San Fernando Mayor to Challenge Berman

The increasingly bitter war of words between San Fernando Mayor Raul Godinez II and Rep. Howard Berman appears to be headed for the ballot box.

In the last few weeks, Godinez and Berman have exchanged barbs via the U.S. mail about the public safety record of the city of San Fernando. Late Friday, Godinez filed papers to challenge Berman in the June Democratic primary election.

In an interview Monday, Berman seemed unfazed by Godinez’s challenge. “It’s America,” he said. “He has every right in the world to run against me.”

Godinez, an engineer with the city of Los Angeles, says his challenge has nothing to do with the dispute. “It is unfortunate that this [feud] has occurred at the same time as my candidacy,” he said.

Instead, Godinez said he is challenging Berman because he wants to help target federal resources on community issues, such as improving education and reducing crime.

“With any position, if you stay too long you almost get a little out of touch,” Godinez said.

But Godinez, mayor of a town of 24,000, is clearly the underdog in the race against Berman, a powerful eight-term Congressman.

Democratic Party officials say Berman is practically assured of getting the party’s nomination on March 20 during the state party convention in Los Angeles. They dismiss Godinez’s challenge as an empty threat.

“Howard will win in June, and Howard will win in November,” said Bob Mulholland, a political advisor to the state Democratic Party.

The feuding began when Berman sent a Dec. 26 letter to constituents, warning about “vandals, burglars, rapists and murderers that roam our streets.” According to the letter, improvements have been made “but the crime rate in our area remains appallingly high!”

Godinez, clearly sensitive about his city’s image, replied with a letter of his own to Berman, noting that crime has dropped 20% in San Fernando in the last three years. He also said he was disappointed with the overall tone of Berman’s letter. Godinez noted that the city has been trying to battle such perceptions with a $200,000 image-improvement campaign.

Berman tried to make peace with Godinez in another letter, stating he was not attacking the mayor’s leadership but was trying to “note that the crime rate is still too high and that we must continue to work hard to protect our constituents.”

Just when it seemed the feud had blown over, Berman took a swipe at Godinez’s image-improvement campaign in a anti-crime mailer that asked voters, “Is improving public safety more important than Mayor Godinez’s public relations campaign?”

After first criticizing Berman for such mailers, Godinez said Monday that he felt the dispute was blown out of proportion in the press.

He declined to discuss the dispute any further.

For his part, Berman said he has no hard feelings toward Godinez. But he added: “I think he doesn’t like me.”

In other races, Joe Gelman, a Republican from Sherman Oaks, filed for the congressional seat held by Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Sherman Oaks). Gelman was an outspoken city Civil Service Commissioner who was forced to resign because of his anti-affirmative action views. Other Republicans who have filed for the post include William Westmiller and Randy Hoffman, both of Thousand Oaks.