Supervisorial Candidates Square Off at Valley Forum : Election: Four contenders for 3rd District seat meet in Woodland Hills. Rivals focus on county reforms.

Los Angeles County Board of Supervisor candidates squared off for the first time face-to-face Thursday night, with ex-firefighter Capt. Don Wallace trying to portray the front-runner, Los Angeles City Councilman Zev Yaroslavsky, as a “career politician” who lacks the will power to reform county government.

Yaroslavsky, a veteran lawmaker who has raised nearly $1 million for the race, brushed aside Wallace’s mild-mannered attacks and claimed he would use his experience at City Hall to bring fiscal responsibility to county government.

“County government has run amok,” Yaroslavsky, who has been the City Council’s budget expert for the past decade, told 50 people at a candidate’s forum Thursday night.

The forum, attended by all four candidates for the 3rd District seat that retiring Supervisor Ed Edelman is leaving on Dec. 5, was sponsored by the Woodland Hills Homeowners Organization.

In his presentation, Yaroslavsky cited recent county scandals involving secret pension deals and costly office remodeling as examples of excesses that would not escape his trained eye.

Also joining the fray were candidates Michael S. Hirsch, an environmental consultant from Van Nuys, and Elgin M. Trammell Sr., a Lake View Terrace resident.

But it was the tension between Yaroslavsky and Wallace, who resigned his job as a top aide to Edelman to run, that dominated the evening’s forensics. Wallace, who lives in Calabasas, claimed that he, not Yaroslavsky, was best equipped to shake up county government.

Wallace, who has raised less than $20,000 for his campaign, said he was independent enough of special interest influence and money to bring about much-needed reforms. Wallace said he backed campaign finance reforms to curb the influence of political contributors to the supervisors and term limits for the county’s elected officials.

But Yaroslavsky, who lives in the Fairfax district and has represented a predominantly Westside council district since 1975, has also insisted that he has the guts and tenacity to reform county government.

When he announced his candidacy on Dec. 8, Yaroslavsky said: “I am running because county government needs shaking up, and I intend to shake it up.”

Yaroslavsky also backs campaign finance reform, but told the audience he opposes term limits. After Wallace pointedly noted that Yaroslavsky had served nearly decades as a City Council member, Yaroslavsky said such longevity in office should not necessarily be seen as a negative.

“Judge us by our performance,” the city councilman said.

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The 3rd District includes most of the San Fernando Valley, Malibu, the Conejo Valley and the Westside, including Westwood, Brentwood and the Pacific Palisades. The contest has been a frustrating one for Wallace, who has been unable to raise money and has found Yaroslavsky to be an unwilling debating companion.

“He’s ducking us,” Wallace has said.

Meanwhile, in addition to raising huge amounts of money, Yaroslavsky has secured a slew of endorsements, including ones from U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Mayor Richard Riordan, his council colleagues and from the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO, the Los Angeles County Firefighters Assn. and the Democratic Party.