Minorities Poised for Gains at Ballot Box

Voters in several suburban Los Angeles communities will go to the polls today in municipal elections that could throw out old-guard Anglo political leaders in favor of representatives of the growing Asian-American and Latino communities.

The two ethnic groups have shown unprecedented interest in some of the 61 city elections being contested around the county--with Latinos running to increase their representation on six city councils and Asian-Americans looking for new seats on three others.

First-ever majorities of Latinos could be elected in four cities--Baldwin Park, Cudahy, Maywood and South Gate--while Asian-Americans could win a council majority in Monterey Park.

The emerging political activism of the two groups provides a common thread on an Election Day that otherwise presents voters with a smorgasbord of issues and candidates, from fireworks bans in Hawaiian Gardens and Palmdale to the opening of a card club in Baldwin Park and a Malibu City Council race in which entertainment moguls are backing a slow-growth slate.

Regardless of the outcome of today’s votes, political analysts heralded the emerging political activism of what they say are the long underrepresented Asian-American and Latino communities.

“My gut reaction is: ‘Finally!’ ” said Arturo Vargas, head of community education and public policy for the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund. “It is extremely exciting to our community that people are taking an activist approach to government.”

Increased Asian-American activism has been much anticipated, as well, said Alan Heslop, senior research associate at Claremont McKenna College’s Rose Institute of State and Local Government. “As many have predicted, the Chinese-American community in Southern California is beginning to flex its political muscle.”

The entrance of Latinos into suburban political frays is particularly striking--after last year’s redistricting that brought the first Latino in a century to the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors and a Los Angeles city reapportionment that could add at least one Latino to the City Council.

Despite their booming population, constituting nearly 40% of the county’s population, Latinos have lagged in political activism. In 1990, they made up 14% of the registered voters.

But in the San Gabriel Valley and southeast sections of the county, several cities in the last decade became so heavily Latino that the former minority is a voting majority, said Fernando Guerra, an associate professor of political science at Loyola Marymount University.

That, Guerra said, has helped turn longtime political outsiders into insiders.

The trend began in earnest last December when four Anglo council members in Bell Gardens angered Latinos by approving a zoning change that threatened low-income housing.

All four incumbents were recalled. And their replacements last month included three Latinos--giving the City Council its first Latino majority. Rodolfo (Rudy) Garcia, Frank B. Duran and George T. Deitch, who replaced the recalled council members--are seeking full four-year terms today. Josefina (Josie) Macias, also elected after the recall, is on the ballot. Because she recently won a two-year term, she is campaigning for her colleagues and has asked that no one vote for her.

At their swearing-in ceremony, jubilant Bell Gardens Latinos set their sights on a neighboring city, chanting: “Maywood’s next!”

In Maywood, with a 93% Latino population, expectations of a Latino majority winning office are greatest. Latino population exceeds 71% in Baldwin Park, Cudahy and South Gate as well.

Maywood candidate Salvador A. Contreras was disqualified from the race Monday when it was discovered that he had neglected to re-register to vote after he moved. His name will be on the ballot, but if he wins, state law prohibits him from taking office, officials said.

In at least two cities, Huntington Park and Rosemead, Latinos could add council members.

More than ethnicity is driving the changes. A majority of the Cudahy council is over 70 years old, while the Huntington Park and Maywood councils have members over 60.

Asian-Americans are also stepping forward to run for political office in communities where their population is booming.

The Asian-American population in Monterey Park and South Pasadena nearly doubled in the last decade, and in San Marino it nearly quadrupled. Chinese-American candidates are running for City Council for the first time in San Marino and South Pasadena, while Monterey Park could elect its first Chinese-American majority.

Businessman Paul Zee, 41, of South Pasadena and physician Allan K. Yung of San Marino, 51, have brought another first to campaigns in their cities--big-time fund raising.

The two men, whose campaigns are not connected, have raised $31,429 and $37,252, respectively. That is from two to five times what their opponents have collected.

In Monterey Park, the county’s only majority Asian-American city, Chinese-American candidates have continued to lead other contenders in fund raising, as they have since the late 1980s. Two Chinese-Americans sit on the five-member council.

“Part of (the muscle) flexing is the contribution of funds to local and other candidates,” said Claremont College’s Heslop. “I think it is a very heartening sign of political viability.”

Some leaders do not share Heslop’s enthusiasm. South Pasadena Councilwoman Evelyn Fierro said much of the cash going to Zee comes from developers who hope to relax building controls.

Zee--who like Yung has downplayed his ethnic heritage in the campaign--said the money only demonstrates his popularity with a wide spectrum of voters.

Across the remainder of the county:

* Voters in Malibu will pick from 20 candidates for three City Council seats, with debate focusing on two contentious factions that control the council.

One faction, proclaiming itself the true protector of the town’s semirural environment, has received much of its support from entertainment industry moguls. Jeffrey Katzenberg, chairman of the Walt Disney Co.; Robert Daly, chairman of Warner Studios, and Morris Ostin, chairman of Warner Records, are among the Hollywood elite who have given $1,000 each to a group that supports Councilwoman Carolyn Van Horn and contenders Joan House and Jeff Kramer.

Their opponents include council members Mike Caggiano and Missy Zeitsoff who, along with Mayor Larry Wan, have controlled the council since incorporation a little more than a year ago.

* In Santa Clarita, a slow-growth initiative has become the dominant theme in the race among 16 candidates for two seats on the five-member council. The initiative would allow only 475 housing units to be built in the bedroom community each year through 2002.

* Baldwin Park residents have been arguing whether potential increased revenue from the opening of a card club outweighs the corrupting influence gambling could have in the city.

Councilman Herschel Keyser, who is running for reelection, said the gambling parlor is preferable to levying new fees or taxes. But church and community groups said they fear that organized crime could be attracted to their city.

* Five cities are being asked whether they are willing to raise taxes or fees to pay for services. In Baldwin Park and Monrovia, the money would go to police. In El Segundo it would go to schools, and in Palmdale for a $24-million recreation center. A Rancho Palos Verdes property tax hike of $200 per single-family home is designed to wipe out a growing budget deficit.

* So-called “safe and sane” fireworks could be banned in two cities--Hawaiian Gardens and Palmdale. That would bring the number of jurisdictions in the county allowing the sale and use of pyrotechnics to 34, five less than three years ago.

The bans will prevent fires and injuries, supporters have argued. But fireworks fans said they are a good source of funds for the community groups that sell them and that they have not caused problems in the past.

In Hawaiian Gardens, one City Council candidate was killed and another was injured when their car was struck by a pickup truck early Sunday. Valerie Gaxiola was killed. Mary Corrales was in intensive care Monday with severe injuries.

Staff writers Irene Chang and Tina Griego contributed to this story.