Latinos Sweep Into Office as New Majority : Politics: Ursua and Cortez are in a runoff for mayor, and members of the ethnic group predominate on the City Council.

For the first time in the city’s 105-year history, the Pomona City Council will have a Latino majority and a Latino mayor, but it will take a runoff election April 20 to determine who the mayor will be.

Voters Tuesday elected two Latinos--Cristina Carrizosa and Marco Robles--to the City Council and put two other Latinos--Councilman Tomas Ursua and Planning Commissioner Eddie Cortez--into a mayoral runoff.

Incumbent Ken West won reelection easily to retain the third council seat at stake in Tuesday’s balloting.

Carrizosa, 50, a bilingual resource teacher at Philadelphia Elementary School, upset incumbent Boyd Bredenkamp, 51, owner of a local doughnut shop, to earn the right to represent District 3 in southeast Pomona.

Bredenkamp attributed his defeat in part to hard work by the Pomona Firefighters Assn., which endorsed Carrizosa and other candidates who supported the union’s position that the city should negotiate an agreement with Los Angeles County to take over the city Fire Department. Bredenkamp has been openly skeptical of claims that the city could get better fire service at lower cost by such a contract.

Firefighters gave Carrizosa financial support, walked door-to-door on his behalf and put out mailers, Bredenkamp said. The help was particularly effective, he said, because “firemen are traditionally the good guys in the community.”

West, 41, a government financial administrator, was an easy winner over challenger Elliott Rothman in District 5 in the Phillips Ranch and Westmont area.

Robles, 35, director of a substance abuse program, was unopposed in District 2, currently represented by Ursua. Robles is head of Latino Forum, a group that has worked to promote political participation among Latinos.

Robles said the Latino victories and the ethnic diversity of the candidates on the ballot in this election are evidence that changes are taking place.

“Pomona was overdue for new leadership reflective of the community,” he said.

Pomona’s population is 51% Latino, according to the 1990 Census, although the number of registered voters who are Latino is estimated at less than 25%.

With Robles, Carrizosa, Councilwoman Nell Soto and either Ursua or Cortez as mayor, four of the seven council members will be Latino when the new terms begin April 26. Two of the other council members are white, and one is black.

Ursua said the fact that he and Cortez are Latino will remove ethnicity from the election equation in the April 20 mayoral runoff, letting voters concentrate on philosophical and personal differences.

Ursua, 37, an owner-builder of small-scale housing projects, said he envisions the city’s government as a leaner operation that will run more efficiently and relinquish power to individuals.

“I’m espousing self-reliance,” he said. “People are going to have to stand up and take responsibility. Don’t expect government to do it; you’ll have to do it yourself.”

Ursua said a leaner government could ease the burdensome utility tax that adds about 10% to utility bills in Pomona. He said Cortez represents “business as usual,” which means that government is run by “a consortium of the staff and outside interests.”

Ursua, who has done graduate work in urban planning at UCLA, said he has the experience and qualifications to develop policy and change the way the city operates.

Cortez, 52, owner of a Pomona service station, said Ursua will have difficulty running as the candidate of change.

“If anybody is business as usual, it’s Mr. Ursua,” Cortez said, adding: “What has he done in four years on the council?” Cortez said it is irresponsible for Ursua to suggest that the utility tax can be reduced unless he has some alternative to offer.

“The utility tax is a hard burden to bear,” he said, “but you have to find a way to replace it before you remove it.”

Ursua led the eight-candidate field, with Cortez finishing second, just ahead of Paul D. Geiger, an engineering manager with Northrop Corp., who was making his first bid for political office.

Although he garnered the most votes Tuesday, Ursua acknowledged that he may have an uphill fight in the runoff, because Cortez and Geiger represent similar interests. Both supported retention of the Fire Department and opposed billboards.

Ursua voted to negotiate with the county for fire service and voted for a deal with a sign company that will result in 10 new billboards along freeways in exchange for removal of 30 billboards elsewhere in the city.

Geiger said that while his views on a number of issues are similar to those of Cortez, he wants to talk to the candidate before offering his endorsement in the runoff.

The voter turnout was less than 17%.

ELECTION RETURNS

Counting of late and absentee ballots could alter the outcome in some races

POMONA Mayor 26 of 26 Precincts Reporting

VOTE % Kevin (Mr. P) Ausmus 97 1.4 Eddie Cortez 1,711 25.0 Paul D. Geiger 1,626 23.8 James Robert Reynolds 42 0.6 Ramon P. Romero 207 3.0 David W. Smith 259 3.7 Tomas Ursua 2,642 38.5 James Wilkins 267 3.8

*City Council District 2 3 of 3 Precincts Reporting

VOTE % Marco A. Robles 633 100

*District 3 3 of 3 Precincts Reporting

VOTE % Boyd Bredenkamp* 323 42.7 Cristina Carrizosa 433 57.3

*District 5 4 of 4 Precincts Reporting

VOTE % Elliott Rothman 399 34.7 Ken West* 749 65.3

* SAN GABRIEL UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT Measure HS Shall the district issue $29.9 million in bonds to acquire sites for and to build a new high school and related support facilities? ( 2/3 of vote required for approval) 11 of 11 Precincts Reporting

VOTE % Yes 2,066 46.6 No 2,364 54.4

Boldface type indicates winners or candidates in runoffs. * Denotes incumbent