SAN FERNANDO : Chamber to Hold 2 Candidates Forums

In what is considered the official kickoff of the election season, the San Fernando Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday will hold two forums for City Council candidates.

All eight contenders for three at-large seats in the April 12 election will outline their platforms and answer questions during a noontime forum at the Odyssey Restaurant in Granada Hills. Reservations are required.

The candidates also will appear from 7 to 9 p.m. in the San Fernando City Council Chambers to make statements and answer questions from the chamber and residents.

Questions at the evening forum will be screened by a panel of the San Fernando Chamber of Commerce, according to chamber Vice President Bruce Cohen.

“They’re only screened for redundancy and unnecessary attacks on character,” Cohen said. “But some tough questions do get asked.”

Incumbents include Mayor Dan Acuna, 53, a realtor seeking his third consecutive term; Doude Wysbeek, 54, owner of an electric shop, seeking a third term, and Dr. Jose Hernandez, 63, an urban studies professor at Cal State Northridge seeking his second consecutive term.

They are being challenged by Edward Guzman, 37, a state employment counselor and member of the city’s Transportation and Safety Commission; John Becker, 41, a service representative of the Automobile Club of Southern California and a Transportation and Safety Commission member; Joanne Baltierrez, 36, a program associate for the Coro Southern California nonprofit educational foundation; Arthur Kay, 53, a workers’ compensation attorney, and Raul Godinez, 31, an engineer.

All of the candidates have filed brief statements and qualification forms with the city clerk.

The most serious issue to emerge in the campaign has been the City Council’s response to the earthquake-related rupture of an oil pipeline that runs through San Fernando.

As members of the Transportation and Safety Commission, Becker and Guzman have pressed the council to move part of the pipe that runs beneath the schoolyard of O’Melveny Elementary School and investigate why the crude oil that spilled just outside the city boundaries and beside the school erupted in flames. Baltierrez also has rallied residents and pressed the issue with the council.

Acuna, Wysbeek and Hernandez have noted the council’s refusal to grant another franchise agreement to the pipeline owner, based on safety concerns. The franchise expired in 1989, although the Four Corners Pipeline Co. continued to pump oil during negotiations.