Long Beach Elections : Key Issues: Crime, Airport : 7 Hopefuls Scramble to Fill Void in Tuttle’s 8th District

LONG BEACH —  The 8th Council District is a land of extremes.

The stark Carmelitos housing project rises about a mile across the tracks from the upper-crust estates surrounding the Virginia Country Club. The heart of the district contains proud middle-class neighborhoods like Bixby Knolls and California Heights.

For almost a decade, Councilman Edd Tuttle has been a unifying force in his domain. While popular for his personal involvement on issues affecting the district, he abruptly announced last December that he would not seek another term after his ex-wife garnished his city paycheck for non-payment of back child support.

Suddenly, the 8th District council seat was thrown open for all comers in the April 12 primary election.

The announcement provided only the briefest of respites for oil drilling company executive Jeffrey A. Kellogg, who had been walking the district since last summer in anticipation of a challenge to unseat Tuttle.

The void created by Tuttle’s announcement was quickly filled by city Planning Commissioner Pat Schauer, the councilman’s campaign manager. Schauer not only has Tuttle’s endorsement, but most of his campaign war chest as well: $10,000 given as an interest-free loan.

And along came other candidates as diverse as the district itself.

There is Joaquin M. (Kin) Borja, a shipyard employee services manager who is president of an association for former South Pacific islanders; Glenn W. Crout, director of the North Long Beach Neighborhood Center and an activist for the poor; and mortgage broker Michael W. Fisher.

Rounding out the field are Hursel C. Johnson, 82, a retired North Long Beach real estate broker, and Randall J. Morris, a TRW data analyst.

For campaign contributions, the attention is focused squarely on Schauer and Kellogg.

Schauer reported that with the Tuttle loan and other contributions, she had collected $14,095 during January and February. She spent all but $2,590, according to campaign finance reports submitted to the City Clerk last week.

Tuttle said he contacted major contributors to let them know he was making the loan to Schauer. In his most recent financial disclosure statement, filed Feb. 10, Tuttle said he had $17,075 in his campaign account before making the Schauer loan. His biggest contributors included Mike Choppin, president of IDM Corp., $3,000; auto dealer Van Palmer, $2,000; City Councilman Warren Harwood, Mayor Ernie Kell and Harbor Commissioner Joel Friedland, each giving $1,500; and the Long Beach Firefighters Local 373, $1,250.

Tuttle said he hopes to deliver a total of about $30,000 in cash and non-monetary contributions, like computerized voter information, to the Schauer campaign during the course of the race. “We’ll have plenty of money,” he said.

For Schauer, the Tuttle loan is apparently a sensitive topic.

“I would really not be excited about your dissecting the loan in the newspaper,” she told a reporter. “I think of all the really critical issues we have in the 8th District, to talk about the loan is a disservice to the readers.”

Schauer said that for the most part, she does not know who donated the funds loaned to her by Tuttle. The report states that the loan is due for repayment Dec. 31, 1991 “if (the) election is won.” Schauer said she does not have to pay it back if she loses.

Besides the loan, her report shows her contributions include a total of $3,000 from two harbor commissioners. Joel Friedland gave $2,000 and George Talin gave $1,000.

Kellogg reported receiving $20,845 during the two-month period, added to $6,485 in previous contributions. He had $16,894 remaining after his spending.

Contributors Listed

His list of contributors includes $150 from Planning Commission Chairwoman Nancy Latimer and her husband; $250 from Harbor Bank Chairman James H. Gray; $125 from former Planning Commissioner Richard F. Gaylord; $100 from Harbor Commission President David L. Hauser and his wife; $250 from Wrather Port Properties President Joseph F. Prevratil; and $250 from the campaign fund of Assemblyman Dennis Brown (R-Long Beach.)

Fisher reported a $400 loan to himself and $50 in non-monetary contributions. Morris submitted a form indicating he will collect and spend less than $1,000 during the campaign. The other candidates did not submit statements by the deadline.

Schauer, 46, clearly has the longest list of political activities and community involvement of any candidate in the race. In addition to serving on an array of community committees, she was chairwoman of Councilman Ray Grabinski’s winning campaign in the neighboring 7th District in 1986, as well as heading Tuttle’s scuttled effort.

She owns The Schauer Group, a real estate firm that specializes in property management.

Schauer said she completely backs the Police Department. Instead of a proposed citizen oversight police review board suggested by some community groups last year after allegations of police abuses, Schauer said she wants a police support board. The board members would find out what officers want, she said, and then try to get it for them.

She Lacks Information

She said she hopes that a federal court trial of a challenge of the city’s airport noise ordinance will establish more local control over the airport. She has no specific plans, however, to try to further curb airport noise because she said she does not have “full information” necessary to formulate plans.

What Kellogg lacks in political background, he is trying to make up in enthusiasm. He said he has walked the entire district--home to an estimated 42,600 people--twice since he started campaigning.

A 34-year-old former Jordan High School football star, Kellogg works as a vice president of the family oil drilling business.

The 8th District native said he opposes airport growth. The airport, he said, is not generating as much revenue as it should for a facility its size. The city should add a surcharge to airline tickets to generate more money, he said.

The city should hire more police officers, he said. “Our number of police officers has dropped. We are asking the police to do more with less.” He is not specific about how he would pay for the new officers, although he said they might be supported by new revenue or by cutting other city departments.

Crime Deterrent Needed

Borja, 39, said he also favors hiring more police, but he would use them as public relations representatives, not gun-toting street cops. “To deter crime is not to put more guns on the street,” he said.

More needs to be done to control the number of flights out of the airport, he said. He hopes those powers will be granted to the city in the federal court case now being tried.

Besides the trial, Borja said the city should devote more resources toward solving the airport noise problem. He said he suspects some people living under the flight path have suffered hearing loss.

Borja, who earned a master’s degree in public administration at California State University, Long Beach, said the city has overlooked the needs of the poor, especially in housing. Low-interest loans and other measures need to be taken to help them, he said.

Crout, 47, makes concern for the poor the centerpiece of his campaign. Indeed, it is his life. He is director of the North Long Beach Community Center and said he is actively involved in trying to rejuvenate the Carmelitos Community Center.

“Those persons below the median income are not served by City Hall,” he charged. “I am advocating fair and affordable housing for all segments of the population.”

Activists Endorse Him

A 16-year Long Beach resident, Crout has the endorsement of the Long Beach Area Citizens Involved activist group.

Fisher said he has lived in the district all but three of his 27 years. He is a mortgage broker and spent five years as a crisis center counselor dealing with drugs, alcohol abuse and suicide.

He said putting pressure on the aerospace industry to develop quieter engines could prove more fruitful than trying to close the airport. “I’m not against the airport,” he said. “An international city without an airport is a joke.”

A family man with a wife, two children and two pit bull terriers, Fisher opposes the city’s new vicious-dog law on grounds that it does not properly address “improper care and neglect on the part of the owner,” and instead provides for confiscation of the dogs.

Campaign Spending Deplored

Johnson, 82, operated H.C. Johnson Realty for about a decade before he retired. He also worked on a Nevada railroad, was a shipyard worker and held a general contractor’s license.

He said the amount of money being spent in the race by Schauer and Kellogg is a “dirty shame” that shows there is “something wrong” with the system. He said he “doesn’t think the city can get along without an airport” and added that his decision not to take a hard stance on the issue has cost him the vote of some of his friends.

Morris, 34, said he entered the race because he wants to give something back to the community in which he is raising his family. He said development is not being properly controlled and that he is concerned about the projected $18-million shortfall in the city’s budget, but does not know yet what he would do about it.

Pressure should be put on the Federal Aviation Administration to limit flights at the airport for the sake of safety. “It’s getting as crowded in the skies as the freeways at rush hour,” he said.

As of July 1, when the new District 8 representative will be sworn in, the annual salary for council members will be $16,875.