MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS : Growth Still the Issue in North L.A. County

Although a slow-growth initiative was defeated in Santa Clarita in Tuesday’s election, voters brought a theme of managed growth to the polls in other northern Los Angeles County communities.

Palmdale, one of the nation’s fastest-growing cities in the 1980s, will focus more on promoting a quality community rather than rushing to increase its size in coming years, the leader of the city’s newly elected council majority predicted Wednesday.

While not advocating slow-growth policies, Mayor-elect Jim Ledford said Tuesday’s election results have given the city a council that will adopt long-delayed hillside development controls, consider projects more carefully and focus on restoring Palmdale’s shabby downtown.

The new council promises to have a more homeowner-oriented majority, with Ledford, a first-term councilman, winning a two-year term as mayor, Councilman Joe Davies winning a second four-year term, and Planning Commissioner David Myers winning the other council job.

Palmdale Mayor Pete Knight, who is running for state Assembly, did not seek reelection. And another pro-development lawmaker, Councilwoman Janis DeLaTorre, gave up her council seat to run for mayor against Ledford. The council is now expected to appoint someone to fill Ledford’s council seat.

The result is that Ledford and fellow Councilman Jim Root, elected in 1990 on a managed-growth platform, go from being a two-vote minority to leading a possible four-vote majority on the five-member council, joined by Myers and the upcoming appointee, possibly Planning Commissioner Teri Jones.

Ledford predicted that such major planned housing developments as Ritter Ranch and City Ranch, years in planning and covering thousands of acres, will still be approved by the city ultimately. But he said the council will probably look more closely at the environmental and fiscal effects of such projects.

In other Palmdale results, voters overwhelmingly rejected Measure B to ban fireworks sales in the city after the fireworks industry spent $40,000 in a campaign to defeat the measure, and also rejected Measure C, an advisory vote on a tax plan to pay for a proposed $24-million recreation center.

Ledford predicted that the Measure C vote kills the recreation center project. He said the city also probably will halt plans to build a new performing arts center because of rising costs, and will take a slower approach to annexing surrounding areas. Ledford, who thought the campaign was too expensive, said he favors campaign contribution limits for city races.

In nearby Lancaster, Frank Roberts, Antelope Valley College dean, won one council seat, and Desert Christian Schools Executive Director George Runner appears to have won the other, although homeowner activist Michael Singer trailed him by only 69 votes with about 225 still uncounted.

Councilman George Theophanis, a cantankerous first-term lawmaker who was derided by his council colleagues but praised by supporters, failed to win reelection and finished sixth among 12 candidates. Councilman Bill Pursley, the other incumbent, did not seek reelection.

And in the Antelope Valley Hospital District, incumbents Anne Brouillette and Steve Fox were recalled from the board that governs Antelope Valley Hospital Medical Center after a yearlong campaign by disgruntled employees there. Loretta Hansen and Mike Wilson were elected to finish their terms.

In Calabasas, voters returned three incumbents to the City Council, signaling support for the way the small city in the Santa Monica Mountains has been run since its incorporation last year.

Marvin Lopata, Karyn Foley and Lesley Devine each received more than double the number of votes that went to challenger Keith Ward, who ran on a platform of making the government more efficient. Barry Sullivan, whose name was on the ballot but who withdrew from the race nearly two weeks ago, received more than 400 votes.

The vote showed approval for the controlled-growth stance taken by the council, which tries to balance well-planned projects with environmental concerns, Lopata said. “I think it says, ‘Folks, you’re doing a good job, we’re proud of you, go for it again,’ ” he said.

Election night ballot counting, which was smoothly completed just three hours after the polls closed, was the first undertaken by the new municipality.

In San Fernando, council newcomers Rosa Chacon and Raymond Ojeda said they have much to learn about their new offices. They finished ahead of incumbent Councilman Salvador Ponce, who was appointed to the council in 1990.

“I’m nervous,” said Chacon, the city’s first Latina council member. “But I will learn everything about the council.”

Chacon, a member of the Planning Commission, said she drew support from many residents who told her: “It’s about time we get a woman on the council.”

Ojeda, the election’s top vote-getter, attributed his win to a lot of door-to-door campaigning. “Every night, every weekend, we just walked and talked,” Ojeda said.

Voters there also approved leasing the city’s former police facility to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s Valley Task Force for $5,000 a month. Work of the federal task force is secret, but the agents, along with local police, are pursuing gangs and illegal drugs, San Fernando Administrator Mary Strenn said.

“It shows support for people working on these problems,” Strenn said.

Times staff writers Sam Enriquez and Michael Connelly contributed to this report.