Appointment Backers Get Reprieve : Council: Group pushing for interim Yaroslavsky replacement gets more time.

A citizens coalition Tuesday won an additional week to muster support for its plan to temporarily fill the Los Angeles City Council seat left vacant by the departure this week of Zev Yaroslavsky to the County Board of Supervisors.

The reprieve came as council President John Ferraro persuaded his colleagues to delay for a week a decision to hold a special April election to permanently fill Yaroslavsky’s seat for the two years left in the unfinished term.

If the council is to appoint an interim representative, it must under city bylaws make the appointment before it votes to hold the special election.

By delaying the decision, the council left open the possibility of appointing a replacement for six months, an option backed by a coalition of homeowners and business leaders in the San Fernando Valley and on the Westside.

“That’s great,” said Alan Kishbaugh, president of the Federation of Hillside and Canyon Assns. and a member of the coalition that has pressed for the appointment. “We need some time to get people used to the idea.”

The latest name to surface as a candidate for the temporary position is Michael A. Jimenez, a public relations consultant and Yaroslavsky’s former legislative aide who resigned in 1992.

In an interview Tuesday, Jimenez said he is interested in the post and even moved last weekend from Santa Monica to Bel-Air, which is in the district, so he would be eligible for the seat if he is appointed.

Yaroslavsky refused to say whether he endorses Jimenez as his replacement but said “he would be very good at this job and what’s most significant to me is that the community wants him.”

Former Supervisor Ed Edelman, who retired last week and was replaced by Yaroslavsky, threw another name into the running by endorsing his former chief deputy Bob Geoghegan.

Yaroslavsky said Geoghegan “would also do a good job but the community is the one that is pushing for Mike.”

Tuesday’s developments were the latest chapter in a long and contentious debate over whether to appoint an interim replacement or leave the post vacant and allow Ronald Deaton, the city’s chief legislative analyst, to watch over the day-to-day operations of the district until the special elections.

Supporters of an interim replacement say the quake-battered district that stretches from Sherman Oaks to Westwood needs a voting representative to ensure that the area is not neglected during the recovery.

But some council members opposed the idea, saying the district would be better off in the hands of an experienced city administrator.

The last time the council filled a seat by appointment was in 1966. Since then, the council has left at least a half-dozen vacancies unfilled.

“I cannot understand how you can justify doing it in one district when it wasn’t done in others,” Councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas said. “There is no district that is any more important than any other, and I am uncomfortable with the appearance of a double standard.”

Councilman Joel Wachs, who represents portions of the East Valley, where residents have expressed concern over the vacancy, agreed.

“I think the district will be well taken care of, and I’ll certainly do my part to look after them,” he said. “I just don’t think you can make exceptions. I don’t see any need to do this.”

But another Valley representative, Councilwoman Laura Chick, said she thought it was “criminal” that other seats were left vacant in the past and said she supports a temporary replacement.

“I would feel this way even if there hadn’t been an earthquake,” she said. “This is not a Valley issue, this is a good government issue.”

Wendy Brogin, who heads a coalition of residents and business leaders supporting the appointment, said the group is not promoting candidates for the post but is lobbying the council to make an appointment.

She confirmed that the two top contenders for the post are Jimenez and Geoghegan and added that her group “generally feels comfortable with the names that are out there.”

Meanwhile, Ferraro also moved Tuesday to name Councilman Richard Alatorre to head the council’s Budget and Finance Committee, an influential post held by Yaroslavsky since the early 1980s.

Ferraro also named himself and Councilwoman Ruth Galanter to the panel.

Also, Ferraro announced formation of a special five-member ad hoc city budget committee to keep this year’s budget in balance and craft a new budget for the 1995-96 fiscal year. The panel will consist of the regular budget committee members and Councilwomen Jackie Goldberg and Rita Walters.

Also contributing to this story were Times staff writers Jean Merl and John Schwada.

* SUPERVISORS ON TV

Yaroslavsky joins in approving televised sessions. B11