2 More Consider Joining the Race for Picus’ Job : Elections: A former aide and a police lieutenant may seek the post the L.A. councilwoman has held for four terms. The incumbent has filed to run again.

A former field deputy to Councilwoman Joy Picus and a police sergeant with ties to the Los Angeles Police Department’s top brass are among those seriously considering a run at the councilwoman’s job in 1993.

The field of challengers has emerged this month as the four-term lawmaker quietly filed the official documents indicating her intent to seek reelection to the 3rd District seat representing the West Valley--although aides say Picus has not ruled out running for Los Angeles mayor or the County Board of Supervisors.

Picus was stunned to learn a week ago that her former aide, Laura Chick, 48, is so serious about running that she and her insurance executive husband plan to move from their Sherman Oaks home--which is outside the 3rd District--into Picus’ turf.

“Laura’s decision really surprised her,” Joy Neuell, Picus’ press secretary, said Friday. “It was difficult for Joy because Laura had worked for her.” And Sgt. Dennis Zine, another potential candidate, once served as a Picus campaign worker.

Chick, who resigned as Picus’ field deputy last year, said she was “very keen to make a final decision whether to run by the end of September.”

One political observer, who asked that he not be identified, said Chick has the advantage of being “what Joy Picus was when she first ran for office--a politically moderate, middle-age Jewish community activist.”

Additionally, Chick’s husband, Robert, has been a longtime commissioner in the Bradley Administration and was once an aide to former Gov. Edmund G. Brown. It’s a “political family” that should know how to raise money, the observer speculated. Robert Chick currently serves on the powerful Airport Commission.

“I think Joy is very vulnerable,” Chick said, acknowledging that she is interviewing political consultants to run a campaign. “She’s out of touch with her constituents and she has not taken seriously the problem of business flight from the West Valley.”

Chick, a former social worker with Jewish Family Service before joining Picus’ staff in 1988, especially criticized Picus’ opposition to the expansion of the Warner Center commercial complex and believes Picus seriously botched the Warner Ridge development project.

Picus unsuccessfully tried to scuttle Warner Ridge--a controversial commercial project--but only after prodding from Woodland Hills residents. Although some residents called her opposition tenacious, others have labeled it ineffective.

The emergence of Warner Ridge as a campaign issue seemed clear enough Thursday when the Los Angeles Planning Commission approved the 690,000-square-foot project, sending it to the City Council.

At the hearing, Woodland Hills Homeowners Organization President Robert Gross blamed Picus, in part, for the continued success of the Warner Ridge developers. Local residents are being saddled with an oversized project because Picus “poorly handled” the case, Gross said.

Gross, 59, a purchasing agent for a Burbank-based aerospace firm, filed his declaration of intent to run for Picus’ seat as have two others--Morton Diamond, a paralegal who won 5% of the vote running against Picus in 1989, and political novice David M. Moles, a Woodland Hills real estate broker.

“I think after 16 years it might be time to get some new voices out there,” said Moles, 39, of Picus’ long tenure on the council. “I imagine there are a few others out there who are eyeing her seat.”

Picus escaped a runoff in 1989 by about 500 votes. Her nearest challenger was Peter Ireland, a top official with the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, who refused to comment on his own 1993 political plans Friday.

“I think we’ll have a clearer picture in November if Joy is going to run for council again,” said Ireland, a former deputy to Supervisor Deane Dana.

“I think she most wants to run for supervisor,” said Ireland, speculating that Picus would run if a proposed measure to expand the board from five to nine members gets on the November ballot and is approved by voters.

Also seriously considering a run at Picus’ job is Zine, a well-connected, 24-year police force veteran now with the Valley traffic division.

Zine, 45, became well-known in media circles as the aggressive press spokesman for Deputy Chief Mark A. Kroeker after Kroeker was assigned to head the department’s Valley Bureau in the wake of the Rodney G. King beating.

Due to concern at Parker Center about the Valley Bureau having an independent press spokesman, Kroeker had to relieve him of his media duties after a year, Zine said Friday.

But while acting as Kroeker’s spokesman, he began to consider the possibility of running for public office. “The riots really made me re-evaluate where this city is heading and what the taxpayers are receiving for their money,” Zine said.

To Zine, the city cannot regain its economic footing until it is able to assure the business community that its police force can provide public safety. “Public safety is a key to economic growth,” he said.

Nor is the safety issue irrelevant to the West Valley, Zine said, pointing to the recent slaying of a 15-year-old Taft High School student at a Ventura Boulevard bus stop. “The West Valley is still nice, but we’re seeing more and more deterioration,” Zine said.

Zine’s political ambitions became so widely known in recent months that Picus called him to inquire about his plans.

“She asked why I was thinking of running,” Zine said. “I told her I was very unhappy with the direction the city’s taking.”

Zine, who has worked in past Picus campaigns, also has a knack for getting publicity. For example, the September issue of Valley magazine will feature a story about Zine’s South Los Angeles riot experiences and photos he took of the disturbances.

As for Picus, she was unavailable for comment Friday about the growing list of political wanna-bes facing her. The councilwoman is back East attending a family funeral.

Neuell, her press secretary, said Picus is not impressed by the political potency of any of the individuals who might challenge her. Still, Neuell acknowledged, the incumbent is fretting about the much-discussed “anti-incumbency feeling” that’s supposedly now animating voters.

“That does concern her,” she said.