City Committee Denies Effort to Invalidate Vote

A Los Angeles City Council committee Monday rejected appeals to invalidate the Oct. 13 election of a citizens advisory panel dominated by supporters of the Community Redevelopment Agency’s efforts in North Hollywood.

On separate 2-0 votes, the Community Redevelopment Committee rejected seven challenges filed by redevelopment agency critics contesting the October election of 21 members to the North Hollywood Project Area Committee.

The election was unfair and flawed by procedural errors, the critics contended.

But after reviewing the accusations, Councilman Zev Yaroslavsky, a member of the committee, said: “Even if everything alleged was true, would that have created irreparable harm? I don’t think it would have.”

Yaroslavsky told the critics he believed they were making “mountains out of nothing--if not molehills.”

The councilman was especially dismayed after learning that, despite the critics’ lengthy allegations about how one of their numbers, Lenora Rosen, was denied the right to vote for herself, she had been elected anyway.

“She was elected!” Yaroslavsky exclaimed. “I have no more questions.” Later, he told the critics, “I just don’t understand Mrs. Rosen’s beef.”

Councilman Richard Alatorre, chairman of the committee, also expressed frustration with the critics. He noted that the city had hired the independent League of Women Voters to conduct the election to assure that it was fair.

“I want to get through this process and have the . . . committee get on with its business,” Alatorre said.

Project Area Committee elections in North Hollywood have a long and checkered history. Critics of redevelopment have complained for years that the balloting has not been fairly conducted.

Earlier this year, amid a new round of complaints among the proponents of redevelopment, Council President John Ferraro, who represents the area, disbanded the committee and ordered a new election.

The October election was viewed as a key showdown between the critics and proponents of redevelopment before the Project Area Committee took up the crucial task of advising the City Council whether to renew the redevelopment agency’s charter to operate in North Hollywood.

In the Oct. 13 vote, the proponents won 12 seats, the foes nine.

One of the most damning allegations made by the critics was that several dozen presumed supporters of the agency were allowed to vote the night of the election before 7 p.m. although election rules, disseminated earlier by mail to the area’s nearly 10,000 eligible voters, said voting would occur only after 7 p.m.

The rule change, the critics claimed, deprived write-in candidates, who could register as candidates until 7 p.m. the night of the election, of due process because the early voters were unaware of their candidacy.

But League of Women Voters official Felita Waxman said the rule change was announced at a Sept. 8 public meeting and that no special obligation was owed to write-in candidates. The committee agreed.

The ratification of the election results still must be approved by the full City Council.