SOUTHBAY ELECTIONS : 18 Council Seats on Line in 10 Cities

Voters in 10 South Bay cities will go to the polls Tuesday to elect a total of 18 city council members, two mayors, one treasurer and two city clerks. There also are eight ballot measures on subjects ranging from the election of mayors to the sale of fireworks and the maintenance of city parks.

Elections are scheduled in Avalon, El Segundo, Gardena, Hawthorne, Hermosa Beach, Lawndale, Lomita, Manhattan Beach, Palos Verdes Estates and Carson. Voters can contact their city clerks to answer questions about the elections, including the location of polling places.

In Avalon, voters will elect two council members from a field of six candidates. Incumbents Irene L. Strobel and W. F. (Oley) Olsen III are being challenged by Roger Cadman; retired insurance company manager Hal Host; Quintin A. Leonhardi, a former chef and restaurant consultant; and fast-food restaurant owner Hal Starr. Personalities, rather than issues, have dominated that campaign.

The Avalon ballot also will include a measure, Proposition D, to create a fire station assessment district, and proposals for the direct election of the mayor who now is chosen by council members. Polls in Avalon will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

In the El Segundo race for two council seats, incumbents Charles Armstrong and Le Synadinos are being challenged by Harry Robert Anderson, a retired oil company maintenance superintendent; retired oil company employee Robert H. Stull; and Alan West, the school board president. The fate of suspended City Manager Nicholas Romaniello has become the most dramatic issue in the campaign. Romaniello was suspended from his post last week pending an investigation of charges that he tried to obtain confidential police reports about candidate West.

Polls in El Segundo will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

A dispute over an apartment development has put some fire into the Gardena election, in which four candidates are vying for two council seats, and Mayor Donald Dear is running unopposed for reelection. The building dispute focuses on Proposition A, which would allow a 4.45-acre parcel to be changed from single-family to multiple-family zoning. An 84-unit complex that has been proposed for the property is being opposed by nearby residents, but supporters say the project will provide much-needed rental housing.

In the Gardena City Council contest, incumbents Mas Fukai and Gwen Duffy are being challenged by Ollie B. Hadley, a part-time teacher, and Terry Kennedy, a U.S. Customs supervisor. Candidates have taken stands on both sides of the zoning dispute.

Polls in Gardena will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Hawthorne, like Gardena, has seen apartment development emerge as the major issue in a three-candidate race for one open seat on the City Council, which was left vacant in November when Betty Ainsworth was elected mayor. Candidates are Larry Guyer, a former councilman who is a quadriplegic receiving Social Security disability benefits; Ginny McGinnis Lambert, an aerospace administrative assistant; and Dick Mansfield, a communications company employee.

In addition to selecting a council member, Hawthorne voters will be asked whether they want to continue to directly elect a mayor or revert to the former practice of having the mayor chosen by the council.

Hawthorne polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Emphasizing the need to improve Hermosa Beach finances, two incumbents and three challengers are going after three seats on the City Council. The ballot also will include an advisory measure on whether to permit oil drilling in Santa Monica Bay.

The candidates are incumbents George Barks and Jack Wood; businessman Jim Rosenberger; Etta Simpson, a community advocate; and June Williams, who served on a defunct city zoning board.

Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Voters will elect a mayor and one council member in Lawndale, where off-street parking in a city of narrow streets is the principal issue. Voters also will choose a city clerk.

In a three-way race for mayor, incumbent Sarann Kruse is opposed by Councilman Jim Ramsey and Edward C. Roberts, a retired school maintenance worker and former mayor. Vying for the council seat, which Ramsey is giving up in his bid for mayor, are Louise Jones, an escrow officer; office manager Virginia Rhodes; manufacturing production manager Larry Rudolph; and Anthony Smith, a truck driver.

The race for clerk has three candidates: Roslyn Jo Havertape, co-owner of a label firm; Gary M. McDonald, a shopping mall administrator; and aerospace employee Neil Roth.

Polls in Lawndale will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

The Lomita ballot includes two explosive advisory measures. In one, voters will be asked if the city should continue to permit “safe and sane” fireworks to be sold and used. In the second, they will be asked if they approve of fireworks sales if police protection is doubled on the nights of July 3 and 4 at the expense of fireworks vendors, and if users of illegal fireworks are prosecuted to the full extent of the law. Neither measure is binding on the City Council.

The three candidates for three City Council seats are virtually assured election. They are incumbents Robert Hargrave and Harold Hall; and Peter J. Rossick, an elementary school teacher.

Lomita polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

In Manhattan Beach, the retirement of two council members has created vacancies that seven candidates are scrambling to fill. Although several issues have been raised, the main one--as in Carson--is the current council division.

Candidates are airline employee Connie Sieber; businessman Mike Collins; Bruce S. Ponder, a management consultant; businesswoman Geraldine (Gerry) Johnson; Steve Barnes, a law enforcement officer; Tim Lilligren, a certified public accountant; and economist Laurence Dougharty.

Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Concern about voter apathy in Palos Verdes Estates, where the only contested issue on the ballot is the four-year renewal of a special property tax, prompted a post card and telephone campaign by an informal citizens group that supports the tax. The measure, Proposition B on the ballot, has carried by large margins in the past. Revenue from the tax would pay for such things as street sweeping, irrigation improvements and maintenance of city trees, shrubs, parks and open space. The tax would be $74 per parcel in 1986-87 and increase yearly, reaching $84 by 1990. There is no organized opposition.

Incumbents James Kinney, Ruth Gralow and Edward Ritscher are running unopposed for reelection to the City Council.

Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Carson voters elect two council members, the city treasurer and city clerk.

Polls in Carson will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. (See Carson election story, Page 1.)