POLITICAL NOTEBOOK : Local Elections’ Final Days Marked by Friction, Flyers--Even Fights

Everybody wants the last word. Last week’s Long Beach mayoral election was no different, with candidates stuffing mailboxes all over town with last-minute appeals, using everything from photos of simulated carjackings to baby pictures to awkward acronyms in search of voter support.

Mayoral hopeful Ray Grabinski’s last campaign piece featured a black-and-white photograph of an apparent carjacking, depicting a thug in a ski mask holding his gun to a blond woman’s head.

Sound familiar? A nearly identical picture was used on controversial billboards around Los Angeles during recent labor disputes involving that city’s police. The message: Without police, crime would become rampant.

Grabinski’s brochure urged voters to cast their lot with him, then offered 10 tips to avoid a carjacking. The piece seemed to feed on residents’ fear of violence and referred to “our city’s tragic epidemic of crime.”

“We did get a couple of complaints about that one,” Grabinski said. But the only complaint he could remember specifically was from a photographer who pointed out that the gunman’s finger wasn’t on the trigger.

Grabinski, a city councilman, made the runoff for the June election, trailing top vote-getter Beverly O’Neill by 1,251 votes. Her last flyer was entirely different, featuring photographs of her childhood in Long Beach and a personal history--including the story of first date with husband, Bill--in a glossy eight-page brochure.

Mayor Ernie Kell, who finished a distant fifth, spent weeks defending himself against challengers’ contentions that he was out of touch in a changing city. Then he sent out a four-color glossy newspaper called “Long Beach Today.” The feature headline: “Kell Honors WASP Pilots.” Voters had to search the smaller print under the photo to discover that Kell was referring to Women’s Air Force Service Pilots rather than white Anglo-Saxon Protestants.

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MEAN STREETS: Politicians in Bellflower regularly promise to clean up crime and gang activity. But in the hours before the polls opened last week, politicians themselves were causing a ruckus.

Just before midnight April 11, three council candidates were squaring off on city streets in what seemed like the prelude to a rumble. Hours later, another candidate and a worker from another political camp were trading insults and missiles from moving cars.

In the first incident, City Council candidate Joseph Cvetko, 67, was cruising the streets about 11 p.m., looking for last-minute political hit pieces that he heard were being distributed. On Faywood Street, a red truck pulled up behind Cvetko, according to a report filed with sheriff’s deputies. The group of men who leaped from the truck and surrounded Cvetko under the street lights included fellow City Council candidates Ray T. Smith and Randy Bomgaars, and Ron Schnablegger, stepson of Councilman Ken Cleveland.

Bomgaars walked up and put his chest against Cvetko’s, Cvetko told deputies. Cvetko accused Bomgaars of distributing the hit pieces. Bomgaars began swearing. Cvetko shoved Bomgaars away. Bomgaars was restrained by his buddies, and Cvetko swore out a complaint alleging Bomgaars had assaulted him.

Bomgaars offered a similar version of the confrontation, emphasizing that the only shoving was done by Cvetko.

About three hours later, council candidate Art Olivier was driving his van south on Woodruff Avenue when Jason Marquez, 21, stepson of Schnablegger, pulled alongside. Marquez said he hurled a bottle at Olivier’s van. Olivier threw a claw hammer at Marquez’s car, according to police reports. Then they drove to the sheriff’s station and swore out complaints against each other. According to Marquez, the dispute actually started hours earlier, when Olivier was distributing last-minute campaign flyers.

Marquez says he noticed Olivier that afternoon riding a bicycle on lawns and dropping papers. When Marquez attempted to intervene, he said, an irate Olivier threw a traffic cone on Marquez’s car and kicked him. Olivier was unavailable for comment.

Smith, Bomgaars and Olivier were elected to the council. The complaints have been turned over to county prosecutors.

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BOLD STRATEGY: In Signal Hill, some of the most heated debate centered not on words or messages, but the way they were printed.

When incumbent Mayor Carol Churchill’s statement for the sample ballot rolled off the presses, several sentences and words were in bold type or underlined, even though election rules dictate all statements must be in uniform type.

Gordon L. Forester Jr., a supporter of rival candidate Tina Hansen, one of the eventual winners, complained to city officials. Churchill was found to be in violation of Elections Code Section 10012, according to a report by City Atty. David J. Aleshire. But when some suggested changing the ballot statements, Churchill threatened to sue the city.

Because the complaint was filed in late March, it was too late to make a change without interfering with the elections, Aleshire said. Churchill’s bold statement was allowed to stand, but it apparently didn’t help sway voters. She lost her bid for reelection, finishing third behind incumbent Gerard Goedhart and challenger Hansen in the race for two seats.

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FINAL COUNT: A final tally of votes in the Santa Fe Springs City Council race last week boosted newcomer George Minnehan over incumbent Councilman Ronald S. Kernes as the top vote-getter. The new count didn’t change the fact that both men made it to the council.

City Clerk Judy Chavez had postponed counting 81 ballots that were questioned on election night until after signatures were checked against voter registration lists. After careful scrutiny Wednesday morning, workers decided to toss out 10 ballots, Chavez said.

A final count showed Minnehan receiving 1,109 votes to Kernes’ 1,092. Incumbent Councilman Al Fuentes lost his council seat, receiving 1,064 votes and finishing third in the race for two seats. There was no change in the order of other candidates who ran. Former Santa Fe Springs City Clerk Hazel Fields received 947 votes; Hilda Zamora received 614 votes, and James Hogan Jr. received 530 votes.

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Community correspondents John Pope and Psyche Pascual contributed to this report.