PLACENTIA

A utility tax passed 22 years ago may prove to be the hottest campaign topic in an election featuring 12 candidates for City Council and few big issues.

The 3% utility tax levied on telephone, electric, gas and cable bills was passed in 1970 to pay for capital improvements and to finance bonds sold to pay for a new City Hall, library and police station.

Several candidates have said that tax should be repealed because the $14 million collected over the years has been more than enough to repay the bonds.

“That tax should have been repealed 10 years ago,” candidate Michael Stehly said.

But City Manager Robert D’Amato said the utility tax pays for vital city services, such as street repair, and is the funding source for police cars, street sweepers and other equipment.

“If that tax is repealed, the city would be in very serious trouble,” D’Amato said.

About $600,000 of the original $2.4-million bond has been repaid, D’Amato said. The remaining tax revenue has been used on other projects such as construction of a fire station and making street improvements.

Mayor John O. Tynes said repealing the tax would result in massive budget cuts that would affect the quality of life of residents.

Another issue the city faces is an increase in gang activity. Two shootings in a six-month period in 1991 brought the problem into sharp focus and prompted Police Chief Manuel Ortega to organize a youth commission. Earlier this year, the city ordered a tiny neighborhood park that had become a gathering spot for gang members closed at dusk.

Some candidates would like to see an increased police presence, particularly in the southern section of the city, where much of the gang activity has been concentrated.

Candidate Howard Kay said police should be out on the streets more, meeting and getting to know residents.

“They (police officers) need to develop a special relationship with residents,” Kay said. Councilwoman Maria Moreno has made it a monthly practice at council meetings to push for increased police presence in the La Jolla and Santa Fe neighborhoods. People in those neighborhoods need to see police talking with residents and not just patrolling and investigating crimes, the candidate for reelection says..

But other candidates said increasing the number of police officers will not necessarily lead to a drop in gang activity.

Tynes said the city needs to offer more recreational activities for youths, and candidate Michael Maertzweiler supports hiring a counselor to work with youths and their parents.

With 12 years on the council, Tynes has been the indirect target of some candidates who say the council needs some new faces.

“Council members should be limited to one two-year term,” Kay said. “You have people who have been on the council for eons, and when you’re there for that long, you develop a foothold.”

The other candidates running for the three council seats in the Nov. 3 election are incumbent Councilman Arthur G. Newton, Adrienne Edmondson, Gary Hill, Betty Mead, Edward Nodler, Linda Smith and Raymond Smith.