City Councils

Will Latino candidates win City Council seats for the first time in two overwhelmingly Latino cities? Will a one-year resident of Cerritos be able to win a council seat after raising a startling $104,000 in campaign funds--more than four times the amount raised by his nearest competitor. Will critics of the Whittier City Council's plans for rebuilding the city after the 1987 earthquake win the race for two council seats?

A Boston city councilor whose stances have angered black and gay leaders was voted council president, making him the city's second-ranking official. Since being elected a councilor in 1984, James Kelly opposed affirmative action and voted against the extension of city benefits to homosexuals' partners. In earlier years, he opposed court-ordered busing to racially integrate schools and forced integration of public housing. Seven of the council's 13 members voted for Kelly.

A group of Newport Beach residents has begun a petition drive to limit City Council terms to two. This week, Newport Residents to Limit Council Terms filed the preliminary documents necessary to amend the City Charter. They plan to start collecting signatures by the end of next week, spokeswoman Janine Gault said. Amending the City Charter would require a referendum on the November ballot, she said.

Five candidates have filed papers for three seats to be filled in the April 10 City Council election. Thursday was the deadline to file for the unexpired two-year term left vacant by the resignation of Ronald B. Hoesterey. The deadline for the two four-year positions will be automatically extended until Feb. 6 because council member Ursula E. Kennedy is not seeking reelection.

Although the City Council election is seven months away, marketing consultant Ray Carolin declared himself a candidate Friday in an attempt to capitalize on the defeat of an effort to recall Councilman Robert A. Curtis. By a 2-to-1 margin last week, voters defeated a recall campaign against Curtis that was heavily financed by the Mission Viejo Co. In a press release, Carolin, 42, accused the company, as well as Mayor Christian W. Keena and Council members Victoria C. Jaffe and Norman P.

Ralph Nader may not be president-elect, but his Green Party has a victory to celebrate: Voters in this Northern California university town have elected a Green City Council majority. The win marks the first time the Greens have won control of a city government, national coordinator Betty Wood said Wednesday from the party's New York headquarters. "It's fantastic," she said. "I hope it's a foreshadowing of things to come."

In the final, frantic hours of the legislative session, the Assembly last weekend approved a bill that would make it possible for communities like the San Fernando Valley to secede from their mother cities. Gov. Pete Wilson should sign AB 62, which removes the power of city councils statewide to unilaterally block secession efforts. Stripping councils of that veto power restores the balance necessary to keep municipal government responsive and accountable.

The cities of Calabasas and San Fernando will hold City Council elections today. In Calabasas, three first-time candidates and an incumbent are running for two seats. They are incumbent Dennis Washburn, 56; Daniel S. Glaser, 30, chairman of the city's Park and Recreation Commission; Helene Regen, 58, chairwoman of the city's Tree Board Commission, and Janice Lee, 48, an environmental advocate and businesswoman.

Sometimes, it's more like watching "America's Funniest Home Videos" than the dignified proceedings of representative democracy. In Tustin, a speaker brandishing a stuffed rooster urged the City Council to lift a longstanding ban on live farm animals. In Newport Beach, a city official--who had tuned in at home--phoned in during a meeting to talk a colleague through technical difficulties he was experiencing with a council video presentation.

Every city council on the ballot, except Simi Valley's, picked up a new face when the votes were tallied early Wednesday, but not necessarily a new direction. In Thousand Oaks, for instance, an open seat once held by a slow-growth advocate was filled by a like-minded candidate--Linda Parks--leaving the balance on the divided council unchanged.