More Than 50 Elections to Be Decided Tuesday : Politics: Main themes of campaigns throughout the county are crime and budget crises. Roberti faces recall vote.

Local elections across Los Angeles County on Tuesday have attracted scores of candidates, including 13 Long Beach hopefuls running for an office long on prestige but lacking in power.

The mayor of Long Beach plays only a small role in crafting the city’s budget, has no vote on the City Council and possesses limited veto authority. “In terms of formal powers, I know of no other major city in the country in which the mayor is weaker,” said Paul Schmidt, a political science professor at Cal State Long Beach. “About all the mayor does is take charge of chairing the (council) meetings and seeing that the proper decorum is maintained.”

Still, the job pays more than $80,000 a year. And the reelection bid by 65-year-old Ernie Kell, who has been mayor for six years, is viewed by many as a key contest in the city’s history. While Kell touts his behind-the-scenes approach to issues, several of his challengers argue fresh blood is needed to help Long Beach cope with sweeping economic and social changes.

Elsewhere on Tuesday, the one race attracting national interest takes place in the San Fernando Valley, where state Sen. David A. Roberti (D-Van Nuys) faces a bitter recall election. Roberti has been targeted by a coalition of firearms advocates angered by legislation he authored that banned military-style assault weapons in California. Roberti has branded his foes single-issue gun fanatics, and the race will be watched as a gauge of the power of gun control opponents.

The recall is, in part, a symbolic gesture because, even if the effort fails, Roberti will leave his Senate seat at year’s end because of the state’s new term-limits law. Roberti initially planned to retire from public life. But declaring that he would not be forced out of politics, he decided to run for state treasurer.

In Norwalk, meanwhile, a former city department head who was fired last year after being accused of sexual harassment is running for City Council. Carson voters will directly elect their mayor for the first time in an election marred by accusations of racism. And West Hollywood may see its first gay council majority in nearly a decade.

All told, more than 50 local elections are on tap Tuesday. In dozens of them, two themes predominate: crime and looming budget crises. From the posh boulevards of Beverly Hills to the ethnic enclaves of Rosemead, candidates are calling for more police and less government red tape. The “tough-on-crime, business-friendly” rhetoric comes at a time when cities, pinched by the state, are cutting budgets and looking for ways to attract investment.

Political clout is also an issue in many cities, with minorities hoping to gain more power at city halls. Monterey Park voters could make history by electing the first city council in California with an Asian American majority. And the San Marino, Arcadia and Rosemead city councils may get their first minority members--each an Asian American.

Dolly Leong, a council candidate in Rosemead, said: “The Asian community is a third of this city, and it’s about time we had a voice.”

Latinos also stand to gain from the elections. South Gate, where 83% of residents are Latino, could get its first Latino council majority since its founding 71 years ago. The tiny city of San Fernando, with nearly an equal percentage of Latino residents, could gain its first all-Latino council. Challengers in two Long Beach City Council races also are making strong bids to become the first Latinos on the nine-member body.

Still, most attention in Long Beach is focused on the mayor’s race. Whoever wins it and occupies the mayor’s 14th-floor office at City Hall will take the helm of a city in flux. Long Beach once was home to giant defense contractors, a thriving naval station and a population whose homogeneous roots gave rise to the city’s nickname of “Iowa-by-the-sea.” But military cutbacks have thrown the economy into a tailspin at a time when immigration has created growing Latino and Asian enclaves.

As a result, much of the campaign rhetoric has concerned the need to create jobs, unite disparate neighborhoods and promote an international image for the city.

Among incumbent Kell’s well-financed foes--those who have raised more than $100,000--are City Council members Ray Grabinski and Jeffrey A. Kellogg, former Long Beach City College President Beverly O’Neill, Redevelopment Board member Don Westerland and Belmont Shore businessman Frank Colonna. The eclectic field also includes an avowed Marxist, a Santa Claus look-alike and a 20-year-old college student.

With so many candidates, no one is expected to win the primary by gaining more than 50% of the vote. If that does happen, the two top vote-getters will meet in a June 7 runoff. And with Kell coming under attack from virtually every challenger, his fate remains in doubt.

“The conventional wisdom is that Ernie Kell will be a shoo-in for one of those two top slots, but he certainly doesn’t have a lock on it,” said Jeff Adler, a veteran Long Beach political consultant.

Here is a look other notable elections on Tuesday:

* In Norwalk, a former department head who was dismissed last year after being accused of sexual harassment is running for City Council. Jesse M. Luera, former director of the city’s Social Services Center and currently president of the Norwalk-La Mirada Unified school board, has denied allegations that he sexually harassed two female employees who worked for him. Both women have lawsuits pending against Luera and the city. A third employee has filed a lawsuit alleging that Luera raped her when she worked in his department in 1992, a claim Luera denies. No criminal charges have been filed. Luera was dismissed last year by City Manager Richard Powers.

* The mayor’s race in Carson has been filled with accusations of racial politics, punctuated by a break-in at one of the candidate’s campaign headquarters. Michael I. Mitoma, currently the city’s appointed mayor, has accused the community’s influential grass-roots organization United Voice of endorsing an all-black slate of candidates mainly because of their race.

The ethnically mixed city was left with no black council members for the first time in its 25-year history when Juanita M. McDonald was elected to the state Assembly in 1992. United Voice and Mitoma’s challenger, James Peoples, denied the group’s endorsement was based on race.

Peoples also noted that Mitoma, a Japanese American, was endorsed by the Pilipino-American Alliance. Peoples charged that a recent burglary at his election offices was politically motivated. Mitoma said he knows “absolutely nothing about the break-in.”

* West Hollywood, whose population is about one-third gay and lesbian, could get its first gay council majority since 1986 with a sweep of the three available seats.

Incumbent John Heilman, who is seeking reelection, currently is the only openly gay member on the five-member council. Nine of the 10 candidates are openly gay. But the one heterosexual in the race, incumbent Sal Guarriello, was the city’s top vote-getter in the 1990 council races.