5 Vie for 3 City Council Seats in San Fernando

Three seats are up for grabs in the March 2 City Council election and, not surprisingly, the big issue among the five candidates is economic development.

This year, as in most recent elections, community redevelopment and luring major retailers are the main issues in this mostly Latino working-class, 2.5-square-mile municipality.

In 1997, for instance, Councilman Silverio Robledo campaigned with talk of a shoppers’ paradise with thriving bookstores, coffee shops and restaurants. It has yet to happen, however.

This year’s candidates are campaigning on similar platforms, but few have specific plans on how to accomplish their goals.

“We really do need to work on bringing in new business,” said incumbent Doude Wysbeek, who is seeking a fourth term. “We must look into what specific changes we need to make to attract them.”

Wysbeek, 60, owns an electrical motor repair business in the city, where he has lived for more than four decades.

The only incumbent in this year’s race said his goal is to keep the city fiscally sound.

The other two seats on the five-member council were vacated by former Mayor Raul Godinez II, who resigned in December to run for the Los Angeles City Council 7th District seat, and by Joanne Baltierrez, who didn’t seek a second term after accepting a job as executive director of the Los Angeles chapter of the League of Women Voters.

The remaining two seats, held by Robledo, an engineer and banker, and Cal State Northridge Chicano Studies professor Jose Hernandez, are not open this year.

After the last election in 1997, Robledo, Hernandez and Godinez formed a council majority that streamlined City Hall by firing the city attorney, merging the personnel and finance departments and reshuffling the Police Department.

Hernandez is serving as interim mayor until the new council selects a permanent one in March.

Candidate John Becker, for one, said he’d be interested in the largely ceremonial post, but he has more important things to think about.

He said he plans to bring in new business by revising the city’s strict liquor-license law, which now requires that establishments serving alcohol be at least 600 feet apart and that there be that same distance between the establishment and any place children might gather. That includes schools, parks, playgrounds or churches.

Considering a block is about 500 feet, this presents a problem, according to Becker, a member of the city Planning Commission.

“We need to waive that for restaurants if we want to get quality chain restaurants in San Fernando,” said Becker, a longtime service representative for the Auto Club of Southern California. “Those restrictions are too severe.”

If elected, Becker, 46, said he would also create community forums to research why area schoolchildren score so poorly on standardized tests.

Candidate Richard Ramos, a third-grade teacher at Morningside Elementary School in San Fernando, said he would also focus on education.

The 30-year-old CSUN graduate said he knows firsthand the severe lack of resources at area schools.

“I want to bring things like computer programs to the kids in San Fernando,” Ramos said.

He also plans to increase home ownership by promoting city-sponsored loans to prospective low-income buyers.

Candidate Cindy Montanez, 25, a UCLA graduate and legislative assistant to former Los Angeles City Councilman Richard Alarcon, said, rather than focus on bringing in outside merchants, she would push for more women- and resident-owned businesses.

“We also need to expand our cultural facilities,” said Montanez, who helps run her family’s construction business. “I want to establish a playhouse in San Fernando and open art galleries.”

Candidate Beverly Di Tomaso said she hopes to introduce more city-run programs for seniors and children.

As a single mother who cares for her ailing elderly mother, Di Tomaso said she understands the need for such programs.

“I know the importance of child care and flexible hours for city offices and I understand the needs of our senior citizens,” said the 65-year-old Di Tomaso, who has served on the San Fernando Parks and Recreation Commission.

Di Tomaso, who lost a bid for the council in the 1980s, said she would also seek funding to modernize the city’s antiquated library.

Such fund-raising takes time and energy and Di Tomaso, a receptionist for Guide Dogs of America in Sylmar, said she has plenty of both.

“My five children are grown and the timing is really good for me to contribute something to the city,” she said.