Municipal Elections on Tap for Tuesday

Voters across Los Angeles County will shuffle to the polls once more this week to cast ballots for a slew of municipal posts and local measures in elections in more than a dozen cities from the South Bay to the San Fernando Valley.

Tuesday’s election, which comes on the heels of a statewide primary marred by what some state officials viewed as an alarmingly low turnout, features a handful of down-to-the-wire local contests, and is sprinkled with noteworthy political names.

In Long Beach, where office-seekers are vying for seats on the City Council and the community college governing panel, energy executive H. Delano Roosevelt, the grandson of former President Franklin D. Roosevelt, is making his first foray into elective politics in a bid for the council.

Since the campaign season began, four other candidates have stepped into the field to take him on: attorney Dennis Carroll, businesswoman and Cambodian community activist Sandy Blankenship, retired contractor Mike Horrigan and business consultant Craig Koehler. Two other council races, both of which pit the incumbent against a single challenger, will also be on the ballot.

In Santa Clarita, where the dozen office-seekers scrabbling over two City Council seats have taken the same stances against a proposed landfill and traffic congestion, some officials fear voters may be confused about having another election so soon after the state primary.

Among other candidates, former Mayor Jill Klajic, defeated in 1994, will attempt to return to the City Council.

Whittier voters will choose from 10 registered candidates and one write-in, all jockeying for three slots on the City Council. Mayor Michael E. Sullens and council members Janet R. Henke and Allan Zolnekoff will attempt to fend off challenges from more than a half-dozen aspirants, including a retired police officer and a homemaker. The three top vote-getters will take office.

In Malibu, a number of municipal officials are hoping to advance to the City Council. City Planning Commissioner Barbara A. Cameron and school board member Mary Kay Kamath are seeking seats, while council members Joan House and Carolyn Van Horn will attempt to win additional terms in office. Walt Keller, a retired engineer, Paula Login, an entrepreneur, and Harold Greene, an attorney, also are jostling for position in that race.

A number of cities also will distribute ballots seeking a voter thumbs-up or thumbs-down to a host of measures and propositions, which affect such policies as utility taxes, recycling plans and whether some municipal offices should be appointed posts.

In Arcadia, for example, one proposition before voters next week would change the elected post of city clerk to an appointed position. If the measure passes, the City Council would revise the written job qualifications and duties and tap someone to fill the job. Another proposition on Arcadia’s ballot would make the public library comparable to other city departments by making the librarian subject to appointment or removal by the city manager.

And in Culver City, voters will cast ballots on a measure that would change city policy to require a unanimous decision by all five council members to remove from office various department heads, such as the fire chief.

Other cities with local balloting on Tuesday include Avalon, Bradbury, El Segundo, Lancaster, Lawndale, Sierra Madre and Vernon.