After Bitter Mayoral Race, Compton Voters Go to Polls

After the most bitter and wide-open campaign in Compton’s history, voters will decide today whether to give controversial Mayor Omar Bradley a third four-year term.

Threats of violence have marked the race. City Clerk Charles Davis, who supervises the election, said Monday he has asked the Los Angles County Sheriff’s Department to be on alert for any problems.

Davis said his office has received reports that some campaigns may field security workers outside the polls. “If anyone tries anything like that, we will arrest their ass. I’m very concerned about people intimidating voters.”

This year’s campaign has been marked by the airing of allegations ranging from cross-dressing to murder. Three candidates have reported receiving threats. One of them, City Councilwoman Yvonne Arceneaux, who is running for reelection in the 3rd District, filed a complaint with the FBI about a threat she said was made by one of her challengers.

School board member Basil Kimbrew, a mayoral candidate who has made some of the most serious allegations, has shut down his campaign, saying he fears for the safety of his staff.

Bradley said his campaign will send out about 75 volunteers, all wearing shirts of the same color, to watch polling places for intimidation or irregularities. “Man, in this election, anything is possible,” the mayor said. Two other campaigns said they too will field special workers to monitor for intimidation.

A local ministers group was to hold a vigil late Monday to pray for a safe and fair election.

In the nine-candidate race for mayor, City Councilwoman Marcine B. Shaw and Deputy Dist. Atty. Eric J. Perrodin are seen as the strongest challengers to Bradley. The mayor is also backing candidates in the 2nd and 3rd council districts with an eye toward adding his fourth and fifth allies on the five-member City Council.

Voters also will select a city clerk and city treasurer, and will vote on an advisory measure asking whether the city should pull out of the state-run Compton Unified School District.

If no candidate in a race wins a majority, a runoff between the top two finishers will be held June 5.

In other Los Angeles County elections today, school board seats in Pasadena and Arcadia will be elected. Arcadia voters will become the first in the county to try a touch-screen voting system instead of the punch cards.

In Arcadia, longtime incumbents Mary Dougherty and Joann E. Steinmeier face challengers David Leong and Annie Yuen.

In Pasadena, Ken Chawkins and Peter M. Soelter are vying for Seat 6. Mary Dee Romney and Ed Honowitz will compete for Seat 7.