POLITICS : 11 Run for West Hollywood Council

This much we know: There will be at least one new face on the West Hollywood City Council this spring.

Three seats are up for grabs on April 12 and only two incumbents are running, guaranteeing that at least one of the nine challengers--all of them gay men--will win. That means the city, whose large homosexual population often steers clear of local politics, could end up with its first gay council majority since 1986.

Attorney John Heilman, the only gay member of the five-person council, is seeking reelection, along with councilman Sal Guarriello, the only heterosexual and only senior citizen in the field of 11. Councilwoman Babette Lang decided not to run for a second four-year term.

Heilman, a member since cityhood in 1984, is a key architect and in many ways the embodiment of West Hollywood’s liberal ethos, which revolves around rent control and broad social programs for senior citizens and people with AIDS. Heilman has won strong support from the Coalition for Economic Survival, the renters rights group that tends to dominate city elections.

Guarriello, a blunt-talking retiree elected in 1990, is known for his lone-wolf battles with City Hall administrators and the Heilman-led council majority. He scraped together enough votes to kill a proposed utility tax and derail a business levy last year.

Two attorneys who are well known around City Hall are widely seen as the strongest challengers: Steve Martin, a member of the city’s rent board who narrowly lost a council bid in 1990, and Jeff Richmond, chairman of the city’s Planning Commission who is running a joint campaign with Heilman.

Other candidates are running as outsiders. Business activist Michael W. Radcliffe, a retired store owner who often butts heads with City Hall, recently moved into the city from just across the border in Los Angeles in order to run. Timothy P. Olson, the development director for an AIDS group, is also leading a renewed ballot effort to create an independent city police department. The measure failed at the polls in 1992.

The other candidates are: Christopher Patrouch, a former city transportation staffer who co-founded West Hollywood’s Institute for Gay and Lesbian Education; Steven S. Chapman, an investor and writer; Burton Cutler, a transportation consultant; Christopher S. Dietrich, a legal clerk and writer, and Daniel J. Kovatch, an insurance sales supervisor.

In a city that is famous for its quirky politics, the issues mentioned most often are remarkably down to earth: crime, parking and city spending.

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Although officials say crime has dropped slightly in the last three years, challengers say it has reached a frightening level, particularly on the east end of the city. Several said the city needs to spend more than the $8.5 million called for in its contract with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department to put more police on the street.

“You’re really talking about people who are afraid,” said Martin, a leader of the successful effort to maintain the Sheriff’s Department patrols instead of setting up a city police department. Olson hopes to recapture votes by the police department supporters for his council bid. Initiative backers plan to put the measure to another vote by fall.

Most leading candidates are cool to the idea of a city police force, saying it would cost too much. The city has ordered a study to compare costs of a city department and the Sheriff’s Department contract.

Richmond described himself as “a stay-the-course candidate” who nevertheless will seek more attention for his often-overlooked east-end neighborhood. A residents group has banded together to demand more patrols against street hustlers and drug dealers.

Radcliffe, who heads the West Hollywood Community Alliance, accused the city of being hostile toward business. Patrouch, a storekeeper, urged finding ways to reduce traffic instead of creating parking places, saying that streets are already clogged.

Dietrich and Cutler labeled crime and gay-bashing as their top concerns, while Kovatch said he worried too many gay-owned businesses are leaving town. Chapman could not be reached by telephone.

The Candidates

NAME AGE OCCUPATION Michael W. Radcliffe 50 Retired Sal Guarriello (i) 74 Retired Steven S. Chapman 40 Investor/Writer Steve Martin 39 Attorney Christopher Patrouch 32 Shopkeeper/Planner John Heilman (i) 36 Attorney Christopher S. Dietrich 39 Writer/Administrative clerk Jeff Richmond 32 Attorney Timothy P. Olson 33 Financial development director Daniel J. Kovatch 29 Insurance sales supervisor Burton Cutler 45 Transportation consultant

i=Incumbent