3 Veteran Councilmen Look to Last Hurrahs

Among them, Hal Bernson, John Ferraro and Joel Wachs have 80 years of service on the Los Angeles City Council, where they represent a large part of the San Fernando Valley.

Ferraro, 74, has served 32 years, or eight terms on the council. Wachs has 28 years on the council, while Bernson has 20.

“We’re the graybeards,” Bernson joked.

The three longest-serving members of the council said this week they plan to run for reelection in April, the last time they will be able to do so because of term limits.

All three say that with tumultuous issues, including charter reform and secession, facing the city in the next few years, veteran leaders with a wealth of knowledge, such as themselves, are needed at City Hall as a steadying force.

“The city is going to need experienced hands without any self-interest to carry out what needs to be done,” said Wachs, a Studio City resident. “There is going to be a need for council members with some institutional memory.”

Bernson, a 68-year-old Granada Hills resident, agreed.

“The city needs experienced and dedicated council members, especially in the next few years, with charter reform and secession coming,” he said.

But it’s the very experience the incumbents tout that will be targeted for criticism by a small number of novice candidates who say they plan to challenge Wachs, Bernson and Ferraro in the April election.

The challengers’ message: The incumbents have been in office far too long, they are drifting through their terms and their unwillingness to adapt city government to a changing Los Angeles is the reason the city faces outside forces demanding more radical overhauls, including charter reform and secession.

“Any time you do something for 30 years, there is going to be a staleness to it,” said John Spishak, a 36-year-old Sunland resident who is challenging Wachs.

“It [job] just doesn’t mean as much to them any more,” he added. “What new faces would bring is a new approach and new ideas.”

Benjamin Lucas, 35, has the same criticism of Ferraro, who he plans to challenge in the 4th Council District.

“I personally think 32 years is too long to be in office,” said Lucas, a Laurel Canyon resident. “We need new ideas. I don’t think the old perspective is working. He [Ferraro] is definitely from the old school of politics.”

Charles Rubel, an attorney who lives in Northridge, said he decided to run against Bernson in part for the same reason Bernson decided 20 years ago to run against Bob Wilkinson.

“When he [Bernson] ran against Wilkinson, he said Wilkinson had been in office for 20 years and that was too long, that he had lost touch with the people,” Rubel said. “I think the same applies to Bernson.”

Political experts say it is very unlikely the well-established incumbents face any real threat from the little-known challengers.

Still, the challengers plan to push their claims that Los Angeles is at a turning point, where the old guard at City Hall is no longer suited to guide the city in the face of threats to dismantle it, or at least radically change how it is governed.

“If we didn’t have this City Council we would not have charter reform and secession,” said Spishak, the marketing director for a transportation company.

Second District residents Kathleen Anthony and John Bishop have also filed papers to raise money for possible candidacies.

Lucas, a construction supervisor, said the 4th District is suffering because Ferraro has been in office too long.

“I’ve lived in the district for a long time and I don’t see any changes, any improvements,” Lucas said. “It’s time for a change. We need new ideas.”

The incumbents deny they are to blame for the current revolt against City Hall.

Wachs, 59, said some of the changes proposed by two charter reform commissions are ideas he put forward years ago, including creation of neighborhood councils to give local residents more say in how their city is governed.

“One of the things that most excites me [about another term] is that my long-standing effort to get neighborhood councils is going to bear fruit,” Wachs said. “I want to be there when it happens.”

Wachs, whose 2nd Council District includes much of the east San Fernando Valley, said it took the creation of charter reform commissions to get the idea started, “because I never felt the council would do it on their own.”

Wachs also cited his work on the North Hollywood Redevelopment Project Area, which is poised to move forward to revitalize the area and attract new entertainment businesses. That campaign will get a big boost with the opening of a subway station in North Hollywood, Wachs said.

He also wants an eighth term so he can continue efforts to build up commercial areas along Foothill Boulevard in Sunland and Tujunga.

Ferraro, the council president, also represents that part of North Hollywood being remade through redevelopment. That and a program to repair the city’s aging streets, sidewalks and buildings are high on his agenda for a ninth term representing an area that extends from Toluca Lake to the Miracle Mile. He lives in Hancock Park.

“This is an exciting and challenging time in the city of Los Angeles and in the 4th Council District,” Ferraro said. “Our city faces some critical issues as we enter the 21st century--including charter reform, secession efforts, the repair of our infrastructure. I want to continue my involvement in these and other critical citywide issues”

Bernson, whose 12th Council District includes parts of Northridge, Chatsworth, Granada Hills and Van Nuys, said he intends to work on making sure the San Fernando Valley gets its fair share of services--one of the complaints secessionists say has not been addressed.

“I’d like to see the Valley get a little better equity, whether secession flies or not,” Bernson said.

That includes, he said, making sure the Metropolitan Transportation Authority puts more resources into bus service in the Valley, including creation of bus lanes, now that the agency has abandoned plans to extend the subway from North Hollywood to Woodland Hills.

The councilman said with term limits taking effect the first time for council members whose terms expire in 2001, City Hall may never again have the benefit of such an experienced and knowledgeable group of council members.

“I think it’s not going to be beneficial to the city or its people,” Bernson said. “You are not going to have people who have the benefit of experience. It’s just a loss.”