Pros, Cons of Redevelopment at Issue in Compton Election

COMPTON —  The direction of this city’s economic redevelopment may be at stake Tuesday, when about 7,000 voters are expected to cast ballots in six municipal races, including two for City Council and one for mayor.

Mayor Walter Tucker and council incumbents Robert Adams Sr. and Floyd James have all emphasized their roles as architects of Compton’s recovery, while most of their 10 challengers have insisted that the reconstruction effort is a sham that lines developers’ pockets while touching the lives of too few city residents.

Voters also will be asked to take sides in two increasingly bitter council races.

James and Adams have charged Rep. Mervyn M. Dymally (D-Compton) with “bossism,” alleging that the congressman opposes their candidacies because they would not become part of Dymally’s “slate” of candidates for city offices.

The congressman as policy has endorsed only incumbents in local races. He said he withdrew his support this year because Adams allegedly broke a promise to support Dymally aide Patricia Moore and James “lied” by telling Dymally he intended to run for mayor, then said publicly he never intended to do so.

Charges Denied

Both Adams and James denied the charges.

Dymally acknowledged that he has helped raise about $17,000 for part-time aide Moore, who is running against James in District 2.

In District 3, Dymally has endorsed Compton Community College trustee Emily Hart-Holifield, who has reminded voters with an unsigned print advertisement that Adams pleaded guilty last year to disturbing the peace after being charged with assaulting a woman at a city social function.

To Adams’ charge of “dirty politics,” Hart-Holifield said, “It’s not dirty politics. It’s real politics. That’s when you remind the people of what kind of person they have in office.”

In a match-up that may be the election’s most interesting, Tucker and Councilman Maxcy Filer, two of the city’s most popular politicians and avowed friends, are politely running for mayor.

Construction of a $675-million trolley line through the city center was a potential major issue that never materialized, candidates said, because Tucker and Filer have both opposed it in its present form and because a City Council light-rail vote is scheduled for April 23, long before election winners take office July 1.

In all, 37,197 registered voters may choose Tuesday from 19 candidates, including two each for city attorney, clerk and treasurer. If a candidate fails to get a majority of the vote in a race, the top two vote-getters will advance to a June 4 runoff.

Voters from throughout the city may cast ballots in all six races, though council members must live in the districts they represent. Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Council seats held by Jane Robbins and Filer are not up for election until 1987. Filer will retain his council seat if he loses to Tucker. If he wins, the council will appoint his replacement.

While high unemployment and street-corner drug trafficking have been hot campaign issues, the course of redevelopment was central to most council and mayoral debates.

Adams and James, both council members since 1977, and Tucker, a councilman before he defeated incumbent Mayor Lionel Cade in 1981, see the new construction as their doing. They point proudly to a $20-million shopping center, about 1,000 new dwell ings, a prosperous light-industry zone and the impending construction of a $30-million hotel and convention center.

The property-tax base in the redevelopment zones has increased fourfold since 1973, while sales taxes from the new businesses have brought the city hundreds of thousands of dollars of revenue annually, city officials say.

Tucker, 60, cites redevelopment when he takes the strongest of his mild swipes at Filer, 54, a councilman since 1976.

“I like Maxcy; he’s like an old shoe,” said Tucker. “But I wouldn’t like to see him in the position of mayor because of some of the negative votes he’s made. I don’t know what makes Maxcy tick, but when he wants to take the gavel out of my hands, I have to say compare the records. I try to be progressive.”

Filer, who often finds himself the lone vote against redevelopment projects, said he is proud of his record. “Many times they’ve brought things to us with a rush, saying they must be done now, and I just can’t do it that way. I must have all the evidence before me,” he said.

Enforce Existing Laws

Compton can improve itself more by enforcing existing laws than by continually supporting multimillion-dollar projects that may not be needed, said Filer. But Tucker insisted that without the jobs created by the new projects, Filer’s talk of code enforcement is “just hogwash.”

Moore, Hart-Holifield and fellow council candidates James Hays Jr., Fred Cressel and Walter Goodin have all been sharply critical of redevelopment.

“The biggest issue is redevelopment,” said Hart-Holifield, “because what the people of this community see is not really what we have gotten.”

She and others complained about projects where they said they believed developers have gotten extraordinary deals from the city, while longtime businesses have been displaced and far fewer jobs have materialized than had been promised.

The new shopping center has been a disappointment, said Moore, bringing to town only discount stores with low-quality goods and luring supermarkets that were already in town. “They told us we were going to get . . . a Bullock’s and now we get a Zody’s,” said Hart-Holifield.

Direct-Mail Tabloid

The Dymally flap has developed over the last few days, as Compton residents have received through the mail a tabloid praising six candidates endorsed by Dymally, including Moore and Hart-Holifield, and criticizing Adams and James.

The tabloid was published as a private venture by Willard Murray, a Dymally staff assistant, not by the congressman, said Murray and Dymally.

Dymally added, however, he had guaranteed Murray that the costs of the mailer would be paid by the Moore campaign if other endorsed candidates fail to pay their share of costs.

James said Dymally, who endorsed him four years ago, has turned against him now because James refused to run against Mayor Tucker, which he said Dymally requested last year.

In an interview Thursday, Dymally said James does not deserve his endorsement because James told Dymally that he intended to run for mayor, then changed his mind and “lied” about their conversation in a newspaper article. Dymally said James was asking his support for the mayoral race, not the other way around, as James claimed.

Adams claimed that Dymally, an ally for years, is opposing him because Adams would not support Moore against James and because Adams would not pay $4,000 toward the cost of the tabloid.

‘Unfair Tactics’

“I’m charging Dymally with trying to control Compton politics,” said Adams. “It’s OK for him to endorse who he wants, but I don’t like these unfair tactics. He’s supposed to represent the 31st Congressional District, not one person, Pat Moore. He’s bringing bossism into this city.”

Dymally said Adams lost his endorsement because Adams asked Moore to run for council but later refused to endorse her.

Adams said he has worked with Moore but never committed to support her against James.

Moore, president of Compton’s United Council of Block Clubs and a community activist in her own right, said she is insulted by assertions that she is Dymally’s candidate.

“Pat Moore . . . is supported by the congressman, (but) she is the people’s candidate. She’s a reputable citizen who’s lived in this city 20 years and has been active. No one said James was Dymally’s candidate (in 1981),” Moore said. “Why must a woman be called Dymally’s candidate?”

The disputes may just have started in the council races, because Adams has five opponents and James two, and a runoff election seems probable in at least one race.

The candidates for each of the six races are as follows:

--Mayor: Tucker, Filer, Edward Loney and Willie Bobbit.

Tucker is a dentist; Filer helps run a center where teen-agers are taught about government and is a part-time aide to Assemblyman Frank Vicencia (D-Bellflower). Loney, 44, is an equipment operator for the county sanitation department. Bobbit, 46, said he is a supervisor for a construction company.

The part-time job pays $1,200 a month, plus $300 expenses, the same as other council positions.

--Council District 2: James, Moore and Hays.

James, 44, is a self-described real estate speculator who also runs a dry-cleaning business. Moore, 36, works for Dymally and is in her third race in five years for a council seat, having lost by only 78 votes in 1983. Hays, 28-year-old director of the Compton YMCA, is on the ballot after a legal fight with the city about purported errors on his filing documents. He is hoping for a runoff but thinks the document squabble hurt his campaign.

--Council District 3: Adams, Hart-Holifield, Cressel, Goodin, Cleophas Dunlap and Seth Francois.

Adams, 53, owns two funeral homes. Hart-Holifield, 44, is a nine-year community college trustee and a special education teacher. Cressel, 47, is a longtime local businessman. Goodin, 37, owns a maintenance and painting service and is vice president of the Compton block clubs. Dunlap, 48, is a warehouse foreman and Francois, 20, lists his occupation as entrepreneur.

Race for Attorney

--City attorney: Wesley Fenderson Jr. and Frank Bazadier.

Fenderson, 38, has led the 17-person office since 1980 and was a deputy city attorney before that. Bazadier, 51, was director of the Southeast Legal Aid in Compton for seven years and is now a Lynwood criminal attorney.

The job pays about $56,000 a year.

--City clerk: Charles Davis and Louis Johnson. Davis, 40, has been clerk since 1973 and also owns a travel agency and pizza parlor. Johnson, 28, an operations analyst at Fairchild Control Systems, was excluded from the ballot after errors were found on his qualifying documents. He has qualified as a write-in candidate.

The job pays about $37,000 a year.

--City treasurer: Wesley Sanders Jr. and Delores Zurita. Sanders, 51, who also owns a meat market, has been treasurer since 1973. Zurita, 48, has been director of Compton’s Senior Nutrition Program for eight years.

The job pays about $37,000 a year.