Political Scales to Shift When Edelman Takes Over : Redistricting: He is more liberal than his Valley predecessor, Mike Antonovich, and is increasingly seen as the conscience of what is expected to be a less conservative County Board of Supervisors.

Without hearing one campaign speech or debate, without stepping into a voting booth, without even formally asking for a change in representation, San Fernando Valley residents have acquired a new county supervisor.

The recent court-ordered redistricting, which created a Latino-dominated district in East Los Angeles, also expanded the region represented by Supervisor Ed Edelman from portions of Sherman Oaks, Van Nuys and Sepulveda to include the entire Valley floor--from the Ventura County line to Sylmar.

Supervisor Mike Antonovich, who has represented most of the Valley since 1980, will continue to represent the Santa Clarita and Antelope valleys.

The changing of the guard is expected to take place when the winner of Tuesday’s election for the newly formed district takes office--either Feb. 8 or, in the case of a runoff, March 8.

Viewed during board meetings, the two men’s styles are as different as their politics, indicating that the juggling of supervisorial districts may have broad implications for the Valley.

Antonovich, 51, is the strident conservative, pushing hard for his causes. He is considered pro-development, a stance that has estranged environmentalists and contributed to incorporation drives in his district.

Edelman, 60, is a moderate liberal, usually soft-spoken and increasingly the conscience of the board as the even more liberal Supervisor Kenneth Hahn, slowed by a stroke, has taken a less active role in county affairs.

Tuesday’s election also appears likely to break the three-vote conservative majority that has steered the board for all of Edelman’s career, a change that would create a more receptive audience for some of his more liberal ideas. Yet Edelman, while conceding that he has faced some frustration over the years, insists that he has succeeded in enacting many of his causes through compromise with his colleagues.

“Despite not being in sync with my colleagues on many issues, I’ve been able to accomplish many of my initiatives,” he said. “It’s a mistake to just see it as 3 to 2. If that were the case, I think I would’ve hung up my political shoes a long time ago.”

The Brentwood Democrat is credited with quarterbacking many of the improvements in county social and health services, including protection of the mental health system when it faced deep budget cuts and establishment of an AIDS ward at County-USC Medical Center.

Environmentalists and community activists say he is more attuned to their concerns about development than are other board members.

Diana Plotkin, president of the Beverly Wilshire Homes Assn., credited Edelman with discouraging a private developer who wanted to build a commercial development inside the burned-out shell of the Pan Pacific Auditorium, a project that Plotkin’s group opposed.

“We couldn’t have done it without Ed,” she said. “It took a lot of time and effort on everybody’s part, but . . . we feel we have a very good line of communication with him.”

Yet Edelman is quick to shrug off any anti-development label.

“I’m in the middle,” he said during a recent interview. “I’m in favor of development when it’s appropriate. I’m not a no-growth person--not no-growth at any cost, if a project conforms to what is good planning policy. I’m more a contained-growth person.”

That is typical of Edelman’s middle-of-the-road stance. A professionally trained mediator and the only attorney on the board, Edelman seems to carefully weigh both sides of an issue, often out loud.

Some see this as an asset, mentioning his success at bringing striking nurses back to the negotiating table in 1988 by bringing the union manager and the county’s chief administrative officer together in a private meeting in his office. Before that meeting, the negotiations had appeared hopelessly stuck over a proposal to privatize some county health services.

Others see his approach as an obstacle to getting things done.

“When I met with Ed Edelman, he just alluded to the fact that he would help, but he never did anything. . . . He was a typical politician,” said publicist Kathleen Rogers, who formed a group called Friends of the Pan Pacific to try to persuade Edelman to back the commercial development there, which she believed would have assured preservation of the auditorium’s Art Moderne facade.

But even in responding to such criticism, Edelman keeps his cool.

“Maybe people are used to leaders yelling and screaming and posturing,” Edelman said. “I want to lead and get something done. There’s a time for compromise, sure. . . . But when I feel we’ve got to fight for something, I’ll fight.”

Examining Edelman’s response to issues in his old district offers some insights into how he may approach situations in the Valley.

In the case of the Pan Pacific Auditorium, Edelman said he tried for years to negotiate an agreement with developers who wanted to preserve it, but he said that after the May, 1989, fire, the state banned commercial use of the site.

Rogers disputed Edelman’s account, saying he merely bowed to community pressure to turn the site into a park and the state followed his lead.

But Les McCargo, chief deputy director of the state Department of Parks and Recreation, agreed with Edelman.

“We were trying to preserve the historic fabric,” McCargo said. “After the fire, there was no historic fabric left, so there was no rationale as to why you would want that commercial venture there . . . on parkland.”

Leaders from Los Angeles’ Eastside give Edelman a mixed report card.

Some accuse him of ignoring their needs while pandering to the desires of the Westside, his traditional financial power base.

Gonzalo Molina, who ran against Edelman three times and is one of nine candidates for the new Eastside district, said the supervisor did not make enough of an effort to understand his Eastside constituents and therefore was “never totally accepted as the representative of the Hispanic community, even after 16 years.”

But Lou Negrete, a leader with the United Neighborhoods Organization, was among those who disagreed. Negrete praised Edelman for establishing close relationships with Latino community groups such as UNO.

“I would consider him sort of a pothole official: He took care of his district,” he said.

Negrete singled out Edelman’s quick and thorough response after two toxic explosions at Eastside warehouses in 1988. He and others said Edelman acted as the facilitator, bringing together various agencies to improve the county’s hazardous chemicals storage inspection program.

“During the budget deliberations, he fought to fund the hiring of additional inspectors,” Negrete said. “Of course, it wasn’t enough money, but he did it at a critical time, when the budget was under severe constraints. He came through for us.”

A longstanding commitment to child care led Edelman to become an advocate for day-care services at county facilities, including County-USC Medical Center. The hospital has subsidized care for employees’ children, and the hospital auxiliary runs a free center for children of patients.

Although Edelman did not create the programs, hospital administrators credit the support he has garnered from his board colleagues, at least in part, for their continued survival.

“We should do more to stimulate the private sector to put in these kinds of facilities . . . and the county needs to set the example,” Edelman said.

Olive View Medical Center in Sylmar, the county hospital in Edelman’s new district, has child care for employees, but not for patients. Hospital Administrator Douglas Bagley said waiting rooms--especially in the pediatric and prenatal wards--often are filled with children.

“A mom has one sick one and she has to bring the other three along,” Bagley said. “It can get crowded.”

On hearing this, Edelman asked one of his staff members to take a note. “We’ll look into that,” he said.

Because most of the Valley area added to Edelman’s district is incorporated, while much of his Eastside district was not, Edelman said making major improvements here will depend on establishing good relationships with the Valley’s representatives on the City Council. To this end, last week he had lunch with Councilwoman Joy Picus and he hopes to schedule similar informal meetings with the other council members.

“In the unincorporated area, I could act as though I was the mayor,” he said. “In Los Angeles, it’s only through cooperation that you can accomplish things.”

The first Valley issues that Edelman has faced indicate the kinds of things over which he will have direct control:

* Construction of the Chatsworth courthouse, which he supports in concept but opposed at its present location near a residential neighborhood. He and Antonovich voted against the location during a hearing in December, but were overruled by their colleagues.

* Privatization of the county’s five general-aviation airports, including one in Pacoima. The supervisors delayed the vote to allow concerned pilots to review the contract. Edelman has generally opposed turning over county responsibilities to private companies in the past and said he has some grave concerns about the proposal.

* A proposal to try to find an industrial and commercial developer interested in leasing 37 acres of county land near Olive View Medical Center. At Edelman’s request, the vote was delayed earlier this month. He said he will meet with community representatives to hear their concerns before making up his mind, but added that he helped initiate the program to lease surplus county land.