ELECTIONS / L.A. COUNCIL 5TH DISTRICT : Feuer Makes Issue of Rival’s Family Ties

In the first face-to-face debate of their runoff campaign, 5th District City Council candidate Mike Feuer said Thursday that if his opponent, Barbara Yaroslavsky, is elected, she would face a potential conflict of interest in dealing with her husband, a county supervisor.

“It’s going to happen a lot” because the city and county governments often sue each other over allocation of state funds, said Feuer, the former head of a free legal-services clinic.

Yaroslavsky, an activist seeking the council seat her husband, Zev, held for 19 years before being elected to the county board, rejected the claim, saying the two governments generally operate separately.

“There is definitely a separation of powers here,” she said.

Feuer and Yaroslavsky were the top two vote-getters in the April 11 primary for the seat, which represents parts of Van Nuys, Studio City, Sherman Oaks and the Westside. Feuer drew 39% of the vote, compared to 26% for Yaroslavsky. The runoff election is scheduled for June 6.

They launched their runoff campaign at a forum attended by about 40 residents at Canfield Heights Elementary School in the Westside’s Beverlywood area.

The exchange over potential conflict of interest--generated by a question from the audience--provided the only fireworks in an otherwise sedate debate.

For most of the one-hour event, the candidates related their visions for improving police protection and reducing congestion and noise around Santa Monica Airport.

Feuer spoke of his desire to open police substations staffed by reserve officers. Yaroslavsky proposed expanding foot and bicycle patrols and starting new Neighborhood Watch programs throughout the district.

They agreed that public safety is the most important issue in the campaign while continuing to voice their recurring campaign themes.

Feuer, 36, portrayed himself as representing “a new generation of leadership” who will bring new thinking to City Hall.

“This is a city that hungers for that leadership,” he said.

Yaroslavsky, 47, who shied away from questions about her husband’s past political decisions, repeatedly vowed to re-create the tightknit community feeling that she said prevailed decades ago.

“I want L. A. to be what it’s supposed to be,” she said. “I want it to be the way it was when I was growing up here 30 years ago.”

The event marked the first face-to-face debate of the runoff campaign for Feuer and Yaroslavsky. Toward the end of the primary race, Feuer tried to make an issue of the dozen or so candidate debates Yaroslavsky missed, accusing her of depriving voters of the opportunity to question her on vital city issues.

For weeks, Yaroslavsky was put on the defensive by such charges. She responded by noting that she participated in 16 forums during the primary and insisting that she is not afraid to tackle tough voter questions.

After her second-place showing, she dropped her Sacramento-based campaign consultant Paul Kinney and hired Rick Taylor, a veteran local strategist who said he would shift the campaign to issues of public safety and government efficiency--away from discussions about how many debates Yaroslavsky had skipped.

Nonetheless, Yaroslavsky’s camp issued a news release on Wednesday announcing her intentions to attend 21 public forums and gatherings--including 12 “community coffees”--during the runoff.

“I hope that by outlining my campaign schedule today, the subject will be resolved and my opponent will begin addressing the issues of real importance,” she said in the statement.

Yaroslavsky’s tally in the primary surprised some political pundits who had anointed her the early front-runner by virtue of the strong name recognition she gained from her husband, endorsements from such political heavyweights as Mayor Richard Riordan and Supervisor Gloria Molina, and a fund-raising lead of more than $100,000.

As of April 11, Yaroslavsky had outpaced all other candidates in fund raising, drawing more than $412,000, compared to Feuer’s $308,000, which included $100,000 in city matching funds. Yaroslavsky has declined to accept city funds for her campaign.