Campaign to Succeed Alarcon Begins With a Field of Few

In what appears to be the political equivalent of a game of chicken, most of what was expected to be a large field of candidates for the 7th City Council District were no-shows Wednesday, the day filing opened.

Candidates have until Tuesday to declare for the council seat vacated when Richard Alarcon was elected to the state Senate. As many as 10 activists in the northeast San Fernando Valley have been considering candidacy.

But the only candidates who declared were Corinne Sanchez, who has been endorsed by Alarcon, Mission College executive Barbara Perkins, and perennial candidate Ollie McAulley, who ran unsuccessfully against Alarcon for the seat two years ago and against Alarcon last year for the Senate.

Sanchez said she expects six to eight candidates to file papers by the deadline Tuesday. Other potential candidates include Alex Padilla, an aide to Assemblyman Tony Cardenas (D-Sylmar), Fred Flores, an aide to Rep. Howard Berman (D-Mission Hills), and Tony Lopez, district director of the Boy Scouts of America.

“There will be competition,” said Sanchez, an attorney who heads the health services charity El Proyecto Del Barrio. “I think it’s healthy. The voters have to have choices.”

Perhaps as interesting as who filed papers to run Wednesday was who said they are bowing out of the race.

City Parks Commissioner Leroy Chase, administrator of the Boys & Girls Club of the San Fernando Valley, said Wednesday he had decided not to run, and will instead back Sanchez in the race.

“She has all of the qualifications,” Chase said, adding he has known Sanchez for 20 years.

Chase denied his decision had anything to do with one of Alarcon’s last actions as a councilman--winning council approval on Nov. 25 of a $250,000 city grant to the Boys & Girls Club for creation of a computer learning center.

“Richard never asked that I support anyone,” Chase said. “My decision has nothing to do with it.”

Michael Trujillo, a member of the city Commission on Children, Youth and Their Families, also said he has decided not to run, and will endorse Sanchez.

In other Valley council races, Councilmen Hal Bernson and John Ferraro filed for reelection. Councilman Joel Wachs plans to file papers today, a spokesman said.

Ferraro is seeking his ninth and--because of term limits--final term to represent the 4th Council District, which extends from Toluca Lake and North Hollywood south to Hancock Park and the Miracle Mile.

Bernson, a Granada Hills resident, is seeking his sixth term representing the 12th Council District, which covers the northwest San Fernando Valley.

Wachs, a Studio City resident, is seeking his eighth term representing the 2nd Council District, which includes parts of Sunland-Tujunga, North Hollywood and Studio City.

Businessman Howard Nussbaum filed papers to challenge Bernson. Construction supervisor Benjamin Lucas and actor James Dunlap filed to challenge Ferraro, and marketing manager John Spishak, business owner Kathy Anthony and retired city employee John Bunte filed papers Wednesday to challenge Wachs.

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BONDING: Riordan stepped up to endorse the proposed $744-million bond issue for new police and fire stations Wednesday, launching a campaign that could cost $400,000 to $600,000, according to Richard Lichtenstein, a political consultant who ran the campaign for city’s last successful police bond measure, in 1989.

Although he has not been contacted for advice by city officials, Lichtenstein also said the campaign should heavily target voters in the San Fernando Valley, which traditionally has a higher voter turnout than the rest of the city and tends to be more conservative on tax increases.

“I think the mayor’s endorsement is key because he is popular in the Valley, and his constituency is likely to turn out in the election,” Lichtenstein said.

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TRAFFIC CALMING: The soothing phrase applies to a new division City Councilwoman Cindy Miscikowski has proposed for the city’s Department of Transportation.

The idea is to form a special unit to deal with speeding cars zooming through residential neighborhoods, commuters spilling off freeways onto side streets, and the like. The division would also consider how to spend money some developers pay to neighborhood protection funds.

“Traffic calming,” as the councilwoman explains in a motion, can include installing speed humps and speed-limit signs and narrowing of paved roadways. City transportation Assistant General Manager Tom Swire said many residential areas, burdened with commuters taking shortcuts and the occasional speeder tearing through at 50 mph, could certainly use some calming.

“To get those people out of the residential areas and back on the arterial highways is the ultimate goal,” he said.

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BETTER PART OF VALOR: Organizers of a petition drive seeking a study of Valley secession made a stink last week when county officials announced they needed to count all 202,000 signatures submitted because a random sample found a high rate of duplicates.

They cried foul, saying the county’s decision to nix the random sample, which was based on a state formula, was not fair.

They vowed to make a plea to the panel overseeing the secession process, the Local Agency Formation Commission, to go forward with the study anyway. So in preparation, county elections officials attended the meeting and had a state lawyer fly down to explain the legality of the formula.

But when push came to shove Wednesday, Valley VOTE, the group behind the petition drive, opted not to ask LAFCO for a break. Instead, they simply asked county officials to hurry up with their signature checking.

County officials agreed to finish the check by March, even if it requires overtime.

The activists said they opted for the less confrontational course because they want to focus on their main concern: that the petitions be checked promptly.

But they continue to object to the rationale for checking the full roll of petitions, saying it is a waste of taxpayer money. Under a deal approved by the Board of Supervisors, the city and county, not Valley VOTE, will pick up the tab, expected to cost around $270,000.

“I think the results in early March are going to show we were right, and this was a waste of taxpayer money, but so be it,” said Valley VOTE chairman Richard Close. “The key issue for us is time. We don’t want to wait six months on this.”

Later this month, LAFCO will discuss a study it commissioned on the secession study itself, outlining what issues will have to be examined as a result of the petitions.

The secession study must take place before a secession proposal can be placed on the ballot, which is not likely until 2002 at the earliest.

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SHERMAN AT LARGE: Rep. Brad Sherman is moving up in the world--or at least, in the world of House Democrats.

Sherman (D-Sherman Oaks), was recently appointed at-large deputy whip by Democratic Minority Leader David Bonior of Michigan.

After learning Bonior, the Democratic whip, was looking for a few good henchmen, Sherman approached him and gave his pitch. Must’ve worked.

In his new role, Sherman will help count votes, lobby for legislation and formulate strategy among the 211 House Democrats.

“Hey, this is how Denny Hastert got his start,” Sherman joked in reference to House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert of Illinois, who was recently promoted by his Republican peers after serving in a deputy whip position on the other side of the aisle. “It’s a way to play a more active role in the legislative process.”

Sherman said he’ll work as hard as possible on the issues he agrees with--but if he doesn’t want to spread a particular Democratic message, he doesn’t have to.

“When I agree with the gospel, I’ll help spread it,” he said. “But I’m occasionally a heretic.”

Correspondent Sue Fox contributed to this story.