ELECTIONS / CITY COUNCIL : 2 Join Field of Candidates for Bernardi’s Seat : Lyle Hall: Fire captain has name recognition from a campaign for the post in ’89. He stresses jobs for the area.

Pledging to help create jobs, battle crime and make City Hall pay more attention to the needs of the San Fernando Valley, city Fire Capt. Lyle Hall formally announced his candidacy Thursday for the City Council seat being vacated by Ernani Bernardi.

Hall, 52, is running for the second time in Los Angeles’ 7th Council District, where in 1989 he forced the 81-year-old Bernardi into a runoff election but lost. The district covers the northeast Valley.

Speaking to reporters on the sidewalk in front of the closed General Motors Corp. plant in Van Nuys, Hall said that he will work to reopen it as an electric car factory and that he favors job training, enterprise zones and other tax incentives to produce new jobs in the largely working-class district.

With Bernardi retiring, the April 20 election in the 7th District has attracted a crowded field of would-be successors. Hall is among nine people who have filed papers saying they are raising money for the race, and more could jump in before the Jan. 25 filing deadline.

The district’s population is about 70% Latino, and its boundaries were redrawn last year with an eye toward improving the chances of a Latino winning the seat. Asked if a Latino should represent the district, Hall, who is Anglo, replied:

“I think the important issue is who is the best representative. If it were true that only a Latino could represent Latino interests, then we would have . . . fears from the black community, the white community.

“What we need to elect are people who will fight for this district,” he said. “And obviously, with a 70% Hispanic population, Hispanic needs and issues are crucial. And we need to have the best candidate who will represent the needs of the people, regardless of who they are. And I think I’m that candidate.”

Although its population is heavily Latino, 48% of the district’s registered voters are Anglo, a factor that some observers believe favors Hall or another Anglo candidate. About 31% of registered voters are Latino. So far, the major candidates include three Anglos, three Latinos and one black.

“I hate the word front-runner, but I’d say he has a leg up on any other candidate in the race,” said Republican political consultant Paul Clarke, noting that Hall’s 1989 campaign left him with good name recognition and a core of support.

Hall said he expects to spend $300,000 in the April primary and up to $200,000 more if he is a candidate in the June 8 runoff.

Hall, a Democrat, has hired the political consulting firm headed by Joe Cerrell to run his campaign, and on Thursday several Cerrell aides bustled about at Hall’s news conference, talking to reporters and a small knot of Hall supporters.

Hall released a 10-page “agenda for action” outlining his positions on jobs, crime, housing and other issues.

He promised to work closely with employers to lure new businesses to the district, streamline the city permit process to help small businesses and ensure that local contractors “get their fair share” of city contracts.

A former president of the Los Angeles firefighters union, he said his labor background would help in promoting union apprenticeship programs and “getting cooperation between the employers and the workers to provide training opportunities.”

Hall also resurrected an old theme among Valley politicians: that the area pays more in taxes than it receives in city services. He promised to make Valley concerns “a significant priority” at City Hall.

In order to combat crime, he said, police officers in desk jobs should be put on the street and their places filled by civilians. He also suggested that police reservists be used to patrol malls and parks.

He said more police officers could be hired without new taxes if “fat” is cut from other city departments. He cited the Department of Water and Power, saying it is “ripe for better oversight and more efficiencies.”

Although Hall said in a written statement that he supports “continuation of the existing subway system across the Valley,” he declined to tell reporters if he prefers the Metro Rail subway over the proposed elevated rail system running along the Ventura Freeway.

Hall promised to serve only two four-year terms if elected, regardless of the fate of two term-limitation initiatives on the April ballot.

A firefighter since 1962, Hall commands the Mission Hills fire station, which is located in the 7th District. He was named “Fireman of the Year” in 1984 and holds the Medal of Valor, the Fire Department’s highest award for heroism.

Married and the father of six children, he is a member of the National Rifle Assn., Sierra Club and the National Organization for Women.

He said he supports breaking up the mammoth Los Angeles Unified School District and forming a separate Valley district.

Hall reiterated his support for Phoenix House, a drug treatment program seeking to move into the old Lake View Medical Center. In 1989, his backing of Phoenix House cost him votes in the Lake View Terrace area, where many residents vehemently opposed the drug-treatment facility.

“People who complain about fire stations, police stations, drug treatment programs, and halfway houses have legitimate concerns over their personal interests,” he said. “But you need elected officials who will fight for the total community . . . to make those kind of decisions, absent the input from the NIMBYs, who only care about themselves,” he said, using the acronym for “not in my back yard” to refer to people who fight such facilities in their neighborhoods.

If no candidate wins a majority of votes in the April primary election, the two top vote-getters will face each other in a June 8 runoff.