ELECTIONS : 5 Candidates Criticized for Missing Out on Balloting : Hermosa Beach: Some of the contenders in crowded City Council race didn’t always vote in elections held since 1989.

Five of the 12 candidates for Hermosa Beach City Council have drawn criticism from opponents for failing to vote in some of the elections held since 1989.

The voting history of the candidates, compiled by a political computer service employed by several candidates, has become an issue in Tuesday’s election. The candidates, including one incumbent, are vying for three seats on the City Council.

Contenders with regular voting records said that opponents with inconsistent ones have shown they are not interested in city affairs and should not be elected.

“If I wasn’t running . . . and it came to my attention that some of (the candidates) didn’t vote very often, I would certainly think they didn’t take that part of their civic duty very seriously,” said electrical supervisor J. R. Reviczky, 44.

But some candidates with less than perfect records said they had reasons for not voting and that it should not be held against them.

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The five candidates with inconsistent voting histories are Christian Burke, 27, an entrepreneur; businessman Gene Dreher, 43; business adviser Jeanette Jones, 38; attorney Thomas Loversky, 32, and retired county administrator Phil Pennington, 57.

Dreher and Pennington missed a municipal election in 1989, while Burke, Jones and Loversky missed at least two of five elections since that date.

The candidates’ voting histories were compiled by American Mutual Administration Co., a Redondo Beach-based political computer service that has been employed by several candidates seeking to identify registered voters most likely to go to the polls.

The company’s owner, Bill MacAlpin, said he received the data from the Los Angeles County registrar-recorder’s office and the Hermosa Beach city clerk.

Those with inconsistent voting habits had varied reasons for not going to the polls.

Some said they missed an election because they failed to register in time after moving to the city. Others blamed work or family demands. And one, Burke, who has voted just twice in the last five elections, chastised himself for the lapses and said he would not blame people if the issue caused them not to support him.

“I don’t like to make excuses and I should be punished for every time I didn’t vote,” said Burke, who explained that he lost track of his voter registration in frequent moves over the years between Hermosa Beach and Manhattan Beach. “But that, I suppose, is part of the learning process.”

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According to the computer service’s records, Jones voted in the primary and general elections of 1992, but failed to cast a ballot in municipal elections in 1989 and 1991 as well as in a state election in 1990.

When asked about her voting history, she raised questions about the accuracy of the records. Later, she acknowledged missing elections in 1989 and 1990--years in which she gave birth to her two children. She insisted, however, that she did cast a ballot in the municipal election of 1991.

“I feel badly admitting there is any time I haven’t voted because (1989 and 1990) had to be the only two years I have ever not voted since I was of voting age,” Jones said. “But I was also working at the time with two little kids. I would not like to be unjustly criticized about that.”

Loversky, who moved to Hermosa Beach in 1990, acknowledged that he failed to vote in the city’s 1991 municipal election and in the 1992 presidential primary. He stayed away from the polls during the 1992 primary, he said, because the candidate he supported, George Bush, had little opposition.

In the 1991 municipal election, he said, he simply was not interested in Hermosa Beach affairs. Since then, however, “I’ve become more concerned about (local government),” Loversky said.

Dreher, who has lived in Hermosa Beach since 1980, said his lapse occurred during a year he was working in Fresno. “Usually, except when I’m out of town, I always vote,” Dreher said. “I was just too stupid to work out an absentee ballot that year.”

Pennington, who moved to Hermosa Beach in 1988, was surprised to see he missed a municipal election, saying, “I’ve always voted.” But he later conceded that he more than likely just did not have a chance to register in Hermosa Beach after his move. “I was working about 60 hours a week. There were a lot of things I didn’t do when I first got here.”

Joseph DiMonda, 42, a planning commissioner who has voted in every election since 1989, first raised the issue. He is among those candidates who bought voting history lists from the company.

“I think people should know they are voting for someone who doesn’t vote,” he said.

Other candidates who have voted in every election since 1989 are tavern owner John Bowler, 47, and incumbent Albert G. Wiemans, 52, who is the mayor. Candidates who moved into the city sometime after 1989 but have voted consistently since then include aerospace engineer Roger Carlson, 26, retired physician and restaurant owner Peter Y. Mangurian, 66, and architect Julie A. Oakes, 38.

“I don’t think it’s the most critical issue, but I certainly think it’s relevant,” Bowler said. “It shows a level of community involvement or lack thereof.”