Knock-Down, Drag-Out Fight Hits Santa Ana : Election: Mayor Young and council archrival Acosta are locked in mortal combat, each hoping to end other’s political life. City’s future lies in balance.

As one who frequently finds himself in the minority when his fellow City Council members cast their votes, John Acosta did not expect to win council support when he presented a list of suggested political campaign reforms.

Still, he became irritated when Mayor Daniel H. Young began snickering before he could finish his presentation. That, said Acosta, was “like walking up to the plate and the umpire saying I’m out before I’m in the batter’s box.”

“No, John,” the mayor retorted, “it’s like walking up to the plate and you’re not even wearing a helmet.”

The exchange epitomized the scornful rivalry between the longtime political foes.

Young, who leads Orange County’s largest city with the strong support of four council allies, the Santa Ana Chamber of Commerce, the police and firefighter unions, and politically active neighborhood groups, was reminding Acosta that he did not consider him worthy of being in the same ballpark.

But Acosta, an 11-year council veteran and no stranger to hardball politics, has shown the resilience of an inflatable punching toy that always pops back up.

His ability to remain standing, however, is now facing its toughest test. Placing himself in the ultimate underdog position, the 54-year-old councilman is taking on Young in the Nov. 3 mayoral election.

And Young is determined to knock him down for good.

This is not just an election contest between two men. It’s the ultimate battle in a long war between two rival political factions in the city--the political Establishment headed by Young and outgoing Councilman Daniel E. Griset, against a less cohesive group of residents who oppose their political dominance.

The outcome will be crucial for the city’s future as it tries to expand its economic base while holding back problems related to gangs, a population explosion and increasing crime.

Both candidates agree on the problems facing the city, but differ in their political approaches. And both have accused each other of selling out the city’s best interests to the special interests that contribute to their campaigns.

In a recent campaign mailer to voters explaining his reasons for seeking reelection, Young said the “bar owners and slumlords will stop at nothing to seize control of Santa Ana.”

Young was referring to Acosta’s past votes in support of Mr. J’s, a notorious all-night dance hall that the city has been trying to close because of a high crime rate.

“John Acosta just cannot avoid the temptation to go with some outside business interest, even when it means that the quality of life in this town is going to suffer,” Young later commented in an interview.

Deflecting the mayor’s criticism, Acosta pointed out that while his past council allies received campaign money from the bar owner, he did not.

And he leveled a charge of his own, accusing Young of funding his political campaigns with contributions from out-of-town businesses wanting contracts with the city or with the Orange County Transportation Authority, on whose board Young sits.

“How he can go home and sleep at night is beyond me,” Acosta said, adding that Young’s attack is a sign of desperation. “If I am so irrelevant, if I am so ineffective, if I am such a sleaze bag, what is (Young) worried about? He ought to be walking down the street saying, ‘John who?’ ”

And each has implied that the other’s financial setbacks raise questions about his opponent’s ability to properly manage the city’s fiscal affairs. Acosta is still struggling to emerge from bankruptcy proceedings, while the mayor at one point fell behind on payments to clear up a lawsuit settlement that cost him almost $1 million.

For the longest time, the 42-year-old mayor seemed to brush aside Acosta’s early warnings that he would be entering the mayoral race.

In office since 1983, Young has been seen as the clear front-runner in the upcoming election. His campaign contributions between Jan. 1 and Oct. 17 of this year total $52,837, four times the amount reported by Acosta.

Positioning himself solidly as a development mayor, Young takes pride in bringing to the city large projects such as MainPlace Mall and the Santa Ana Auto Mall, and business parks such as MacArthur Place and Hutton Center.

He also has led efforts to have the entire city declared a redevelopment zone, with additional tax revenue dedicated to schools and recreational facilities to meet the demands of a mushrooming population.

Recognizing the political force that neighborhood associations could become, Young encouraged the establishment of an aggressive neighborhood program at City Hall and a code-enforcement campaign to regularly inspect apartments, control overcrowded housing and reduce the number of licensed pushcart vendors in the city.

The mayor also directed the lobbying effort to keep and expand federal court operations in Santa Ana, the seat of Orange County government.

And the city was one of 16 demonstration sites selected for the federal “Operation Weed and Seed” anti-crime program.

Santa Ana also received a major ego boost this weekend with the opening of the celebrity-owned Planet Hollywood restaurant at South Coast Plaza Village.

But despite efforts to improve its image, the city is encountering new problems caused by the recession and a growing, ethnically diverse, population that is now 65% Latino.

The city has a 7.9% unemployment rate, the highest of any city in Orange County, and the largest poverty rate at 17%, compared to 8.3% countywide, according to city staff statistics.

The city ties with Anaheim for the largest number of small businesses in the county. But Santa Ana’s sales tax revenue, the city budget’s single largest source of funds, has declined for the past two years and is just beginning to improve.

Residents are also becoming increasingly concerned about gangs and the rising crime rate. The number of gang-related homicides this year has already surpassed the 13 recorded in 1991.

Acosta has honed in on some of those issues to present his case that the city needs a change in leadership and someone who will represent the politically powerless.

First elected to the council in 1981, Acosta was considered part of the political Establishment until the mid-1980s when a dispute placed him at odds with Young, Griset and, later, City Manager David N. Ream.

So bitter had the relations become that in 1990 city officials caused the filing of misdemeanor charges against Acosta, claiming that he violated a city law by interfering with the manager’s hiring decisions.

Acosta won the case, but it cemented his disenfranchisement from the politics and operations of city government.

Unable to get support for most of his proposals, Acosta’s record is highlighted by his opposition to Young’s agenda, such as the city manager’s contract, which guarantees Ream a three-year severance pay package.

And his support for Mr. J’s nightclub, he claims, is grounded in his belief that City Hall is trying to shut it down because 60% of its clientele is black.

Acosta has also accused City Hall officials of acting as stumbling blocks for small businesses, while paying special attention to larger business interests, such as C.J. Segerstrom and Sons, which has donated thousands of dollars to the political committees of Young and his allies.

Pointing to a history of campaign contributions to council members from representatives of the city’s trash hauler, Acosta said he wants the contract put out for competitive bidding. The $26-million-a-year contract has never been rebid in its 30-year history.

But the mayor, who also supports competitive bidding, accused the councilman of flip-flopping on the issue by recommending that the city negotiate with the trash company for a 15% rate reduction.

Acosta said he proposed the rate decrease, believing that the company would not go along with it and the stage would be set for open bidding.

The issue that has created the most contention between the candidates is the city’s handling of the gang problem.

City Council members reorganized the gang prevention program, including opening a gymnasium for recreational programs. But they acted only after an unusual public outcry after the shooting death of a resident near the Santa Ana High School basketball courts.

Young grades himself with an “A-minus” for not getting more involved on the issue, saying his less-than-perfect performance was caused by the need to balance mayoral duties with his development business.

But Acosta inflamed the rhetoric, accusing city officials of insensitivity to the issue based on racist attitudes, alleging that Anglos do not understand Latinos or the anti-gang-violence movement sponsored by former neighborhood gang leaders.

Furious, Young accused Acosta of trying to win the election by creating racial strife.

Still, Acosta was determined to take on the political Establishment. Even a few of his supporters were surprised when he proceeded with the mayoral race after his pending bankruptcy and divorce cases showed him owing about $400,000 in state and federal taxes. The bankruptcy forced him to close his masonry business.

While Young promised not to capitalize on Acosta’s personal troubles, the councilman contends that the mayor made a veiled reference to the bankruptcy in campaign mailer. It stated that Young’s business experience had taught him the need for “intelligent management and strong leadership. Unless we want to see Santa Ana fall into a state of bankruptcy and despair, our city government must continue to operate like any other successful organization . . . “

“He’s no choir boy,” responded Acosta, referring to a San Bernardino County lawsuit resolution ordered in 1989 against Young, his wife, and business partners totaling $886,438 plus interest.

Young said the debt, under a payment plan that runs through May, 1993, has been whittled down to about $200,000.

But he protested that Acosta raised the lawsuit as an issue, claiming it was only one loss in a maze of real estate transactions that have totaled hundreds of millions of dollars.

“And I pay my bills,” Young concluded.