Voters Sweep Out Two Council Incumbents : City Hall: Chick and Svorinich defeat veterans Picus and Flores. Goldberg and Alarcon win open seats.

In the most sweeping revamping of the city’s leadership in memory, Los Angeles voters Tuesday chose four new City Council members, throwing out two longtime incumbents and electing the council’s first openly homosexual member and its first Latino representative from the San Fernando Valley.

Council member Joy Picus lost a bitter election to onetime aide Laura Chick. The second incumbent, Joan Milke Flores, was defeated by political newcomer Rudy Svorinich, a paint store owner.

In the races for open seats, former school board member Jackie Goldberg defeated council aide Tom LaBonge, becoming the council’s first openly gay member. And mayoral aide Richard Alarcon became the first Latino council member from the Valley when he defeated Fire Capt. Lyle Hall.

Goldberg won the seat vacated by mayoral candidate Michael Woo; Alarcon will replace retiring council member Ernani Bernardi.

The council’s four new members represent the greatest turnover in a single election in memory at City Hall. Twice before, in 1965 and 1991, the city elected three new council members.

The defeats of both Picus and Flores were particularly notable in a city that has rejected only two incumbent council members in 15 years.

Going into Tuesday’s vote, political observers had viewed Picus as in the greatest danger because of the strong campaign launched against her by Chick, who had worked for Picus as a field deputy in the 3rd District. The west San Fernando Valley district represented by Picus since 1977 witnessed a vituperative campaign that focused more on the bad blood between the two candidates than their differences on issues.

Chick was ecstatic as the night’s returns showed her headed for victory.

“It’s just too momentous,” she said, wiping tears from her eyes.

“People are not stupid and they are not fooled by the kind of political posturing and empty promises they’ve been getting,” she said.

Richard Lichtenstein, a political consultant, said: “The voters saw Joy Picus as someone who could no longer bring home the bacon for her district. It’s a major statement by the voters.”

In the 15th District, which Flores had represented since 1981, Svorinich and his supporters were jubiliant as results showed him pulling ahead of Flores. With more than 200 supporters chanting, “Rudy! Rudy! Rudy!” Svorinich was lifted off the ground by Bill Brownell, his godson and campaign co-chairman.

“Victory is ours,” said Vince Trudnich, president of the Dalmatian American Club of San Pedro, a Slavic community group.

Svorinich attributed his win to his campaign promise to be an accessible councilman in a district that stretches from Watts to the Harbor area.

“While walking the district, time and time again people told me they had not seen Joan Milke Flores in a long time,” Svorinich said. “And they know they will see Rudy Svorinich.”

In the race in the 13th District, which stretches from Hollywood to Glassell Park, Goldberg and LaBonge were locked in a close race much of the night.

As her victory became apparent, Goldberg told a wildly enthusiastic crowd at Grace Simon Lodge in Elysian Park, “This is the start of a coalition that is going to turn the 13th District around and we hope it’s a start to turn Los Angeles around.”

In the Valley’s 3rd District campaign, Picus had accused Chick of “betrayal” for running against her--comparing her to an employee who steals trade secrets and clients to start up a new business.

Chick said her three years working for Picus convinced her that the city councilwoman was unwilling to “take tough stands and strong actions.” A Chick campaign mailer showed Picus apparently sleeping at a council meeting.

The challenger sought to tap into uneasiness among voters in the relatively well-to-do suburban district about encroaching graffiti, crime and other urban ills.

Picus has been an outspoken proponent for Valley interests--arguing, for instance, for a separate planning commission to serve the area--but she was dogged by a bitter development struggle in her district. Despite her vehement opposition, the developers of the Warner Ridge office complex went to court to win approval for the 21.5-acre project. The result left homeowners unhappy, but powerful developers were also alienated by Picus’ actions on the issue.

Picus, 62, had attempted to turn the tables on Chick, 48, by depicting her as a political insider. Picus pointed to Chick’s substantial support from lobbyists, consultants and others who have long been part of the City Hall Establishment. She also noted that Chick’s husband, Robert, served several years as an appointee of Mayor Tom Bradley on the city’s Airport Commission.

Flores, 56, and Svorinich, a 33-year-old paint store owner and first-time candidate, are Republicans who spent much of the runoff campaign attempting to expand their appeals beyond their mutual home base of San Pedro. The result was that they spent much of their time and energy on the district’s predominantly minority and Democratic areas.

Flores pitted her long experience on the council against Svorinich’s calls for change. She asked constituents to remember all she had done, and he asked them to remember all she had not accomplished.

Flores kept her chin up as she headed for defeat Tuesday night.

“I don’t feel bad, I don’t feel bad at all,” she said. “I think I had 12 wonderful years and I have so many things I want to do with my life.”

Svorinich, she said, ran a “tough, tough campaign.”

In the 13th District campaign, the possibility of Goldberg becoming the council’s first openly gay or lesbian member became a bitter, if somewhat peripheral, issue.

During the primary campaign, some leaders of the gay political community criticized Goldberg, a longtime social reformer, for not campaigning aggressively enough as a gay activist. Two other candidates, AIDS health care executive Michael Weinstein and entertainment administrator Conrado Terrazas, were the favorites of many in the homosexual community, in part because they emphasized the need for a gay representative on the City Council.

When Goldberg emerged as one of the two top finishers in the primary, most of the gay community coalesced behind her, as demonstrated by the substantial donations from activists that helped power her campaign. Weinstein, however, backed LaBonge, a longtime City Council aide, saying that Goldberg was neither qualified nor open enough about her sexual orientation.

The focus of the campaign, though, was on providing basic government services to the 13th District.

LaBonge, 39, said constituents were tired of local politicians who philosophize about political issues and simply want the city to take care of their needs. He promised that he would put his 14 years of City Hall experience to use by compelling the bureaucracy to trim trees, clean alleys, fill potholes and paint out graffiti.

Goldberg, 48, began her campaign sounding a lot like Woo, promising to build multiethnic coalitions and to open City Hall to groups that have long been excluded. But she went on to reach out to more moderate voters--discussing some of the same bread-and-butter issues that preoccupied LaBonge.

In the northeast San Fernando Valley’s 7th District, Alarcon had good reason to downplay his bid to become the region’s first Latino representative on the council (and the third overall). The numbers in the district argued for a wider appeal.

Although the population of the district became 70% Latino after last year’s redistricting, Anglos remained the largest voting bloc. They represent 48% of those registered, compared to 31% for Latinos and 19% for blacks.

Hall, who almost defeated Bernardi four years ago, and Alarcon, a Bradley aide who grew up in the district, are both old hands around Los Angeles City Hall. And both campaigned principally on reducing crime and unemployment.

Alarcon, 39, stressed his ties to the community, and Hall, 53, touted his support from law enforcement and a bipartisan group of legislators as diverse as U.S. Rep. Howard L. Berman (D-Panorama City) and Republican County Supervisor Mike Antonovich. Hall also trumpeted his endorsements by Bernardi and Anne Finn, a onetime candidate for the seat and widow of the late Valley Councilman Howard Finn.