Ballot Measures May Have Wider Impact in State

Public opinion in two city elections could have a broader impact on transportation and energy issues throughout the Los Angeles region as voters in South Gate said no to construction of a power plant and Pasadenans said yes to completion of the Long Beach Freeway.

Although those ballot measures were advisory, supporters of the winning sides predicted Wednesday that the voice of voters on these two controversial infrastructure issues will not be ignored by decision makers well beyond the borders of those communities.

But in the wake of Tuesday’s election results, the company proposing to build the South Gate power plant has yet to decide whether to pull out of the city, even though it had said it would abide by voters’ wishes. And the foes of the Long Beach Freeway said they are as resolved as ever to fight completion of the missing link.

The two ballot measures were among an array of decisions made Tuesday by Los Angeles County voters in 49 cities and school districts and a state Senate race in the San Gabriel Valley area won by Assemblywoman Gloria Romero (D-Los Angeles).

Voters in Manhattan Beach declared that it’s still possible to throw a big beach event on their shores without intensive scrutiny from city officials. Voters in Pasadena and Claremont restricted campaign contributions for their elected officials.

And in West Hollywood, voters turned down by a 53% margin a widely publicized initiative to require bars and nightclubs to offer free condoms to patrons. Measure A was promoted by the Hollywood-based AIDS Healthcare Foundation because a voluntary condom giveaway program in the city had failed, said its president, Michael Weinstein.

“There is an underlying prudishness that came out in this,” Weinstein said. “A lot felt the government shouldn’t play a role and business shouldn’t be required to play a role in condom distribution, that it’s a matter of personal responsibility.”

On a blustery, rainy election day, South Gate voters were also drawn out to the polls to settle a contentious City Council race.

Voters strongly supported the reelection of Councilman Hector De La Torre, who faced nine opponents, including a challenger also named Hector De La Torre, a printing shop foreman.

In South Gate’s nonbinding power plant measure, voters opposed by a nearly 2-1 margin a 550-megawatt power plant proposed for a 13.5-acre site on the western border of the blue-collar community.

The construction of the plant--debated in the midst of the state’s power crisis--would supply enough electricity for more than half a million homes and would be the first power plant built in Los Angeles County in 25 years.

Power plant developer Sunlaw Energy Inc. of Vernon had promised to relocate the $256-million project if voters opposed it, but on Wednesday, Sunlaw representatives said they were victims of a fraudulent election and will announce their final decision today. Also on Wednesday, Sunlaw asked the California Energy Commission to temporarily suspend the licensing procedure for the project, although they would not say whether this move was an indication that they were pulling out.

Sunlaw spokesman Robert Alaniz said opponents of the power plant went door-to-door falsely telling voters that the project was a nuclear power plant. As proposed in late 1999, the project is a natural gas-powered plant.

Opponents, including a majority of the South Gate City Council, say the pollution from the plant would endanger residents’ health. In the wake of election victory, two protesters ended a hunger strike that began late last week. Mayor Raul Moriel also was on a hunger strike until Monday, when he collapsed and had to receive medical treatment.

Alvaro Huerta, an organizer with Communities for a Better Environment, a Huntington Park environmental group, said he was ecstatic over the election returns in South Gate.

“We are optimistic that Sunlaw will keep their word,” he said.

Huerta said his group did not misrepresent the facts about the plant, and he noted that Sunlaw ran an expensive campaign to inform voters about their side of the debate.

Pasadena Voters Support 710 Freeway

In the San Gabriel Valley, Pasadena voters opened another chapter in the three-decade-long battle over whether to complete a 6.2-mile gap in the Long Beach Freeway.

By a 58%-42% margin, voters said they want the freeway to slice through the leafy western portion of their city, connecting the Foothill and San Bernardino freeways.

“This is progress toward the groundbreaking of the 710 Freeway,” said Nat Read, who as a volunteer headed the Measure A campaign. Read also is the paid public consultant for the 710 Freeway Coalition, a group of cities and associations that support the completion.

Although Pasadena does not have final say over the freeway extension, lawmakers have said their support is crucial. Currently, there is no funding for the freeway.

In South Pasadena, where opposition is strong because that city would be cut in half by the proposed freeway extension, City Manager Sean Joyce discounted the vote’s significance. “It does not surprise us that people who do not live in the corridor of the freeway would support its construction to make their commute easier.”

South Pasadena won a temporary injunction in federal court to halt any freeway construction or property purchases until its lawsuit is heard, beginning this summer.

Even though it was a primary election, voters in a wide swath of the San Gabriel Valley gave an outright state Senate victory to Romero. Her 55% share of the votes means there is no need for a general election.

Romero said she expects to vacate her Assembly seat early next week to take over the Senate office she won over former Assemblyman Martin Gallegos.

The seat was represented by Rep. Hilda Solis before she left for Congress.

Romero said the fact that she won almost twice as many votes as Gallegos is a repudiation of the early assumption among state Democratic Party leaders that Gallegos should be next in line for Solis’ seat.

Romero said she plans to take on the sprawling district’s environmental problems, as well as problems with education and the state’s energy crisis.

“I want to make sure this is a unified district,” Romero said, noting the wide array of concerns in an area that includes upper-middle-class communities like Hacienda Heights and some working-poor areas of East Los Angeles.

South Bay Voters Defeat Restrictions

South Bay voters dealt with their own controversy--this one surfside.

In Manhattan Beach, voters soundly defeated a complicated measure that proposed stiffer requirements for beach events, as well as a ban on charging fees for access to the beach during organized events.

Manhattan Beach City Atty. Bob Wadden said the city already regulates the use of the beach and prohibits charging fees for beach access.

In Pasadena and Claremont, campaign finance restrictions championed by the Oaks Project passed easily.

The ballot measures bar any public officials in those San Gabriel Valley cities from accepting campaign donations, jobs or gifts from anyone in business with the city.

Similar measures were passed last November in Santa Monica, San Francisco and Vista, said Paul Herzog, president of the Santa Monica-based Oaks Project.

The city of Vista is challenging the legality of the measure in state court, a battle recently joined by Pasadena and Claremont.

Turnout varied throughout the region, but was generally low, even in cities with contested races: Pasadena showed an 18% turnout, West Hollywood 22%, Manhattan Beach 20%, and Claremont 28%.

In a round of firsts, San Fernando voters elected Maribel De La Torre, who joins her sister Cindy Montanez on the City Council, believed to be the first sister team on a council in the county; San Marino elected its first Asian council member, Matthew Lin; and the new city of Aliso Viejo was born, making it the 34th municipality in Orange County.

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Times staff writers Oscar Johnson, Irene Garcia, Antonio Olivo and Bob Pool and correspondent Laura Wides contributed to this story.

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FINAL ELECTION RETURNS B4