2 Sides Tie in N. Hollywood Redevelopment Panel Election

Supporters and opponents of the North Hollywood Redevelopment Project appeared to have fought to a tie Tuesday night in an election held while towel-wrapped women, continuing the project’s turbulent history, waved picket signs from a claw-foot bathtub.

Unorthodox as it was, the bathtub protest staged by redevelopment critics was not unusual for the Project Area Committee, commonly called the PAC.

Previous elections of the citizens advisory committee have been marked by fistfights, walkouts and complaints of electoral chicanery. When a committee chairwoman tried to gavel one unruly meeting to order, a rival produced a much bigger gavel and hammered even louder to silence her, breaking up the meeting.

The long history of bitter disorders between pro- and anti-redevelopment factions motivated the Los Angeles City Council to dissolve the PAC and call Tuesday’s election to start fresh.

But the gridlock appeared likely to continue as each side won 12 of the 25 seats up for grabs. The leading candidate for the 25th seat failed to receive the minimum number of votes necessary to be elected.

The results of the elections could determine the future of the 13-year effort to revitalize one of the San Fernando Valley’s oldest communities, the powerful Community Redevelopment Agency’s only venture of its kind in the Valley.

The CRA’s eminent-domain powers in North Hollywood have expired, and it has nearly exhausted the $89 million in property taxes that it was authorized to spend. If the North Hollywood project is to continue, the City Council must grant its request for a new 12-year charter and renew its powers of eminent domain.

The newly elected PAC will advise city officials as they chart a future for the North Hollywood project. Under state law, the council is not bound to follow the PAC’s advice. But if PAC members disapprove of a new charter for the project, it would take a two-thirds vote of the council to override them. Ratifying the PAC’s advice would require only a majority vote.

Two slates of candidates ran for 25 PAC seats, representing the two factions that have fought fiercely to control the PAC for more than a year. To win, each of the 66 candidates needed a minimum of one-third of the votes cast.

Redevelopment opponents had predicted they would lose, saying their rivals provided vans to transport pro-redevelopment senior citizens from a local housing project to the balloting.

“The bottom line is we believe in redeveloping North Hollywood, but doing it with our own money, not taking tax dollars away from schools and police,” said Mildred Weller, a leader of the opposition faction.

Jack Assaourian, owner of a Mexican restaurant, said he used his company van to bring in some senior citizens to support the pro-redevelopment side. “Redevelopment has benefited the community tremendously,” he said. “The whole street behind me looks brand-new with condominiums and apartments instead of run-down houses because of redevelopment.”

About 12,000 North Hollywood residents, property owners and business leaders were eligible to vote at St. David’s Episcopal Church. But only a fraction--about 250--cast ballots.

While voters lined up to register, two young women wrapped in bath towels--volunteers from the anti-redevelopment side--sat in a beige, claw-foot bathtub outside the church, waving signs that read, “North Hollywood is going down the drain with your tax dollars.”

But in contrast to its chaotic history, the election was peaceful. A Los Angeles police officer stood guard at the church entrance, and representatives of the CRA and Councilman John Ferraro’s office circulated in the hall, ready to call for reinforcements if violence broke out.

The League of Women Voters supervised the election, which was divided into five categories: five representatives were chosen by voters from community organizations, six to represent residents, four for tenants, six for business leaders and four for absentee owners.

Times staff writer John Schwada contributed to this story.