Edelman Won’t Seek 5th Term as Supervisor

Los Angeles County Supervisor Ed Edelman, who in 19 years on the board has carved out a niche as a liberal stalwart championing the causes of children, nature and the arts, announced Wednesday that he will retire at the end of his term next December.

The 63-year-old Los Angeles native said he will not seek a fifth term because he wants to pursue a variety of other interests. He is considering teaching at a university, returning to the practice of law and using leftover campaign funds to establish a foundation for funding the arts or the study of public policy. He denied persistent rumors that he will get an appointment in the Clinton Administration or be named to the federal bench.

In his remaining year on the board, he said, he will concentrate on securing permanent funding for libraries, refurbishing the Hollywood Bowl and shepherding the progress of a county wildfire commission, spawned from the recent devastating fires that scorched part of Edelman’s 3rd District.

Speaking at an afternoon news conference at the Hall of Administration, Edelman said he had been weighing the decision for months.

“I had to ask myself, ‘Is this what I can make my greatest contribution doing?’ ” he said. “The final conclusion is that I’m 63--I hope I’m not an old 63--but if I served out my term I would be 68. And when you’re 68 it’s a different situation. It was the hardest decision I think I’ve ever had to make.”

Edelman also has found his traditional liberalism on the line lately as the county faces its bleakest financial situation ever. As chairman of the board for the last year, Edelman has had to preside over a retrenchment of county services of unprecedented proportions.

“That weighed on me. It’s painful,” he said. “I’m unwilling to subject myself to that kind of pain for the next four years. I’ve worked to build up programs, not to tear things down.”

The announcement came as a surprise to many political observers--particularly since he has collected more than $1 million for a reelection bid, including funds raised during the past six months. Even his campaign treasurer, Julius Glazer, said he was in the dark about Edelman’s decision until the news conference.

The supervisor’s planned retirement is likely to yield a rash of potential candidates eager to join one of the most powerful and influential local government bodies in the country.

The Board of Supervisors, with a $13-billion budget, is responsible for operation of courts, jails, public hospitals, the Sheriff’s Department and welfare programs.

Perhaps the most eager potential successor to Edelman is Los Angeles City Councilman Zev Yaroslavsky, who--even though he was on a city trip to South Korea--quickly announced that he is considering running for the post and will make a decision within the next week. Yaroslavsky’s chief deputy attended the Edelman news conference and handed out a news release in which the longtime councilman praised his colleague.

“Ed has served this city and county with dignity, integrity, commitment and devotion,” Yaroslavsky said. “He has been one of the shining lights on the public policy scene in this region for nearly three decades.”

Other potential candidates mentioned prominently are state Sen. David A. Roberti (D-Van Nuys), Assemblyman Richard Katz (D-Sylmar) and former Los Angeles City Councilman Mike Woo, who is now a college lecturer. All but Woo have said they are strongly interested in the seat.

During Edelman’s tenure, the board has shifted from a conservative to a liberal majority, but he observed that political differences mean little when the county has no money.

“There is a liberal majority but no money to be liberal with; now I have to be the conservative.”

Edelman is the first vice chairman of the powerful Metropolitan Transportation Authority and is scheduled to become chairman next July. Supervisor Yvonne Brathwaite Burke, Edelman’s liberal ally who next week is expected to succeed him as chair of the Board of Supervisors, noted that through his work on the MTA, Edelman still has an opportunity to be a influential player in regional politics.

His two most conservative colleagues, Supervisors Mike Antonovich and Deane Dana, said that under Edelman’s leadership the board had sought to transcend traditional ideological divisions.

Dana said: “The board will be losing a stabilizing and deliberative voice when Supervisor Edelman leaves office. Although we have not always been on the same side of every issue, I have always appreciated his reasoned approach in the search for solutions to the county’s problems.”

Indeed, Edelman will leave the board with a reputation as a conciliator, a man with a mild manner and the deliberate, cautious temperament of the lawyer that he is.

Former Supervisor Kenneth Hahn, with whom Edelman served for nearly 20 years, said: “I think Ed is one of the wisest and smartest supervisors in the history of the county. His judicial mind helped to settle many issues that were deadlocked on the board.”

Edelman won 75% of the vote in the June, 1990, primary election for a fourth term on the board. But he was not universally popular. His staunch support of conservation issues in particular had brought him scorn and opposition from some quarters.

“He’s not running again? Hallelujah!” said Phyllis Daugherty, a spokeswoman for owners of vacant property in Malibu Lake, a small community in Edelman’s district where development has been a contentious issue. “We need someone who isn’t a puppet for the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy.”

Those within the conservation movement said Edelman’s leadership will be sorely missed.

“He has been a great friend . . . and proponent of the preservation of open space, his most recent contribution being his authorship of Proposition A, which will benefit all of the residents of Los Angeles County,” said Joseph T. Edmiston, executive director of the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy.

Born Sept. 27, 1930, in West Los Angeles, Edelman graduated from the UCLA School of Law. He later was special assistant to the general counsel of the National Labor Relations Board. He served nine years on the Los Angeles City Council before defeating Councilman John Ferraro in a hard race for a vacant seat on the county board in 1974.

Among his major accomplishments was establishment of the first child dependency court in the nation especially designed to address the needs of children; the facility was named in Edelman’s honor. He also worked to establish the county’s first AIDS/HIV commission, create the department of consumer affairs and establish the Hollywood Bowl Museum. Edelman also was instrumental in the creation of the commission that prepared the Kolts report, which reviewed use-of-force policies in the Sheriff’s Department.

But there have been struggles as well. In addition to wrestling with budget issues, the board has been rocked in recent years by revelations about supervisors’ spending habits and perks such as bulletproof cars, gourmet catered lunches and lucrative pension benefits. Responding to pressure, the board successfully pushed for the resignation of Chief Administrative Officer Richard B. Dixon, who engineered the pension hikes. But the supervisors’ reputation for fiscal responsibility does not seem to have improved much. They were chastised by state officials during this year’s budget rounds, with state Assembly Speaker Willie Brown labeling them “scoundrels.”

Former Supervisor Pete Schabarum, who retired two years ago after 19 years in office, half-jokingly said Wednesday he would encourage four-termer Edelman to join him in seeking to establish term limits for supervisors. “I think he should take up the ball and put term limits on the ballot,” said Schabarum, author of the successful 1990 state term limits initiative. “I don’t know of anyone who should hang around more than two terms.”

Times staff writer Frederick M. Muir contributed to this report.

* EDELMAN’S IMPACT: His achievements were often overshadowed. His departure jumbles the political picture. B1