Deputy Clerk to Make Bid for Her Boss’s Job : Election: Dora Hong says she will move to Torrance to run against John A. Bramhall on the March, 1994, ballot.

Torrance Deputy City Clerk Dora Hong has announced a bid for her boss’s job, calling incumbent City Clerk John A. Bramhall an overpaid, “self-appointed city greeter” who has abused the privileges of his position.

Hong, who lives in Rancho Palos Verdes, plans to move to Torrance to run against Bramhall in the March, 1994, election. She said Bramhall has turned the city clerk’s job into a largely ceremonial position--one that pays $79,000 a year in salary, plus benefits that include a $5,500 car allowance.

According to the City Charter, the clerk’s duties include attending all City Council meetings, safekeeping of official records, conducting municipal elections and serving as filing officer for conflict-of-interest and campaign statements.

But Hong said Bramhall, who is seeking reelection, does little around the office.

“His concept of his responsibilities is to read roll call at City Council meetings and attend social functions,” Hong said. “This is not the way it’s supposed to be. It’s abuse of the system, it’s political pork.”

Bramhall, appointed by the council in 1988, said, “I feel very simply that my experience in this job is well-known and my work in the community is well-known.” He declined further comment.

Bramhall, 68, has worked for several cities, including Lawndale, where he was treasurer for six months in 1988. He held several positions in the City of Commerce until his retirement 10 years ago.

Hong, 45, has been deputy city clerk in Torrance for nine years and is president of a municipal employees union. She said she has put her career on the line to run against Bramhall.

“You have to understand that it is highly unusual for a deputy to challenge an incumbent elected official,” Hong said. “It usually indicates that there’s something very unstable or something terribly wrong in the office.”

Hong’s decision is the latest in a string of campaign announcements that promise to make next year’s elections in Torrance among the most competitive--and controversial--in the city’s history.

City Council members Bill Applegate and Dee Hardison have said they will run for mayor. As many as three council seats might be open next year, and the council’s appointee as city treasurer, Linda Barnett, will face her first election.