Los Angeles City Council District 5

Political neophyte Mike Feuer was elected to the Los Angeles City Council and veteran lawmaker Nate Holden held on to his job as voters Tuesday made their choices in a pair of freewheeling and contentious local races. In a city election that attracted only 13.3% of eligible voters to the polls, a ballot measure aimed at streamlining the handling of police misconduct cases passed easily, but a bond measure to build two police stations was unable to muster the two-thirds approval needed to pass.

The hotly contested race to replace Los Angeles Councilman Jack Weiss in a Westside-to-Encino district could be summed up in three words: insider versus outsider. An array of City Hall players have lined up behind former State Assemblyman Paul Koretz as he seeks the edge over neighborhood council member David T. Vahedi in Tuesday's election for the 5th District. Eleven of 15 council members have endorsed Koretz. Veteran lobbyist Harvey Englander opened his home for a fundraiser.

The battle to lay claim to the title of top law-and-order candidate in the 5th District City Council race heated up Thursday when Mike Feuer won the support of the city's police and firefighter unions while Barbara Yaroslavsky was endorsed by Sheriff Sherman Block. Both candidates immediately sought to use the endorsements as evidence that they are the most qualified to take a leadership post in a city where crime is a critical issue in the minds of voters.

If any section of Los Angeles knows how to confound the political establishment, it's the City Council's 5th District, a string of affluent Westside neighborhoods that has been electing newcomers and outsiders for decades. In 1953, voters picked 22-year-old Roz Wyman, now known for helping to woo the Brooklyn Dodgers to Los Angeles. Twelve years later, they threw out Wyman in favor of Ed Edelman, a 34-year-old political newcomer.

Ask most political consultants to comment on the hottest campaign so far this year and it's understood you're talking about the race for the 5th District City Council seat, the only campaign in which the candidates are expected to raise more than $1 million collectively.

To find ground zero of L.A's outdoor advertising wars, a good place to start is the Los Angeles City Council's 5th District -- or more specifically, a two-mile stretch of Westwood Boulevard. Your first stop would be Westwood at Wilshire Boulevard, where supergraphics -- large vinyl images -- are stretched across opposite sides of a 12-story medical building.

Already under fire for moving into the 5th District to run for a Los Angeles City Council seat, former state Sen. Tom Hayden is facing new questions from political opponents about where he lives. Jack Weiss, a former federal prosecutor running against Hayden and nine others in the 5th District, questioned whether Hayden meets legal residency requirements and called Wednesday for the city attorney to investigate.

City Council candidate Tom Hayden has moved from a Westwood guest house into the main house on the same property after questions were raised about his legal residency. Hayden had said he had moved from his Brentwood home into a guest house in the backyard of campaign coordinator Sandy Brown to establish residency in the 5th Los Angeles City Council District so he could compete in the April 10 election. That move drew charges of carpetbagging from other candidates.

Joined by Warren Beatty, Dustin Hoffman and other Hollywood celebrities at a fund-raiser in Studio City, 5th City Council District candidate Tom Hayden proposed Tuesday that the city take more of a leading role in making sure Los Angeles remains a major entertainment industry hub. At a star-studded event expected to raise about $20,000 for his campaign, Hayden said his goals go beyond seeking to stem the tide of runaway production.

Two candidates vying to represent the Westwood-to-Van Nuys district on the Los Angeles City Council said Thursday that a third candidate had tried to persuade them to drop out. Victor Viereck and Jill Barad said opponent Ken Gerston of Sherman Oaks approached them about abandoning their campaigns. Gerston said he suggested that Viereck and Barad drop out and support him to further the influence of the San Fernando Valley. "We need a Valley representative here.

Of the many issues facing the six candidates in the 5th District City Council race in Los Angeles, none is potentially thornier than the routing of the proposed Expo Line light rail. Should the train run along the old rail right-of-way that cuts through several residential neighborhoods between the 10 Freeway and Pico Boulevard? And, if so, should the train cross busy north-south streets or go under or over them?

Five o'clock on a workday and you're about to pull into traffic: Let's hope you're not in a hurry, especially if you're on the Westside of Los Angeles. Times editors asked the six candidates in the Los Angeles City Council's 5th District race about their ideas for easing traffic problems in that part of town. Here are excerpts from their answers to this question: What concrete proposals will you pursue to reduce traffic congestion in the 5th Council District? Adeena N.

To find ground zero of L.A's outdoor advertising wars, a good place to start is the Los Angeles City Council's 5th District -- or more specifically, a two-mile stretch of Westwood Boulevard. Your first stop would be Westwood at Wilshire Boulevard, where supergraphics -- large vinyl images -- are stretched across opposite sides of a 12-story medical building.

Tom Hayden conceded defeat Tuesday in his race for the Los Angeles City Council, using the occasion to blast what he called the "shameful insider culture of power" at City Hall. Hayden's concession in the 5th District came as the council voted Tuesday to certify Jack Weiss' victory by 369 votes of 53,000 cast on June 5. Weiss, a former federal prosecutor, will take office July 1.

With all of the votes finally counted in two close contests for Los Angeles City Council, the winners did not change Saturday: Dennis Zine was the narrow victor over Judith Hirshberg in the 3rd District race and Jack Weiss won over Tom Hayden in the 5th District.

City Council candidate Tom Hayden announced Monday that he has canceled a fund-raiser that had been planned for the offices of Hustler magazine, citing concerns over the event becoming a "media circus." Hayden, a former state senator from Westwood, had come under fire last week from opponent Jack Weiss in the 5th District race for planning a fund-raiser in the office of Larry Flynt, who publishes the pornographic magazine.

Tom Hayden has lent his campaign for Los Angeles City Council another $150,000, bringing to $321,000 the total he has personally spent on loans in the primary and runoff elections. That heavy spending may also benefit his opponent, former prosecutor Jack Weiss, under city rules designed to control fund-raising and spending for local political campaigns. City ordinances generally limit individual donations to $500.

In an attempt to improve living conditions in specific areas of the 5th Council District, Councilman Mike Feuer has scheduled community meetings to establish pilot "Livable Neighborhood Councils." "The purpose of the councils will be to involve enthusiastic and committed members of the community in shaping the quality of life in their respective neighborhoods," Feuer said.

Tom Hayden has lent his campaign for Los Angeles City Council another $150,000, bringing to $321,000 the total he has personally spent on loans in the primary and runoff elections. That heavy spending may also benefit his opponent, former prosecutor Jack Weiss, under city rules designed to control fund-raising and spending for local political campaigns. City ordinances generally limit individual donations to $500.

It was an exchange reminiscent of Lloyd Bentsen's put-down of Dan Quayle in 1988, when he said "I knew Jack Kennedy . . . you are no Jack Kennedy." The latest Tom Hayden-Jack Weiss tiff in the 5th Council District race involves who is more representative of the Robert F. Kennedy legacy.