trying to regain his seat because he was unfairly kicked out of office after 10 years; Juan (John) Sanchez, who ran in the March election and has said he wants to strengthen police programs to combat gangs; Talt Coldiron, a perennial candidate, and Victor Vaillette, who finished last in the March election.

In the weeks leading up to the election, the issues of rent control and rezoning have been clouded by charges of illegal campaign. Campaign workers for the incumbents continue to be accused of attempting to exert undue influence on absentee voters. And Hernandez has been accused of misusing her official badge.

She was admonished by attorney Henry Barbosa--who was hired by her opponents on the council as special counsel to the city--for using the badge to “coerce residents to forgo their voting rights.”

At least two residents complained that they thought she was a police officer, and one said Hernandez told her falsely that it was against the law to have someone pick up an absentee ballot.

Hernandez readily admits that she used her badge to identify herself. But she denies that she intimidated voters with it.

Absentee ballots also have become a focus of the campaign: Each side knows the value of those votes and is running a door-to-door footrace to ensure that the ballots make it to City Hall.

In the March election, 1,100 absentee ballots were cast. At the end of last week, more than 1,500 absentee ballots had been turned in to the city clerk’s office.

Bell Gardens City Council

Bell Gardens population: 42,355 Election: Tuesday On the ballot: Thirteen candidates for three at-large seats

INCUMBENTS

George Deitch

Age: 46

Occupation: Real estate salesman

Remarks: “We’ve been in office for less than a month, and we have done more for the people of Bell Gardens than the previous council did in all the years they were on. And we’re not going to go in and tear up a bunch of housing. We have funded an after-school sports program, and we provided funding for the school buses. The next thing is a feasibility study for a sports center. We need more participation by the community. I want to bring the Police Department up to full strength and create some more positions for a gang detail. There is a lot more to be done in a community than putting trees on the streets.”

Frank Duran

Age: 57

Occupation: Purchasing manager for welding supply business.

Remarks: “One of the most important issues is the redevelopment of the properties that are here now, instead of just tearing the houses down. Instead of harassing the homeowners, the inspectors should be advising them on how to improve their homes. The city has good programs, and there is sufficient money for the people in Bell Gardens to redevelop their own properties. There are low-interest loans, but people are not aware of them. I would like to see a moratorium on building apartments until we can think more about the sewer system and the streets. If we continue the construction of rental property, our population is going to increase.”

Rudy Garcia

Age: 56

Occupation: Director of the Bell office of the League of United Latin American Citizens

Remarks: “The most important reason for me to run is to address education here. I have been pushing for the human element of politics all my life. I am talking about people, and they are my people in this case. We have to do something for the people who live here, and I am not talking about a Band-Aid approach. The old administration had been giving us lip service for years, and it’s time to turn it around. As for rent control, I believe that we would have to do a study, I keep hearing Rosa (Hernandez) say that the rents are too high, but it is like free enterprise, it’s a business. The word rent control triggers something in people’s minds, but it’s not going to roll back the rents.”

Josefina (Josie) Macias

Age: 40

Occupation: Attendance supervisor for Montebello Unified School District

Remarks: Macias won a two-year term in the March special election, and is campaigning for her three council colleagues. Her name remains on the ballot. “In voting for me and my colleagues, the city of Bell Gardens voted for clean and honest government. Under our leadership, Bell Gardens will prosper and our residents will be served. We will do this without rezoning the city. I hope that the voters remember that the reason the whole process was started was because the old City Council was trying to rezone the city and take people’s homes and properties away. The residents will vote for my colleagues if they don’t want their properties and homes to be taken away. And, finally, please do not vote for me.”

CHALLENGERS

Talt Coldiron

Age: 58

Occupation: Cabinetmaker

Remarks: “I am in favor of doing something about rent control, but I don’t want to mess up free enterprise. There needs to be a proper balance. They say we have high density living, and we do, but I would reverse the rezoning decision and try other ways to decrease the density. If there was a way, I would bring it back before the council. I would rescind it and start brand-new. I would like to take it to a vote of the people. Any issue where there is a split decision, it would go to a vote, and majority rules. I am also in favor of prevailing wage legislation that would guarantee that everyone working in the city is given the same wage for doing the same job.”

Douglas O’Leary

Age: 33

Occupation: Employee, Long Beach Naval Hospital

Remarks: O’Leary has withdrawn from the race, but his name will still appear on the ballot. “When I first was elected in 1990, I thought I could help make a difference, and I think I have. Bell Gardens is a much nicer place to live now. We cleaned up the city and we have done a lot of beautification and upgrading. The neighborhoods that went through rehabilitation are in much better shape. I am in favor of more revitalization. We had been going after all the run-down property, most of it owned by out-of-towners. There were certain apartments where there was so much trash--couches and refrigerators in the yards. I’m not really in favor of tearing them down, but I want more clean, safe and sanitary conditions in the neighborhoods.” Yolanda Quintana

Age: 41

Occupation: Homemaker

Remarks: “Our city has been improving. It is just starting to look good. I believe that some houses need to be torn down--they are so old and they look bad. They are too old to be repaired. People have to understand that the city will not look better unless they fix their homes. That is the only redevelopment we need. I am not in favor of taking property from its owner, but I cannot close my eyes to how terrible it looks. We don’t need any more shopping centers. We need affordable housing for the low-income people and for the senior citizens. Our city has enough money, but what we really need are people who have good ideas on how to use the money.”

Danny Rico

Age: 34

Occupation: Pest control technician Remarks: “I am running to serve the needs of our community. I have lived here 25 years and we need a lot of services. We need better health services, and something like a sports center or a movie theater or a bowling alley. These are basic needs. We need a balance in the community and a balance in City Hall. We need people to balance the community needs and right now there is unbalance in our community. My first priority is educational programs. I’m not sure what they would be, but that is one of my ideas. I would be fair and would look at two sides of all issues.”

Juan (John) Sanchez

Age: 31

Occupation: Real estate consultant

Remarks: “One of the primary things we need is true representation from among the community. We need someone who will be concerned about everyone: the homeowners, the business people and the property owners. The City Council needs to address communication with the community, and if we just take the time to consider all the people that make up this community, we could have avoided this whole (recall) thing. Everyone is concerned about density, but I have always said I was not in favor of removing units. I don’t think that removing units is the way to reduce the density. I don’t buy into the argument that Bell Gardens is just fine and let’s just leave it the way it is.”

Allen Shelby

Age: 53

Occupation: Plumber, property manager

Remarks: “I would like to finish the redevelopment we started before the recall: the Nehemiah West (Housing Corp.) low-income housing, the senior housing and the townhomes we started to build. We have got to continue the beautification program. This city was the bottom of the barrel, and it is finally turning around to where it looks like something. Bell Gardens is on the cutting edge of a success story, and it makes me sick the way it will be ruined now. After serving 13 years, I earned the right to see these completed. I don’t know what their intent is, but they say all they want is equal Hispanic representation, and that is a bunch of rubbish. It should evolve, not come in with a mariachi band. This is America and I’d like to keep it that way.”

Victor Vaillette

Age: 43

Occupation: Community activist

Remarks: “Bell Gardens needs a change at City Hall. We need term limits so special interests can never again control the council. We need elected lawmakers available every day of the week, even on Fridays, to speak to voters on any issue or problem. I don’t think we can continue to let part-time neighbors decide how to spend $22 million a year, or $90 million in four years, and expect a better life in Bell Gardens.”

Oliver Aubrey

Age: 70

Occupation: Retired

Remarks: Aubrey has withdrawn from the race due to illness, but his name remains on the ballot. He was unavailable for comment on his candidacy.

Richard C. Webb

Age: 47

Occupation: Retired Bell Gardens police lieutenant

Remarks: “I’m running because I was concerned about the recall of the council. They had done a fine job in creating a long-lasting, permanent tax base with the commercial redevelopment they initiated. Most of the money we get from the Bicycle Club has gone to redevelopment, and that’s a good safeguard in case the Bicycle Club ever leaves town. I think it’s important that we get someone in there who has been here a long time. I came to Bell Gardens as a policeman in 1970. I understand the problems of this city. Most important is the gang problem and the safety of our children. I would do three things: educate the parents and their children; create good, strong law enforcement, and find jobs for the older gang members.”