Local Elections : Among the Options on Nov. 8: Making History

Besides participating in the election of the next President, South Bay voters Tuesday will send a new congressman to Washington, decide the fate of myriad local ballot measures, and probably make history.

For the first time in more than 100 years, voters could elect someone to the Assembly after his death. The expected victory of Assemblyman Curtis R. Tucker (D-Inglewood), who died of cancer on Oct. 9, would set the stage for a special election next year to fill the vacancy in the 50th Assembly District.

Tucker’s name will appear on the Nov. 8 ballot because he died after they were printed. Also on the ballot is Republican Michael Davis, a Los Angeles businessman. Four write-in candidates are seeking the seat in the solidly Democratic district that runs from El Segundo and Westchester through Inglewood to South-Central Los Angeles.

Elsewhere in the South Bay, one thing is certain: Residents of the 42nd Congressional District will have a new congressman when the votes are counted.

After 10 years in Congress, Rep. Daniel E. Lungren (R-Long Beach) did not seek reelection in the Republican-dominated district, which runs along the coast from Torrance to Huntington Beach.

GOP candidate Dana Rohrabacher of Lomita, a former White House speech writer, is favored over Democrat Guy C. Kimbrough, a community college instructor from Huntington Beach, and Peace and Freedom candidate Richard D. Rose, a community activist from Long Beach.

Most incumbent lawmakers, who raised more money and are better known, are expected to have little difficulty fending off their opponents in Tuesday’s balloting.

The only race in question is the 53rd Assembly District, where Assemblyman Richard E. Floyd (D-Carson) and Republican Charles Bookhammer have been locked in an expensive and bitterly negative war of words.

Bookhammer, a Hawthorne city councilman, is the latest in a long line of Republican candidates seeking to topple Floyd in the traditionally Democratic working-class district, which includes Hawthorne, Carson, Gardena, Lawndale and north Redondo Beach.

In the 51st Assembly District, Assemblyman Gerald N. Felando (R-San Pedro) faces Democrat Mark Wirth, a Torrance city councilman. The coastal district, which extends from Manhattan Beach to the western edge of San Pedro, including Torrance and Lomita, is Republican territory.

To the south and east, Assemblyman Dave Elder (D-Long Beach) is expected to have little trouble beating Republican David Ball and Peace and Freedom candidate Justine Bellock. The 57th Assembly District, which includes San Pedro, Wilmington, Harbor City and Long Beach, is a Democratic stronghold.

The South Bay’s only state Senate race pits Sen. Robert G. Beverly (R-Manhattan Beach) against Democrat Jack Hachmeister, a Manhattan Beach attorney, and Libertarian candidate Steve Kelley, an advertising copywriter.

Beverly should have little difficulty winning a fourth term in the 29th Senate District, which stretches along the Republican beachfront from El Segundo to the Orange County line. The district also includes Torrance, the Palos Verdes Peninsula, San Pedro and much of Long Beach.

All of the South Bay’s incumbent congressmen, who are running for reelection, can be confident of the outcome of their campaigns against under-financed challengers.

In the 27th Congressional District, Rep. Mel Levine (D-Santa Monica) faces Republican Dennis Galbraith, a utility worker from Redondo Beach, and Libertarian William J. Fulco, a computer engineer from Venice. The Democratic district follows the water from Malibu to Redondo Beach and runs inland to Lawndale and Harbor Gateway.

In the 31st Congressional District, Rep. Mervyn D. Dymally (D-Compton) faces Republican Arnold C. May, a Bellflower printer, and Peace and Freedom candidate B. Kwaku Duren, a community activist from Long Beach. The traditionally Democratic district includes Hawthorne, Gardena, Carson, Compton, Paramount and Bellflower.

The same is true in the neighboring 32nd Congressional District, where Rep. Glenn M. Anderson (D-Harbor City) faces Republican businessman Sanford W. Kahn of Long Beach and Libertarian Marc F. Denny of Hermosa Beach. The Democratic district includes San Pedro, Harbor City, Wilmington, Long Beach, Lakewood and Downey.

Voters in two South Bay cities also must decide whether they favor increasing taxes to hire more police officers.

Hawthorne voters will be asked to boost the city’s utility tax from 3.5% to 6% to raise $2 million so the city can expand its police force. The increase, which would cost the average household an estimated $3.75 per month, would enable the Police Department to hire 19 additional officers.

In Inglewood, an advisory measure is on the ballot asking voters if they want to establish a new assessment district to finance 20 additional police officers. The district would cost single-family homeowners an extra $45 in property taxes per year. Apartment owners would be assessed on a sliding scale based on their number of units, while commercial and industrial properties would be charged based on street frontage.

Inglewood voters also are being asked to approve a proposal by Inglewood Park Cemetery to rezone a 10-acre parcel it has bought so the cemetery can expand and build 13 new homes.

And a special Inglewood Unified School District board election pits the city’s former police chief, Joseph Rouzan, against insurance underwriter and PTA activist Jewett Walker.

Hermosa Beach voters will decide the fate of three ballot measures offering different approaches to developing the beachfront property where the Biltmore Hotel once stood. Residents also will be asked to ratify increases in the city’s business license, motel and residential development taxes that were approved earlier by the City Council.

Torrance voters must decide two charter amendment questions. The first measure would allow city officials to prosecute some misdemeanors as infractions. The change would eliminate a jail sentence as a possible penalty and save the city money on jury trials. The other measure would allow the city to publish a summary of a new ordinance in a local newspaper rather than the entire text.

On the Palos Verdes Peninsula, Rolling Hills Estates voters will decide on the recall of Jerome Belsky, a 12-year veteran of the City Council. A companion measure asks if Belsky’s seat should be filled by appointment or special election if he is recalled.

In Redondo Beach, Hermosa Beach and Manhattan Beach, three people will be elected to the 5-member South Bay Hospital District board. Incumbents Virginia D. Fischer, Mary Davis and Eva T. Snow face challengers Steve Schlesinger and Jack Shakely.