Combative and Costly Council Runoff Expected

After spending nearly $1 million combined to get into a runoff election, Tom LaBonge and Beth Garfield on Wednesday began what is expected to be a fierce and expensive showdown for the 4th District seat on the Los Angeles City Council.

“It’s going to be awful,” losing candidate James MacMinn predicted, citing the flurry of hit pieces between LaBonge and Garfield just before the election.

LaBonge, a community relations director for the city Department of Water and Power, was the leading vote-getter Tuesday among 10 candidates, receiving 32% of the ballots cast.

Garfield, a labor attorney and former president of the Los Angeles Community College District Board of Trustees, received 18.7%, just 233 votes more than third-place finisher David Roberti, a former state senator.

Roberti said Wednesday he will not concede until about 600 provisional ballots are counted today or Friday, but he acknowledged that the odds are against him.

“It looks very difficult,” he said. “I am not holding my breath.”

Roberti, who was attacked in several Garfield mailers for his record as a legislator and his opposition to abortion, is seen as likely to endorse LaBonge in the Oct. 23 runoff election. He declined Wednesday to take a position, saying he will wait until the results are finalized.

MacMinn and Linda Lockwood, another candidate in Tuesday’s election, said they probably will endorse LaBonge and agreed with Roberti that LaBonge is now the front-runner.

“We are well-positioned,” said Julie Buckner, a campaign consultant for LaBonge.

MacMinn and others warned that the runoff will not be waged gently.

A recent mailer by LaBonge, for example, was headlined: “Warning: Beth Garfield’s mail pieces may be hazardous to the truth.” It chided her for using an actor dressed as a police officer in one of her brochures and noted that LaBonge has the support of the Police Protective League.

A Garfield mailer last weekend portrayed LaBonge as a wasteful City Hall insider. “Tom LaBonge: A 27-year record of government spending,” it read. “Tom LaBonge has campaigned for a tax increase for his public safety plan.”

LaBonge said he was proud to support a police bond measure that was backed by a majority of voters.

A 47-year-old Silver Lake resident, LaBonge said he is prepared to defend his record, which includes seven years as an aide to former Mayor Richard Riordan and 15 years as chief field deputy to former 4th District Councilman John Ferraro, whose death in April forced the special election.

Garfield, a 49-year-old Windsor Square resident, signaled Wednesday that the gloves will remain off.

“With just two candidates now, we will be able to have a discussion that will show some stark contrasts between us,” she said. “I represent change. Tom represents the status quo.”

Garfield refused to say whether she will jump-start her campaign with a personal loan. In the first election, she accumulated $521,029 for the contest, including $350,000 in personal loans she made to her campaign.

LaBonge said he expects Garfield will provide major financing for her campaign and that he anticipates raising as much as he did for the first election, $407,000, “if necessary.”

Garfield, the wife of former Assemblyman Wally Knox, is expected to continue to highlight her role as the college board president in reforming a troubled college district.

Both candidates said they will campaign on the issues of public safety and improving the quality of life in district neighborhoods.

Meanwhile, political strategists for the two were poring over precinct reports Wednesday to determine where their candidate did well and where more work is needed.

LaBonge won many precincts in the San Fernando Valley portion of the district and in his home community of Silver Lake. Garfield beat him in pockets all over the district, including parts of Hollywood where the margin was 3 to 1.

Roberti said his analysis showed he was hurt by a low turnout in neighborhoods with large concentrations of immigrants and senior citizens, whom he counted as key supporters.