Councilman Enters the Race for Mayor

Longtime City Councilman Frank Fry Jr. this week became the first candidate to submit the necessary paperwork to run for mayor in November.

Councilwoman Charmayne S. Bohman also has declared her intention to seek the mayor’s seat, which is being vacated by Charles V. Smith.

Smith, who was first elected to the council in 1984, is now in a runoff campaign for a county supervisor seat and cannot run again for city mayor. He has endorsed Bohman for the job.

Fry, 71, is a retired retail manager who was first elected to the council in January 1966 and is serving his seventh term.

Bohman, 58, a psychologist and professor and Cal State Dominguez Hills, is serving a four-year term that began in November 1992.

Both of the candidates’ current council seats will be vacant in November. No candidates have filed statements with the city yet, but several people, including Planning Commissioner Jo Porter and former Councilwoman Joy L. Neugebauer, have taken out papers, City Clerk Mary Lou Morey said.

The winners of the Nov. 5 election will be asked to decide on at least two issues that could have a major effect on the city’s future: whether to sell the municipal water system and whether to establish a city charter.

City manager Bill Smith has said that the city might have to contract out the system to pay for millions of dollars in repairs, rather than raise customer’s water rates significantly.

Fry said he is strongly against the idea of selling or leasing the water system, and Bohman has not declared a position yet.

“Let’s not sell the city’s assets,” Fry said.

Bohman’s campaign theme is “Stay the Course,” referring to the fiscal decisions that have given the city’s budget a slight surplus for the first time this decade.