Hollywood Hopefuls Split Up

In the beginning, candidates for a proposed Hollywood city council trained and appeared at political events together, as if they were allies. Their main focus: building support for Hollywood secession, without which the five council seats will not exist.

But as Tuesday’s election drew closer, collegiality gave way to competition.

With four times as many candidates as there are council seats, groups of contenders are banding together, forming slates to push themselves and their causes. They are running at large for the nonpartisan posts. If secession wins, the top five vote-getters will take office. They will later select a mayor from their ranks.

Hollywood secession leader Gene La Pietra, 54, who has spent more than $2 million of his own money to finance the cityhood effort, recently sent out a mailer urging Hollywood residents to “Vote Democratic for Hollywood City Council!”

One side of the flier listed statewide Democratic candidates, starting with Gov. Gray Davis and Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante. On the other side: five grinning Hollywood candidates, with La Pietra, who wants to be mayor, at the top of the list.

Other candidates on La Pietra’s slate: Pashree “Super Pat” Sripipat, 55, publisher and editor of a bilingual Thai-English newspaper; Garry Sinanian, a 26-year-old Armenian American flower shop owner; Rosa Martinez, a preschool teacher at a Hollywood private school; and Michael Ackerman, 40, an entertainment lawyer.

“The slate represents the diversity of Hollywood, and that’s very, very important,” said La Pietra, the multimillionaire owner of two popular gay nightclubs. “I said from the beginning that we would have a diverse slate of candidates, and we do.”

Candidates without access to La Pietra’s money for mailings are creating informal slates. Four have formed the “H Team,” with the H standing for Measure H, the Hollywood ballot initiative.

“We’re not a part of La Pietra’s campaign,” said Billy Tsangares, owner of a Los Feliz T-shirt and gift shop. He gained local fame when he started the “Free Winona” campaign after actress Winona Ryder was arrested for allegedly shoplifting.

Tsangares, 42, said many Hollywood residents support secession but feel uncomfortable voting for it because they do not want La Pietra to run a new city.

“La Pietra has the money, and ... all the [media] attention goes to him,” said Tsangares, who also sells “Free Martha” shirts featuring domestic diva Martha Stewart behind bars and prefers distributing news releases printed on cloth.

Issues central to the H Team are opening Lake Hollywood to the public and supporting Hollywood’s artistic community. Other candidates on the slate include Charles Lohr, 49, a sales and marketing manager for an international human resources consulting firm; Paul Merritt, 51, a property and financial services broker; and William C. Moriarity, a freelance writer.

Some contenders joined together simply to keep each other company while they knocked on doors. Others hand out their rivals’ literature along with their own.

Tad Davis, 31, a fledgling film director who lives in the Hollywood Hills, gives voters a flier featuring three other Hollywood Hills candidates: Jim Meinel, 60, owner of a commercial printing company; architect Paul Ramsey, 51; and Ed Dilkes, 60, who is employed as the city manager of Bradbury.

“These are three other candidates I trust,” Davis told constituents. “They’re very knowledgeable.”

One of the crucial issues facing Hollywood is runaway film production, Davis said. As a council member, he would provide tax incentives to entertainment companies that shoot in the new city. He also wants the area to launch a proactive film commission.

“Everything [the industry] needs is here in Hollywood,” including pre- and post-production businesses, Davis said.

Davis, Meinel, Ramsey and Dilkes have distributed glossy, professional-looking brochures. Others, such as actor Neal Jano, 74, and Richard Eastman, 49, a motion picture costumer on disability, have turned to word-of-mouth campaigning. Eastman said he has HIV and is an activist for AIDS-related issues.

Candidate Joe Shea said he partly relies on Hollywood voters recognizing his name. The 55-year-old is a longtime community activist who has spearheaded efforts to sweep streets, remove graffiti, support programs for underprivileged young people and drive illegal sex clubs out of the neighborhood.

“It should be obvious to everyone that a smaller city would help improve the community,” Shea said. “I will lead with integrity, compassion and courage.”

Jeff Zarrinnam, 39, the manager of the Hollywood Ramada Inn on Sunset Boulevard, which is owned by his family, is using recorded telephone messages to reach voters, reminding them that his name is “easy to remember because it starts with the last letter of the alphabet -- Z like zebra.”

“But unlike a zebra, there’s nothing black and white about the issue of Hollywood being set free from Los Angeles,” Zarrinnam’s pitch continues.

Angelyne, the one-name character whose heavily lined eyes and platinum hair are splashed on local billboards, has done the most unusual campaigning -- auctioning off her bras and underpants to raise money for her council race.

Keith Stephens, a 43-year-old developer, is mailing letters to residents about a Hollywood revitalization. However, after much thought since the measure was put on the ballot, Stephens said he will vote against Hollywood secession.

“I believe Hollywood would lose its luster and reputation if it is not a part of the City of Angels,” he said.

William McGovern, 32, a director and actor, said he is doing little campaigning. He is running because he supports secession and wanted to learn the political process.

Candidate Eric DeYoung, a prop maker, could not be reached for comment.