LOCAL ELECTIONS / SIERRA MADRE CITY COUNCIL : 7 Candidates Share Single View on Most Issues

SIERRA MADRE —  Residents of this small town of 11,000 may find it hard to choose among the seven candidates for three City Council seats.

All seven candidates in the April 10 election vow to protect the hillsides from development but to preserve private-property rights. All seven pledge to boost downtown revitalization but keep the small-town atmosphere. All seven want city services improved but not at the cost of higher taxes. And all seven believe Orange Grove Boulevard along the Arcadia-Sierra Madre border should be repaired but not widened as proposed by Arcadia officials.

“Most of the views are the same on the major issues,” candidate Richard Freeman said at a recent political forum. “It’s not really an election that can be won or lost on our views of the issues since they’re not too different.”

Still, all the candidates have been gamely attending fried-chicken lunches and Women’s Club forums, most of them devoid of political controversy or excitement. Thus, winners this year may be those who succeed in presenting themselves as more qualified, sincere, dedicated and informed on city issues than their opponents.

By these criteria, incumbent Clem Bartolai, 53, may be a front-runner. Bartolai, an administrative manager for J. B. Engineering in Monrovia and a 30-year Sierra Madre resident, was elected to the council in 1980 and in 1986. He has also served on the city’s Parks and Recreation and Planning commissions.

Bartolai stresses his accessibility to voters. As a councilman, he said, he initiated a hillside building moratorium, worked to get a gate installed on the Chantry Flats road to cut down on late-night traffic entering the Angeles National Forest and supported hiring a full-time city employee to enforce building codes. He estimates he has raised $2,500, the largest amount of any candidate so far.

Bartolai is the only incumbent in the race. Mayor Bruce Crow and Councilwoman Lisa Fowler are not seeking re-election. The top three finishers in the April 10 election will join the City Council, which will elect a new mayor from among its five members.

Gary Adams, 50, a 22-year Sierra Madre resident, also may have an edge. Adams has been elected before, to the City Council in 1976 and to the Pasadena City College board of trustees in 1980. Early fund-raising garnered him $1,150, according to his Feb. 27 campaign disclosure statement.

Adams, general manager of 49er Shops Inc., at Cal State Long Beach, holds a master’s degree and doctorate in public administration from USC. He said his blend of education and business experience gives him an understanding of how to run the city in a businesslike fashion.

Freeman, 27, vice president of sales and marketing for San Diego-based Boat Kare Products Inc., is making his first run for political office. He is trying a rare approach to politicking, accepting no campaign contributions and promising to spend no money. Instead, he urges voters to donate the money they would give to candidates to charities or churches. The 12-year Sierra Madre resident hopes to convince voters that he is sincere and dedicated. Like Bartolai, he stresses his accessibility.

MaryAnn MacGillivray, 42, marketing vice president and founder of Health Craft International Inc. of Pasadena, is also a political newcomer. She said she will run a low-budget campaign of less than $1,000.

An 18-year Sierra Madre resident, she has been a frequent speaker at City Council meetings, where she has supported protecting the hillsides against development. MacGillivray believes the city’s administrative procedures should be streamlined and efficient and the city’s recreational, cultural and educational facilities improved to establish a “high community profile’ for Sierra Madre.

Stockbroker Larry Peal, 45, a 21-year Sierra Madre resident, despite being a political newcomer, speaks with ease on a variety of local issues. They include improving communication between the council and city management; revamping the city’s unpopular proposed tree-trimming ordinance to apply only to new projects; and limiting the number of new city ordinances, which he believes are overburdening city workers. He estimates he will spend $450 on the campaign, with some family contributions of services. Peal is vice president of A. G. Edwards in Pasadena.

Aksel Pedersen, 60, a 23-year Sierra Madre resident, is making his first try for public office because, he said, he owes the city his services. A former Los Angeles County deputy sheriff and investigator with the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office, Pedersen is now a vice president with Progressive Savings Bank in Pasadena. Pedersen said he plans to spend less than $1,000 on the campaign.

Pedersen wants to expand the downtown business district to include Montecito Avenue, the site of Sierra Madre’s largest employer, Scott Aviation. He also wants the Chamber of Commerce and the Main Street Program to merge for more effective downtown revitalization.

William Tice, 52, a self-employed gardener and 14-year Sierra Madre resident, is taking a folksy approach. At one political forum, Tice stretched a tape measure 18 inches to emphasize that building inspectors should take accurate measurements in order to avoid hitting gas lines. His suggestions for upgrading the central business district include cobblestone paving and landscaping. Like Freeman, Tice is not accepting campaign contributions, but a friend has printed flyers on his behalf, which constitutes an in-kind campaign contribution.

A candidates forum is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at City Hall, 232 W. Sierra Madre Blvd. The forum will be broadcast live on local cable television.

In addition to choosing among the seven candidates, Sierra Madre voters must also decide on two ballot measures.

One measure, introduced by Bartolai, would limit council members to two consecutive four-year terms in office. After an absence of two or more years, former council members could run again. The vote is an advisory measure that the council could enact later if it passes by a majority vote. No arguments against the measure were submitted for the sample ballot.

The second ballot measure asks city voters to raise their property taxes 8.5 cents for every $100 of assessed value to help pay for paramedic service to supplement the volunteer Fire Department’s emergency medical technicians. The measure requires a two-thirds vote for approval.

Opponents insist that the city’s current emergency medical technicians provide adequate service. They say the cost, estimated at $450,000 the first year and $350,000 annually thereafter, is too high. Supporters believe that residents should pay to upgrade the city’s emergency medical care.