4th District Opponents Racing to Define Their Differences

Having survived the crowded primary, when 10 candidates jostled and elbowed for position, Beth Garfield and Tom LaBonge are now alone in the final sprint for Tuesday’s election to fill the Los Angeles City Council’s 4th District seat.

Whereas the primary was a battle to break from the pack, the runoff has turned out to be a big-budget free-for-all, with the candidates engaging in a flurry of personal attacks.

Voters have been left to sort through mailboxes full of accusatory fliers and contradictory television commercials to decide which candidate is better suited to fill the big shoes of the late John Ferraro, who represented the district for 35 years.

The two contenders have grappled with a host of pressing political issues, from how to rebuild a police department depleted of officers and racked by scandal to heading off the threatened breakup of Los Angeles.

They disagree on much, even though their resumes would indicate they have many similarities.

Both are Democrats in their late 40s who have worked in government for years and say they want to give neighborhoods more say in how they are governed.

LaBonge, 48, has worked at City Hall for 27 years, starting as a volunteer youth commissioner for Mayor Tom Bradley. He later worked as chief field deputy for Ferraro, headed constituent services for Mayor Richard Riordan and most recently served as a community relations director for the Department of Water and Power.

Garfield, 49, taught school on a Navajo reservation before becoming an attorney representing labor unions. She served as an elected member of the Los Angeles Community College District Board for eight years, including three as president, before deciding this year to run for council.

Garfield has the backing of the Los Angeles County Democratic Party and the County Federation of Labor. LaBonge is supported by unions representing Los Angeles police officers and firefighters.

Both say there is a clear choice for voters in the district, which includes parts of North Hollywood, Toluca Lake, Studio City, Atwater Village, Hollywood, Los Feliz, Silver Lake, Hancock Park and Koreatown.

“It’s a choice between the status quo and change,” Garfield said.

She said LaBonge’s long career at City Hall makes him “part of the problem,” saying he is part of a culture in which council members often trade favors without regard to what neighborhoods want.

Noting that Garfield lent her campaign $350,000 in the primary and $350,000 for the runoff, LaBonge said his opponent is using her personal fortune to compensate for her lack of experience and public support.

LaBonge, who raised more than $303,000 in contributions and matching funds, agreed to the city’s voluntary $275,000 limit on spending. That cap was lifted, however, when Garfield exceeded that amount.

“I’m running my campaign as guided by the voters of Los Angeles who approved the [campaign finance] reforms,” LaBonge said. “Beth Garfield has skirted that by trying to buy the election.”

LaBonge placed first in the primary with 31.96% of the vote to Garfield’s 18.57%, but the runoff is expected to be tighter.

A former football player at John Marshall High School who still hikes almost daily in Griffith Park, LaBonge exudes the forcefulness and high energy of an athlete.

He ran unsuccessfully in the 13th Council District in 1993. He moved into the 4th District four years ago and has been active in his community of Silver Lake.

After years of fighting to protect union workers as a partner in a law firm, Garfield is a polished speaker who doesn’t shy away from battles of the political arena. She also is a campaign veteran. Besides her own races for the community college district, she has weathered those of her husband, former state Assemblyman Wally Knox.

The two finalists agree that public safety and providing better basic city service to district neighborhoods are priorities.

Both support a court-approved consent decree requiring reform of the LAPD and expansion of the police force to at least 10,000 officers.

To hasten reform, LaBonge supports doubling the number of senior lead officers acting as liaisons to city neighborhoods.

LaBonge also said he supports Mayor James K. Hahn’s proposed compressed work schedule allowing officers to work up to 12 hours a day, as few as three days a week.

Garfield does not favor the proposed work schedule until it is made part of a larger package of reforms, including a policy of longer assignments for officers in the same neighborhoods so they can build closer ties with residents.

Her vision for the LAPD includes enactment of a Sheriff’s Department community policing program in which officers go door to door in their assigned neighborhoods to survey residents about their top concerns, and then hold neighborhood meetings to work up strategies for solving the problems.

LaBonge has attempted to make his opponent’s wealth a liability. But Garfield, who has an interest in a real estate investment firm founded by her father in San Diego, has argued that tapping her family fortune to help finance her campaign has freed her to spend more time communicating with voters.

“I’m not beholden to special interests, unlike my opponent,” Garfield said.

She has, however, received $2,750 from unions representing teachers, librarians and transit workers. She also has collected contributions from the Women’s Political Committee and the National Women’s Political Caucus, San Fernando Valley branch.

Lobbyist Steve Afriat was on the host committee for a Garfield fund-raiser this week.

LaBonge, meanwhile, has received contributions from a who’s who of City Hall lobbyists, including Greer Daily Inc., King Woods and Associates, George Mihlstein, Mark Armbruster and Maureen Kindel.

He also received a contribution from a law firm representing Browning Ferris Industries, the operator of Sunshine Canyon Landfill. LaBonge said he is committed to making sure any expansion of the dump into Granada Hills does not harm residents, while Garfield has opposed any expansion.

LaBonge also has received hundreds of contributions from average residents, including schoolteachers, attorneys, police officers and firefighters.

He said voters are responding to his years of work in the district, which included providing more green space and bike trails along the Los Angeles River.

Garfield said she proved her ability to get things done as a member of the college board, which she said turned around a financially troubled district in the last few years.

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Tom LaBonge

* Age: 48

* Residence: Silver Lake

* Education: Bachelor of Science degree in sociology from Cal State Los Angeles.

* Career highlights: Served 15 years as chief field deputy to 4th District Councilman John Ferraro; seven years as special assistant to Mayor Richard Riordan; is on leave of absence from job as director of community relations for the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power.

* Family: Married to Brigid LaBonge and has two children, ages 7 and 3.

Beth Garfield

* Age: 49

* Residence: Windsor Square

* Education: Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology from Stanford University, Doctor of Jurisprudence degree from the University of Michigan.

* Career highlights: Partner in the law firm of Holguin and Garfield, which represents labor unions. Also a partner in the real estate investment firm Claremont Realty Co., founded by her father. Eight years on the Los Angeles Community College District board, including three as president.

* Family: Married to former Assemblyman Wally Knox. Two daughters, ages 17 and 12.