Politics Has a Quiet Town Talking

In the exclusive hillside community of Bradbury, most conversation swirls around thoroughbred horses, not politics.

But in recent months, the redrawing of the City Council districts for the first time in 36 years has sundered the usually quiet San Gabriel Valley community, known more for its equestrian trails, sprawling ranches and mansions.

Under the old map, one district housed 122 residents and another had 348. With the realigning of boundaries, each of the five districts will have about 214 residents.

The largest district was split into two, giving the city’s northwest section and its gated communities two council representatives. The smallest seat -- District 5 in the southeast corner -- was folded into two neighboring districts and moved to form the new northwest seat.

“The council really wanted to preserve neighborhoods and wanted to avoid breaking up streets if possible, but there’s no way you can avoid it,” said Katie Wilson, Bradbury’s city manager.

Some residents say the redistricting was strong-armed through without much public input, dividing streets and neighborhoods that were in the same district. They say too much representation is being handed to residents in the city’s two gated communities.

People inside the gates “want to have control of the council and the city,” said Councilman Rick Barakat, who lives in and represents District 3, a neighborhood outside the gates. City officials and real estate agents say properties in Bradbury range from $500,000 outside the gates to more than $10 million behind them.

Barakat launched a petition drive to nullify the new map, which was approved last month and takes effect in 2006. If verified, the 160 signatures he collected are more than enough to force the City Council either to scrap the new boundaries or place the issue on the ballot.

Council members and city staff say the redistricting was long overdue and that the city of 1,074 residents had time to review and offer input. The way officials see it, the new map was the best way to keep neighborhoods intact and equalize the number of residents in each district -- the chief reason for redistricting, experts say.

Under the new plan, large swaths of gated territory will be divided among three council districts instead of the previous two. Officials say this was necessary to keep up with the dramatic growth in Bradbury Estates, the larger of the gated communities.

“Folks have been generally satisfied,” said Councilman Bill Todd, who lives in and serves the other gated community, Woodlyn Lane. “Now, I believe there seems to be forces bent on creating division where there was none and sensitivity where there was none before.”

Barakat, a business owner in neighboring Duarte, said it was remarkable for 160 people to sign his petition, considering how politically apathetic the community has been.

“For us to get that kind of turnout is huge,” said Barakat, who also supports at-large representation and is the only council member opposing the redistricting plan.

Opponents of redistricting fear that too much power for the gated neighborhoods could disenfranchise other city residents. They also want the $2.2 million in surplus money the council controls to be spent on public areas, although city officials point out that spending public funds in the gated communities is illegal.

There had been discussions about acquiring land north of the gated communities as a nature conservation area. City officials said public access would be provided, though not necessarily through the estates.

“People in the public area [of the city] have the benefit of using property tax money,” said Mayor Beatrice LaPisto-Kirtley, who supports the new map, in which her District 5 is usurped by another seat. “People behind the gate don’t have the benefit of using that money. Yet there’s never been any problem.”

Misuse of public funds is not without precedent, however. In 1993, a retired gadfly named Robert Penney found that the city was wrongly using county tax money to pay for guards at Bradbury Estates. The funding was stopped.

The City Council has until mid-June to respond to Barakat’s petition. Signatures were being verified by the county. By law, 100 confirmed names are needed to place the issue on the council agenda.

City Manager Wilson said the new map met legal requirements.

This has been the first serious challenge for the Bradbury City Council in more than 10 years. In 1993, Penney uncovered another scandal, going through garbage cans to find receipts showing that City Manager Aurora “Dolly” Vollaire had used thousands of city dollars to buy herself luxury goods. The news resulted in Vollaire’s imprisonment and the recall of two City Council members.

Yet Bradbury’s residents are more concerned with privacy and family than civic participation, some say. Elections have been canceled in recent years when no one volunteered to run for an open seat or challenge an incumbent. On occasion, a seat was left empty, forcing the city to appoint a council member.

Said Todd: “They just want peace and quiet.”