Students Deal With Snub by Candidates : Politics: Junior Statesmen give their support to a homeless activist after most of the leaders in L.A.’s mayoral race fail to attend meeting.

In this, the “Year of School Reform,” when top candidates in the Los Angeles mayoral race talk often and loudly of the need to improve public education, such an oversight could never happen, right?

It could, and it did. On Saturday, about 150 of Southern California’s brightest and most politically active high school students hosted a mayoral candidates forum--and only one of the front-runners showed up, arriving 90 minutes late.

But the snubbed members of Junior Statesmen of America, a nonprofit group that encourages civic activism at high schools, proved that they know how to play political hardball: They threw most of their weight behind fringe candidate and homeless activist Ted Hayes.

In a straw poll, the youngsters abandoned the no-show top-flight candidates, giving 41% of their vote to Hayes, who appeared at the forum at Manual Arts High School in his trademark colorful knit hat atop a maze of Rastafarian dreadlocks.

“I think there’s some resentment about those candidates who didn’t show,” said Beatrice Harmida, 16, a junior at Bravo Medical Magnet School, “but we also really appreciate those who did.”

The young politicians-in-training were especially hard on front-runner Michael Woo, a councilman who has been leading the pack in early polls, giving him no votes. Apparently, Woo’s seat on the board of directors of the Southern California Council of the Junior Statesmen Foundation did not help his standing.

“Woo was vice mayor of this organization once, and it was a shame he didn’t show up today,” El Camino Real High School student David Rand said.

Some of the other politically prominent candidates--Councilman Joel Wachs, businessman Richard Riordan and state Assemblyman Richard Katz--did not do much better. Wachs got 1% of the vote while Riordan and Katz got 3% each.

Councilman Nate Holden, who arrived at the forum 90 minutes late, fared better, scoring 10% of the vote and tying attorney Stan Sanders, who was at the event.

Also attending were major contenders Julian Nava, a former Los Angeles school board member who pulled in 7% of the students’ vote, and businessman and transportation executive Nick Patsaouras, who failed to score.

John Borunda, a former police officer, got 16% and Melrose Larry Green got 7%. Self-proclaimed born-again Christian Frank Teran and taxi driver Randolph Pavelko also made it to the forum, but got no votes in the straw poll.

Showing himself adept at sizing up the crowd, Hayes angrily denounced the no-shows after Katz surrogate Angel Obregon appealed to the students to understand that a scheduling conflict had kept his candidate away.

“They’re not here because you don’t vote, and you haven’t got any money!” Hayes shouted to the youngsters. “That’s a lousy excuse!”

The junior pols loudly cheered Hayes’ remarks.

When a reporter asked why some of the most notable missing candidates--all of whom tout school reform as critical to their platforms--did not make it to the forum, the contenders or their representatives had these responses:

Woo: “He had a number of things and none of them are public and I’m not going to get into a minute-by-minute accounting of where he was,” said Garry South, Woo’s press secretary.

Wachs: “I went to a thing that I can’t tell you about,” the candidate said when reached at home.

Riordan: “He was walking precincts in Pacoima,” press secretary Annette Castro said. “That’s our main priority. We’re very sorry he couldn’t make it.”

Katz: “Richard was attending a strategy session this afternoon,” press aide Marc O’Hara said. “And let me make a defining statement: We’ve been at four or five times more forums than Riordan or Woo since the other candidates have begun attacking him.”

Besides feeling snubbed, the youngsters were a pretty tough audience all around, even being hard on those who did show up.

“They seem like putzes to me,” El Camino Real student Melanie Beederman said after hearing the candidates talk about how they would fight crime, help young people, boost transportation and prevent riots.

“It seems like they’re just telling us what they think we want to hear,” said a Cameron Johnston, 17, a senior at Lynwood High School.

But Anthony Brown, 15, a sophomore, had a more upbeat view: He was all for Green, a sidewalk campaigner who is running for mayor and who promised to appoint a high school student to his Cabinet if elected.

“He’s insane and that’s what we need,” Brown said, grinning.

Although several nearby students gasped when Brown offered his assessment, Green was not without support, testimony perhaps to his endorsement by KLSX “shock radio” disc jockey Howard Stern.

“It’s frightening that a guy like Howard Stern has that kind of influence with young people,” Rand said.

And from Palm Springs High School senior Jim Finsten, 17, governor of the Southern California Council of the Junior Statesmen group, there were words of warning.

“Most of the people in this audience are activists,” Finsten said. “A lot of them are going to go back to their schools with word of what happened here. Although maybe only 20 of them in there can vote now, they can walk precincts and do phone-banking.”