Former Rival Backs Gordana Swanson for County Supervisor

Long Beach Vice Mayor Doug Drummond, who ran a strong third in the hotly contested race for an open seat on the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, on Monday endorsed Gordana Swanson in the hope that together they can stop front-runner Donald Knabe from capturing the office in November.

Drummond said he had met with Swanson and Knabe in the weeks since the March primary and had decided to back Swanson because she is “independent of the entrenched bureaucracy and has the fortitude to make decisions on behalf of the public.”

The retired police commander said he concluded that Knabe, retiring Supervisor Deane Dana’s chief deputy for 14 years, would represent “more of the same” inside approach to running the nation’s largest county government.

He said he was particularly critical of Knabe’s role with Dana while the county “irresponsibly continued to overspend,” gave extravagant wage and pension increases and borrowed to pay its bills despite the worst fiscal crisis in its history.

Knabe, who could not be reached for comment, has consistently said he is not responsible for the supervisors’ decisions because he has never cast a vote on the board.

As he did during the campaign, Drummond criticized the county’s inability to open the new high-security Twin Towers jail in downtown Los Angeles for lack of operating funds and the early release of prisoners because the county’s fiscal crisis has limited jail space.

The key question for political observers is how much of the 19.3% of the vote that Drummond received will go to Swanson, who drew 26% in the primary.

Knabe captured 40.3% of the vote after raising more than $1.4 million and winning the backing of most county labor unions and special interests. Drummond said the contest is “a very, very important race” and pledged to do what he can to assist Swanson. But he said there is no way to predict how many of his voters will back the former Rolling Hills mayor.

He said voters have “an opportunity to send a message that we have to reorganize government and make it more responsive to the public.”

The battleground remains the sprawling 4th Supervisorial District, which runs from Marina del Rey along the coast to Long Beach before cutting a broad swath across the southern reaches of the county as far inland as Diamond Bar.