A Tale of Two Candidates and the Many Enclaves of L.A.

Election footnotes: The results of Tuesday’s voting underscore the deep divisions in Los Angeles. In his quest to become mayor, millionaire businessman Richard Riordan ran first in the four council districts on the Westside with the largest percentage of Anglo voters (see table at right). Councilman Mike Woo ran first in three districts, including his own Hollywood base, which have greater racial and ethnic diversity.

Riordan’s support was particularly strong in the city’s most affluent council district, an upscale swath of turf straddling the Santa Monica Mountains that has long been represented by Marvin Braude. Riordan’s “Tough Enough to Turn L.A. Around” message also was favorably received by one out of three voters in Ruth Galanter’s district. His margin was slightly lower in the Westside and San Fernando Valley districts of Zev Yaroslavsky and John Ferraro.

Woo drew more than a third of the votes cast in his home district, a multiracial and ethnic slice of the city that runs from Los Feliz and Hollywood to Silver Lake and Eagle Rock. And in the predominantly black areas represented by Councilmen Nate Holden and Mark Ridley-Thomas, Woo was the front-runner by a wide margin with Riordan back in the pack. But in a potentially important barometer of Woo’s prospects in the June 8 runoff, turnout in those inner-city precincts ran below the citywide average and the rest of the Westside.

The voters of Holden’s and Yaroslavsky’s district cast the strongest vote in favor of the ballot measure that would have raised property taxes to pay for 1,000 more police officers. Although Proposition 1 failed to win the two-thirds majority needed for passage citywide, it received the backing of nearly 70% of the voters in their districts. The measure narrowly lost in Ferraro’s district and ran further behind in the four other districts that encircle the Westside.

Council Location Yes on Riordan Woo District Prop.1 Ferraro (Mid-Wilshire, 66.4% 31.9% 28.5% District 4 Valley) Yaroslavsky (Fairfax, Valley, 68.5% 29.8% 18.5% District 5 Westwood) Galanter (Westchester, Venice, 61.8% 34.4% 25.8% District 6 West L.A.) Ridley-Thomas (Crenshaw, 63.3% 4.3% 47.6% District 8 South-Central) Holden (Mid-City, 69.2% 10.2% 43.2% District 10 Crenshaw) Braude (Brentwood, Valley, 62.9% 39.9% 16.8% District 11 Palisades) Woo (Hollywood, Silver 61.8% 25.9% 34.9% District 13 Lake, Eagle Rock)

Source: Los Angeles City Clerk

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Greener pastures?Environmental activist Laura Lake, who last week lost her second attempt in four years to unseat Yaroslavsky, says she may move to the San Fernando Valley.

“It’s a little bit less in the fast lane and I like that,” says the longtime slow-growth activist and former UCLA professor. “When you walk precincts, you see some nice homes.”

Lake, who was vastly outspent by Yaroslavsky, won only 26% of the vote last week, compared to 33% in 1989.

She and her husband, James, a UCLA microbiologist, moved into a Westwood Village apartment last December in order for her to run. Their house, which is up for sale, is in a part of Westwood that was dropped from the 5th Council District when the boundaries were redrawn last year.

Regardless of whether she takes the Valley plunge, Lake says she will resign as president of Friends of Westwood. “I’ve done my bit and now it’s somebody else’s turn,” she said.

Safety first: While riot fears and local elections have consumed much of official Los Angeles recently, a City Council committee has quietly conducted hearings in different parts of town seeking solutions to the city’s economic woes.

The Community and Economic Development Committee, chaired by Councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas, met at UCLA last week and got a pointed reminder that reducing crime and improving the business climate go hand-in-hand.

“You make what’s called the inner city safe, and I’ll be there, as will my firm,” said Roy Weinstein, president of Micronomics, a downtown economic consulting firm with 40 employees.

“And why will I be there? Because with (government incentives) I’ll save more than $800,000 a year in rent. I would like to have that money, frankly.”

Councilwoman Ruth Galanter, whose 6th Council District includes part of the Crenshaw area, quickly spoke up: “May I speak with you immediately afterward?”

Flying fur: Paul Koretz, coordinator for Joel Wachs’ unsuccessful mayoral bid, had already moved on to a new uphill crusade by election eve.

Cats.

The West Hollywood city councilman and animal lover--family dog Maile is included on the home answering machine greeting--was proposing cat-licensing as a way to save feline lives. Every year, he said, Los Angeles County kills 20,000 stray dogs and cats.

But the proposal made some people at Monday’s council meeting about as happy as a long-tail in a roomful of rocking chairs. There was talk of witch hunts and police states, accidental kitty hangings and fees, fees, fees.

One fancier suggested a license discount for “seniors and cats over 15 years old.” (Throughout the discussion, the politically correct term “animal companion” was favored over the demeaning “pet.”)

Animal welfare activists say licensing--$5 for altered cats, $10 for unaltered--would tighten control over felines and educate people about the need to neuter, much as pooper-scooper laws encourage owners to clean up. Breakaway collars would prevent hangings and ear-stud tags are coming into vogue anyway, they said.

The debate got downright mean when one curmudgeon tore into the Koretz aide who had carefully prepared the plan, saying the idea had the “level of intelligence of a garden slug.”

Apparently nobody had told the curmudgeon that, thanks to Koretz’s past efforts, West Hollywood is a “cruelty-free city.”

Cheap help: Malibu’s City Council has nixed a staff proposal to hire an Orange County firm to produce the city’s quarterly newsletter, and given the task to a troika of volunteers instead.

The consulting firm had estimated the cost of producing a community newsletter at $4,840 per issue for 10,000 copies.

“The bottom line is cost,” Mayor Walt Keller said last week. “It’s thousands of dollars that can be better used. I don’t think this community needs fancy froufrou to read this.”

The newsletter will be written by city staffers and by members of study groups and task forces under the direction of City Manager David Carmany.

The council overruled Keller’s proposal that the council approve the contents of the newsletter or review it for accuracy. Councilwoman Joan House argued that council oversight was unnecessary because the letter’s purpose is to disseminate factual information about city events and explain new ordinances.

The publication will be graphically designed and typed by a staff of volunteers, including Lucile Keller (the mayor’s wife), Joe Simon and Naurene Luse, who will also oversee printing and mailing. David Carmany said his goal is to have the newsletter out in the mail within a month.

Don’t get mad . . . Artists who approach Culver City for projects better not count on the support of Mayor James D. Boulgarides.

Boulgarides is smarting from a comment made by an artist commissioned to design tree grates for the downtown district. The artist was quoted in a newspaper article saying the city was cheap.

“I resent this community being called cheap. I think this community is frugal,” Boulgarides said during a recent meeting of the Culver City Redevelopment Agency. “I’m not going to vote any more money for artists. . . . I don’t appreciate being abused.”

Council meetings this week:

* Beverly Hills: no meeting. 450 N. Crescent Drive (310) 285-2400.

* Culver City: 7 p.m. Monday, Interim City Hall, Trailer 1, 4095 Overland Ave. (310) 202-5851.

* Los Angeles: 10 a.m. Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. 200 N. Spring St. (213) 485-3126.

* Malibu: 6:30 p.m. Monday, Hughes Laboratory, 3011 Malibu Canyon Road (310) 456-2489.

* Santa Monica: 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, 1685 Main St. (310) 393-9975.

* West Hollywood: 7 p.m. Monday. West Hollywood Park Auditorium, 647 N. San Vicente Blvd. (310) 854-7460.

Staff writers Jeffrey L. Rabin, Ron Russell, Bernice Hirabayashi and Ken Ellingwood and correspondent G. Jeanette Avent contributed to this story.