ELECTION ’90 WEST COVINA : Plans for Fashion Plaza Dominate Forum

WEST COVINA —  Sharp disagreements over the planned expansion of a local mall dominated a candidates forum Tuesday.

Five candidates are competing for two City Council seats in the April 10 election. Nearly 200 residents packed the West Covina Senior Citizens’ Center auditorium to hear their views.

Mayor Pro Tem Richard Lewis, 64, seeking reelection after two years on the council, defended the city’s arrangements with developers to expand the 15-year-old Fashion Plaza shopping complex.

A 35-year resident, Lewis holds a bachelor’s degree in art from the University of Arizona and operates an advertising agency in the city. He has been president of the Kiwanis Club and the Chamber of Commerce and sits on the board of the city’s historical society.

Benjamin S. Wong, past president of the Chamber of Commerce, also favors the Fashion Plaza project, which the city’s redevelopment agency has agreed to develop with May Centers and Sylvan Shulman Co. The plan, which will add a May Co. department store and 100,000 square feet of leaseable area to the 62-acre mall, was approved by the council last June. Parts of the project are under way.

Wong, 38, is a restaurateur and a 33-year resident. He is a USC graduate with a bachelor’s degree in biology and a doctorate in biochemistry. He served on a blue-ribbon committee that studied the city’s infrastructure needs and supports increased taxes as an option to repair aging roads and sewers.

In support of the Fashion Plaza project, Wong said sales taxes revenues had been steadily dropping and “there was no other deal out there.” He said the expansion will bring the city $38 million in additional revenue over 30 years.

The other three candidates--Steve Herfert, Richard N. Jennings and Rodolfo (Rudy) Valles--criticized the mall expansion deal.

They charged that the city would be shortchanged by the agreement, which gives the city 85% of any increased sales taxes over a 15-year period to use to pay off $45 million in bonds sold to pay for a new mall parking lot. The city will retain ownership of the parking area.

Herfert, 34, is a 26-year resident and has served on the city’s human resources commission since 1988. He opposes any new taxes but said wants to expand the city’s paramedic system and increase fire and police personnel. “I’ll look for the money if I get elected,” he said.

He holds a bachelor’s degree in recreation administration from Cal Poly Pomona and is a service representative for Southern California Edison.

Jennings, 63, served on the blue-ribbon committee that studied the city’s infrastructure needs for 18 months. In 1988, the committee determined the city would be unable to pay for $54 million in maintenance work over the next 15 years unless funding changes are implemented. But Jennings said he opposes new taxes to fund the improvements. He is a Yale graduate with a bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering and administration. A 28-year resident, he has served as a trustee on the city’s school board for 12 years and runs an insurance agency in Covina.

Valles, 53, is dean of administration and student services at East Los Angeles College. He is also a painter and graphic artist, with bachelor’s and master’s degrees in art from Cal State L.A.

A 10-year West Covina resident, he is working toward a doctorate in education administration at USC. “I’ve been trained to think in terms of long-term planning,” he said. He cited the city’s public works backlog as an example of shortsightedness on the council’s part.

“This doesn’t happen overnight, and here we are faced with a possible utility tax or assessment” to fund improvements, said Valles, who is not ruling out extra taxes.

Valles, a Rotary Club member, is also proposing peer counseling programs for youths. “Usually, peer pressure is what gets them in trouble,” he said. “Let’s use it in reverse.”