Local Elections : Supermarket Delay Is Central Issue in Duarte

Jim Kirchner and Lino S. Paras are challenging incumbents John E. Hitt, Terry Michaelis and John Van Doren for seats on the Duarte City Council.

The central issue in the campaign has been the City Council’s efforts to bring a major supermarket to Duarte. Last month, city officials announced that a Ralphs market will open in mid-1990 at the site of the old Gemco store on Huntington Drive. The challengers have said the council took too long to lure a supermarket to the city.

Kirchner said the council knew of the need for a supermarket long before Gemco closed two years ago but that it was not responsive to that need.

Incumbents say the council began the search for a supermarket even before Gemco closed and that preparations, such as acquiring the land and interviewing potential tenants, went on long before a deal was finalized. The delay resulted from doubts on the part of supermarket officials that a Duarte store would attract enough shoppers, incumbents said.

Hitt, 44, a financial planner and resident of Duarte for nine years, emphasized doing more to control the city’s crime, drug and gang problem as well as enhancing the quality of life. He has been mayor for the last two years and is seeking his second term in office.

Proposing that the city work more with local groups and allow the town center to be used free of charge, Kirchner, 44, said he seeks a community atmosphere in the city. Chairman of the Planning Commission and a Duarte resident for seven years, Kirchner is a computer services manager and president of the Duarte Chamber of Commerce.

Terry Michaelis, 44, proposes working with neighboring cities to get rid of crime in unincorporated areas of lower Duarte and helping residents pay for pipe damage from pinhole leaks in the city’s water system. Michaelis has lived in Duarte for 10 years and has been mayor pro tem for the last two years. He owns his own accounting firm and is seeking his second term.

Paras, 43, is controller of a manufacturing company in Montebello and has lived in Duarte for four years. In addition to wanting more honesty in city government, he said he would oppose a buildup of multi-unit housing in the city.

John Van Doren, 46, has served on the council for more than 11 years and was mayor in 1986-87. He is a sales representative and has lived in Duarte for 17 years. Van Doren said he wants the city to fix leaking pipes and said he would attend to problems of traffic congestion and the resulting pollution.