It Looked Iffy at First, but Charter Reform Did Get Some Respect

For a while there, it appeared that Proposition 8, the measure to create an elected panel to rewrite the 72-year-old Los Angeles City Charter, was the Rodney Dangerfield of ballot initiatives.

A week before the election, a Times Poll showed that 76% of the city’s voters had never heard or read about the measure. That was despite a nearly $2-million campaign and strong support and financial backing from Mayor Richard Riordan, who proved himself a dominant political figure in the city by trouncing his top challenger, Tom Hayden, in his reelection bid.

Riordan’s victory party was held at the Crystal Room of the posh Biltmore Hotel downtown. Inside, big-screen televisions showed instant voter returns directly from the city clerk’s Elections Division.

Upbeat music thumped from huge speakers. Four no-host bars plied giddy Riordan supporters with booze. A huge, circular table held a lavish spread of cheese, chips, bread, fruit and other goodies. But the scene was a lot different across the hall, where Proposition 8 supporters reserved the Roman Room for their victory party. Although early results indicated that the proposition was ahead, the room was like a mausoleum--empty except for a lone bartender cleaning glasses in one corner and three campaign workers sitting around a small table quietly talking.

A 24-inch TV blinked in the corner. It was not set up to receive election results, so someone tuned in the Lakers game.

Despite the lack of attention, in the end the measure received strong voter support. Rodney would be proud.

Election Spillover The snail’s pace at which election officials released voting returns didn’t escape notice Tuesday night. While some candidates and their supporters grew anxious and frustrated, others were able to derive at least a little amusement during the wait, including those at City Council candidate Georgia Mercer’s headquarters in Encino.

“At this rate the returns will be in by the time she’s term-limited,” joked Samantha Stevens, Mercer’s campaign manager.

Mercer’s perfectionist leanings were in evidence election night. When new returns were posted showing her closing in on opponent Cindy Miscikowski, Mercer’s excited husband, David, accidentally knocked over a can of soda as he shouted to supporters: “Every one of those votes that you guys got are starting to show up.”

The spilled soda, however, appeared to have made a stronger impression on the candidate Mercer than the favorable returns. “The carpet, you’re ruining the carpet,” Mercer admonished her husband.

The two will compete in a runoff election in June.

Skeptic Doused When supporters of Proposition 8--the measure to create a citizens reform panel--gathered on the steps of City Hall to celebrate their election victory, they also got to witness the discomfiture of an old foe.

Campaign workers, winning candidates and other hopefuls who will face off in the June runoffs for seats on the 15-member panel gathered around a podium to discuss their ideas for charter reform.

While they milled about, Councilman Nate Holden, one of the harshest critics of the reform measure, wandered out of City Hall to check out the happenings.

Campaign spokesman Phill Wilson was just about to praise voters for supporting the measure when a loud hissing was heard.

Not rude critics, but the sound of the City Hall sprinklers coming on to water the grass adjoining the steps.

Holden, a former boxer, quickly danced off the grass but not fast enough to avoid getting his pants doused. “Oh, what a tragedy,” said a woman standing next to him. “And those are wool pants, too.”

She did not sound completely sincere.

Fewer Elections, More Voters? Lamenting Tuesday’s pitiful voter turnout for Los Angeles’ municipal elections, Councilman Joel Wachs planned to introduce a motion today urging that the city charter be amended to consolidate city elections with those for county, state and federal offices.

That might increase local participation and cut costs for the city, he figures.

This week, a mere 24% of registered voters cast ballots to elect, among other things, the mayor of the nation’s second-largest city.

In 1995, with no mayoral election, the city’s primaries attracted 17% of registered voters and the general election fared worse, with 14%, according to Wachs. “It’s really a tragedy that so few people have been voting,” he said.

“Anything we can do to increase participation I think would be great for the city.”

More citizens would turn out for local elections if they were also voting for other offices--from county supervisors to state legislators to president, Wachs said. During last year’s presidential election, 53% of the city’s electorate went to the polls.

Berry, Berry Peeved You can call it the Great Strawberry Caper or you can call it an insufficient “information flow.” But whatever you call it, the County Board of Supervisors was trying to get back on the ball this week.

The victims: their underlings in the Department of Health Services.

The result: classic county governance.

After 9,000 of the county’s schoolchildren and employees were threatened by hepatitis A when they mistakenly ate cafeteria food (frozen strawberries in this case), the county’s public health officials got to work on the problem, but no one told the supervisors.

So, after publicly excoriating Health Services Director Mark Finucane last week, the board’s bloodletting continued at an otherwise ho-hum meeting Tuesday.

Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky seemed particularly miffed because he found out about the possibly tainted fruit only a few hours before the Los Angeles Unified School District was to hold a news conference on the issue.

Still more embarrassing, the person to inform Zev was none other than Mayor Richard Riordan--a city official.

The supervisor was, as usual, eminently quotable: “I am outraged at the way this situation was handled,” he fairly roared at his frightened subordinates.

In the end, the board passed a Yaroslavsky motion to--get ready--”convene an internal working group to analyze the information flow within the Department of Health Services and develop an action plan that ensures that the Department’s top managers and members of the Board of Supervisors are kept fully informed. . . . “

Sure, that should do it.