1st Pomona Mayoral Candidate Emerges

Opening Shot--Hal Jackson, chaplain at a state institution for youthful offenders in Chino, has become the first person to formally declare his candidacy for mayor of Pomona in the municipal election next March.

Mayor Donna Smith reiterated this week that after six years as mayor and two years as a councilwoman, she won’t run again. “I have my sights set on a paying job,” said Smith, adding that the long hours and the $400-a-month mayoral position have required personal sacrifice. “I’ve donated eight years to the city, and it’s taken its toll.”

Smith said she is seeking a job as a lobbyist or in community relations. She interviewed with a Washington lobbying firm this week.

Meanwhile, Jackson, who finished third behind Smith and Councilman Tomas Ursua in a field of six candidates for mayor in 1990, said he plans a campaign stressing strong, creative leadership. He said Pomona’s leaders must become “stewards of its citizens’ resources and guardians of their environment.”

Several others are expected to run for mayor, including Ursua.

Return to Sacramento--Former Assemblyman Charles Bader (R-Pomona), who in June lost a bid for a nomination for a U.S. House seat, has resurfaced in Sacramento as a $6,500-a-month legislative aide.

For more than a month, the onetime lawmaker has advised Assembly Republican Leader Bill Jones (R-Fresno) on a plan to overhaul the state’s troubled workers’ compensation system. Bader, who has sold his condominium management business, said he took the job with the understanding that it would end in mid-September.

“It’s not something I would want to do long-term,” said Bader, who has been commuting home to Pomona on weekends. “It’s a little difficult being a former member and having to keep quiet on some issues.”

Bader, 52, served in the Assembly for eight years until he was defeated in a 1990 race for the state Senate.

In the two years he was away from Sacramento, Bader said, the political atmosphere turned much more acrimonious. He cited the state’s poor economy, general voter dissatisfaction and the state budget impasse as reasons for the increasingly bitter mood. But after losing two elections, Bader said he is content to be out of the spotlight and will consider business opportunities in Sacramento or San Bernardino when his current assignment ends. “I don’t expect to be running again . . . . There comes a time to move along.”