Activists-Turned-Politicians Assume Control of Council : Government: In two years, the council makeup has turned over completely. The new members are younger and dedicated to some issues that past councils would never have favored.

A breed of activists emerged from the rubble of the 1987 Whittier earthquake to shake up the town’s establishment. They filled council meetings, energized by issues such as saving historic buildings, preserving neighborhoods and halting hillside development.

They annoyed longtime business and political leaders and sometimes turned city priorities topsy-turvy.

And now they have taken over.

The April 14 municipal election brought community activists Allan Zolnekoff and Michael Sullens to the five-member City Council. They will join like-minded Bob Henderson and Helen McKenna-Rahder, who won election on similar platforms two years ago. The fifth seat is vacant. Councilman-elect Larry Haendiges gave up his seat last week after admitting he filed three false police reports during the campaign. The seat will be filled by appointment or special election.

In just two years, the council has turned over 100% and shed more than 20 years from its average age. Henderson, at 52, is the oldest and most experienced member. McKenna-Rahder is 40; Zolnekoff, 38, and Sullens, 37. Retiring incumbents Myron Claxton and Thomas K. Sawyer are 73 and 68 respectively. Defeated incumbent Robert Woehrmann is 64.

This new cast will also sport a new philosophy.

“This is not going to be a Chamber of Commerce city,” said Bea Comini, a community volunteer and veteran political observer. Previous councils “saw no difference between the needs of the city and the needs of the Chamber of Commerce.”

The new council members speak of improving the quality of life, maintaining Whittier’s historic character, and preserving the undeveloped hills north and east of town as a heritage for future generations. Critics worry that they will stymie needed business growth and involve the city in costly, futile litigation to stop property owners from building houses on hillside land.

Fellow council members chose Henderson as the new mayor last week. He sees the new council as the product of a political awakening in the city. “We felt this movement was there. Some people would like to believe it was a one-time phenomenon,” he said, referring to his 1990 election victory. “And I never believed it. People throughout Southern California are concerned about this mindless growth that has gone on.

“The people voted in favor of the candidates who wanted to preserve the hills.”

Zolnekoff and Sullens portrayed themselves as the candidates who would work hardest to make a regional park of the undeveloped Whittier Hills, which stretch across some 4,000 acres. The winter rains converted the hills into living, fragrant billboards for the concept, spawning revived streams, vibrant green grasses and slopes of yellow mustard flowers just in time for election day.

Chevron USA left 970 acres of the land undeveloped for a century while pumping oil there. But the company announced plans last fall to build 1,300 homes, drawing vehement opposition from preservation groups such as Friends of the Whittier Hills and the Whittier Conservancy.

Although Chevron has yet to submit a formal proposal to county planners, the preservation message scored with voters.

Critics of Zolnekoff and Sullens, who include many respected and veteran community leaders, said too much attention was focused on the hills. “The hillsides are not an issue at all,” former mayor Victor Lopez said. He noted that most of the hillside land is privately owned and outside city limits. “People believed the council would have some say in what happens to the hills. Whittier is going to have very little say.”

But Zolnekoff, the leading vote-getter, said residents wanted a council that could persuasively lobby county officials against developments bordering Whittier. He said voters wanted a council that would do anything to avoid surrendering the hills.

“I know I was elected to promote the philosophy that the hills should be preserved,” Zolnekoff said. “This huge margin of votes proves that the hills were an issue.”

Sullens called the hills a “gateway issue.”

“Traffic, pollution, infrastructure, development standards. All the other issues will come into play in that issue,” he said.

Most voters interviewed outside polling places agreed with them.

“I voted for Sullens and Zolnekoff because of their involvement in saving what’s left of the hills,” said Karen Pika, 46, who owns a home in the hills.

“Sullens and Zolnekoff seem to be the kind who want to save the hills. The others just seem to want to bring in business,” said another voter, who did not want to give her name. “The whole area is at the mercy of the developers.”

Whittier Citizens for Responsible Government, whose members include the bluebloods of local business and politics, supported more traditional candidates. The group endorsed incumbent Woehrmann, former Mayor Lee Strong and then-Planning Commissioner Haendiges. All were men who scored successes and made friends in business, the Chamber of Commerce and the boards of popular charities before aspiring to elected office.

Only Haendiges finished among the top vote-getters. He gave up his council seat last week after admitting he made up stories about a prowler outside his home and two attacks on him to get more police protection for his family.

Citizens for Responsible Government portrayed Sullens and Zolnekoff as inexperienced and too narrowly focused. The group said an underfunded city budget and a stalled local economy were more important than trying to stop all hillside development.

But residents of Whittier’s more prosperous neighborhoods, once the core of support for the city’s more traditional leaders, voted in large numbers for the preservation-minded candidates, particularly Zolnekoff, according to precinct results.

Another winning issue was neighborhood and historic preservation. Sullens was founding president of the Whittier Conservancy, which is devoted to saving historic buildings and homes.

“All Michael did was say, ‘I’m the founder of the Conservancy,’ and bang--5,000 votes,” Conservancy leader John Smith IV said.

Smith said the election demonstrated a fundamental change in Whittier politics. “The people of Citizens for Responsible Government are not really issues people. They’re personality people. They say vote for their candidate because you know his sister, you know his friends, because you go to the same country club.”

All of the current council members arrived with causes, most related to the 1987 earthquake. Hundreds of buildings and homes suffered severe damage. Planning decisions that would have been spaced out over generations had to be made almost overnight. Many residents, unhappy over the results, became politically active.

Henderson, a former council member, re-entered local politics to halt what he regarded as shoddy, hasty and excessive development.

Zolnekoff, once better known as a lobbyist for bicycle lanes through town, began joining the fray over development and preservation issues.

McKenna-Rahder gained public attention as a champion for homeowners who objected to apartment construction along a narrow street of single-family homes. She angrily chastised city leaders for permitting boxy apartments with insufficient parking to crowd existing neighborhoods and strain city services.

Sullens leaped into political action when city fathers decided to demolish historic buildings damaged by the earthquake. His efforts through the Conservancy prevented some demolitions but only delayed others.

McKenna-Rahder and Sullens violated all protocol for local political success. They would shout at city leaders and accuse them of being over the hill, out of touch.

Now the activists are in charge. They will have the chance to prove that their stand on development is best for Whittier. Ed Henning, a local city planning consultant, said the city runs the risk of earning an anti-business reputation. A successful business sector is what pays for community services, he said.

“To have a posture that ‘We are against new development and commercial expansion’ can be a dangerous and misleading approach to the economics of a community,” he said. “It doesn’t mean you can lie back and allow any development to roll over you, but you do have to have an open mind to allowing for development and expansion.

“They may win very few victories because they don’t leave much room for compromise.”

Departing Mayor Sawyer said he worried about a lack of diversity on the new council. He said the previous council was effective because the views of Henderson and McKenna-Rahder were tempered by members with different backgrounds.

Former Councilman Woehrmann said he was concerned about a special interest group, namely the preservation groups, having too much influence over city affairs. Former council members also object to derogatory references to an old boys’ network. They argue that the city’s veteran leaders are responsible for making Whittier the type of community the preservation groups want to safeguard.

John Pollara, who chairs Whittier Citizens for Responsible Government, said the council should appoint someone from outside their camp to fill the vacant seat. He suggested Lee Strong, who finished next behind the winning candidates.

“We had 4,000 voters say this person was qualified,” said Pollara, the president of Zieman Manufacturing Co., which makes trailers. “It depends on whether the council wants total unity of opinion or whether they want to hear the other side of some issues.”

Council members said they have not yet decided how to fill the open seat.

They also said they are not anti-business and would respond to concerns of the entire community.

Sullens noted that he was thrilled to be in office, but that it would take getting used to.

“It’s easier to be critiquing what’s going on than responsible for what’s happening. There’s a certain amount of fear at the reality of responsibility. It’s always easy when you’re on the other side because you can always be the back-seat driver.”

BACKGROUND

The seed of Whittier’s political activism germinated Oct. 1, 1987, at 7:42 a.m. An earthquake measuring 5.9 on the Richter scale rumbled through the city, causing $90 million in damage. As a result, 34 downtown buildings, about half of the business district, were either destroyed or demolished; 23 others were badly damaged. About 4,200 homes suffered damage. Planning decisions that would have taken years had to be made almost overnight. Many residents, dissatisfied with city actions, entered the political arena.