A Few Key Areas Buoyed Bernson

Los Angeles City Councilman Hal Bernson’s support of the Porter Ranch project continued to haunt him at the polls Tuesday, but it was more than offset by big victories the incumbent scored in precincts in Granada Hills, Sepulveda and near the Chatsworth Reservoir.

Bernson beat Los Angeles school board member Julie Korenstein by 746 votes, less than 2% of the 32,642 votes cast. Bernson received 51.1% of the vote, Korenstein 48.9%.

A Times review of the election results showed that in the 13 precincts surrounding the proposed Porter Ranch project, Bernson got only 35% of the vote, compared with Korenstein’s 65%.

But the Porter Ranch vote was eclipsed by the pro-Bernson returns from adjacent Granada Hills, where voters were treated to a last-minute blitz of Bernson after it was disclosed that the local nemesis--Browning-Ferris Industries, owner of the Sunshine Canyon Landfill--was working to defeat the incumbent. In the 19 Granada Hills precincts north of Rinaldi Street, Bernson received 60.1% of the vote.

The strong support for Bernson in Granada Hills and in other pro-Bernson areas was magnified by his success in getting voters to the polls. The results show voter turnout in the Porter Ranch area was up 21% from the April 9 election, but turnout in Granada Hills was up 28%.

So while Korenstein received 1,277 votes in Porter Ranch, Bernson got 1,805 votes in Granada Hills.

Harvey Englander, the incumbent’s political consultant, credited the higher overall turnout in Bernson strongholds to the success in shifting the debate away from Porter Ranch--the centerpiece of the primary election dialogue--and to the question of Korenstein’s liberal political ties and credibility.

When all 30 precincts in Granada Hills and Porter Ranch were combined, Bernson had won 50.3% of the vote.

A tired-looking Bernson on Wednesday claimed disclosure of Browning-Ferris’ expenditure of nearly $15,000 to unseat him as a turning point in the fight for Granada Hills voters. In some of the precincts closest to the Sunshine Canyon Landfill, where Bernson has stalled Browning-Ferris’ plans to expand into city territory, turnout topped 40%.

Bernson also scored big in precincts in the Sepulveda-North Hills area, where the incumbent earned high marks for his support of a plan to rename the region North Hills. He also did well near the Chatsworth Reservoir, where Bernson has sought to preserve the city-owned reservoir as a de facto wildlife refuge.

In the Sepulveda-North Hills area, Bernson received 61.9% of the vote and in the 14 precincts around the reservoir he got 59% of the vote. Again, the percentages were magnified by turnout in both these areas that outstripped the districtwide levels.

Districtwide, the turnout in Tuesday’s runoff was up 15% from 28,380 votes cast April 9.

But in the reservoir area, turnout was up 35% over April levels and in the Sepulveda-North Hills area it was up 26%.

Tuesday night, the Korenstein camp kept its fingers crossed waiting for a big surge of anti-Bernson votes to arrive from precincts in or near Porter Ranch. But the election returns show the wait was in vain. Although turnout was up in Porter Ranch, in areas nearby--where Korenstein also had substantial support--turnout was below average.

In the 10 precincts bounded by the Simi Valley Freeway on the north, Devonshire Street on the south, Zelzah Avenue on the east and Tampa Avenue on the west, turnout was up only 12%. Bernson got only 41.9% of the vote in this area.

In eight precincts bounded on the north by the Simi Valley Freeway, on the south by the Devonshire Street, on the east by Tampa Avenue and on the west by the flood control channel west of De Soto Avenue, turnout was up only 13.1%--again below the average districtwide. Bernson got only 35.1% of the vote in this area.

Times staff writer Sam Enriquez contributed to this story.

How the 12th District Voted

Map shows how communities in the Los Angeles City Council 12th District voted in Tuesday’s election. Percentages are for incumbent Councilman Hal Bernson and school board member Julie Korenstein. A total of 36,642 votes were cast, 16,694 for Bernson, 15,948 for Korenstein. Zone breakdowns do not include absentee ballots.