‘Anyone But Zev’ Campaign Kicks Into High Gear--Well, Sort Of

OK, so you’ve decided to take on one of the longest-lasting and well-connected politicians in Southern California. Only you have no money and no name recognition and, well, you’re not getting any press.

What to do?

The three candidates who oppose county Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky in the race to represent a district that stretches from the Pacific Palisades to the San Fernando Valley find themselves in just such a pickle.

Shane McLoud, a 30-year-old schoolteacher who once worked for former Supervisor Deane Dana; Peace and Freedom Party activist Casey Peters and Republican C.J. McDonald have received virtually no publicity since joining the race last month.

So the three--who describe themselves as the “ABZ” (Anyone But Zev) candidates--have decided to join forces.

They’ve held a joint news conference, set up joint meet-and-greet events and plan to walk precincts together. They’re even planning a joint fund-raiser, although they’re apparently having trouble pinning down a location.

“We’re hoping to get the word out that this is a real race and there are four visions of Los Angeles County to choose from,” McLoud said. “You have the status quo, and you have three new visions.”

If you don’t like Zev, the three are saying, pick one of us. Any one of us.

“On our own, there is no possible way for us to beat his money--for us to inform the 2 million residents of the 3rd District that there’s someone else running with good ideas,” McLoud said.

So is it working?

“No luck so far,” McLoud conceded, still dejected from a news conference last week, which was attended by just three news organizations. “It’s kind of frustrating.”

Power Play

Probably the truest way to test the real power of elected officials is not to look at the great ordinances they pass or--as in the case of the L.A. County Board of Supervisors--the number of important-sounding studies they commission, but rather to see how well they succeed at moving a powerful, entrenched bureaucracy.

It has been 20 years since tons of rocks tumbled down a hillside onto state Route 39, San Gabriel Canyon Road, blocking it all the way to Route 2, Angeles Crest Highway.

The California Department of Transportation has done, well, nothing about this other than keep the road closed. So this week the Board of Supervisors decided to push the issue.

They sent a letter to Caltrans demanding that the road be cleared and reopened.

“This vital link has been closed as a result of a massive rockslide for the past 20 years,” said Supervisor Mike Antonovich, who sponsored the letter. “Lack of an emergency exit from San Gabriel Canyon in the event of fire, flood or heavy snow has impacted the safety of residents.”

Those Caltrans bureaucrats are probably really scared now.

Taxing Times

Rep. Howard P. “Buck” McKeon (R-Santa Clarita) wants to get the Internal Revenue Service off your back.

Angered by news reports this week that county taxpayers are being hauled in for face-to-face audits with IRS agents at a rate that is roughly twice the national average, McKeon fired off a letter to President Clinton on Thursday calling on his administration to conduct an investigation into the matter.

“It seems that Southern California and Los Angeles County taxpayers in particular are on the radar screen of Bill Clinton’s IRS more than taxpayers anywhere else in the country,” said McKeon, who also plans to ask his congressional colleagues to look into the disparity.

The Times reported Sunday that the latest figures from the Tax Reform Action Coalition--a nonprofit watchdog group affiliated with Syracuse University of New York--show that 1.59% of county taxpayers were audited during the government’s 1996 fiscal year compared to the national average of .66%.

It gets worse. Los Angeles taxpayers paid a median of $11,415 in higher taxes and penalties when they were audited compared to a national median of $7,303.

IRS officials said a variety of factors, such as local incomes that are higher than the national average, contribute to the imbalance.

But McKeon, who is not one to shy away from taking jabs at the president, was not buying it.

“Californians work hard and pay their federal income taxes in good faith. It is appalling to realize that Bill Clinton’s IRS considers such a high percentage of them to be tax cheats,” McKeon said.

Ersatz Council

The City Council this week held its first meeting in its new council chambers in City Hall East, the temporary home of city offices while the real City Hall undergoes renovations, and in the process, gave a trial run to a new $200,000 computerized voting system.

Because the new system is more complex than the old, council members held a mock meeting Monday to ensure they wouldn’t flub it when asked to use the system on real city business.

Tellingly, this mock council meeting was not so different from the real thing. There was the usual banter, interruptions, and confusion, not to mention a hint of parody which lately has characterized some real meetings as well.

Asked to speak on a mock motion, for example, City Councilman Hal Bernson stood up with a barely concealed grin: “This should be approved because the developer made large contributions to everyone on the Planning and Land Use Committee,” boomed Bernson, the committee’s chairman. The faux motion passed handily.

That first day was rough going: One staff member asked to test a councilman’s system found that “yes” kept popping up on the vote tally even though she was punching the “no” button. But when the real meeting came the next day, things seem to go smoothly. Later, say city officials, the council meetings may go even more high tech, offering video conferencing, and electronic kiosks for the public.