LOCAL ELECTIONS / L.A. CITY COUNCIL : Six Challengers Pose Tall Hurdle for Incumbent : Campaign: Flores appears unlikely to avoid a runoff. A summary of the seven candidates and their positions on police protection, budget deficit, increased taxes, spending cuts and social programs.

With the primary two days away, the betting is that incumbent Joan Milke Flores will not receive enough votes to avoid a June 8 runoff in Los Angeles City Council District 15.

Several of the 12-year councilwoman’s opponents, particularly Janice Hahn, daughter of former County Supervisor Kenneth Hahn, and Warren Furutani, a member of the Los Angeles Unified School District board, have mounted strong, well-financed campaigns.

Both Hahn and Furutani have worked hard to exploit voter disenchantment, arguing that they would be more diligent than Flores in confronting local problems ranging from unemployment to crime.

The other four candidates in the race, all of whom live in San Pedro, have pockets of intense--if not districtwide--support. Even if they do not win a spot in the runoff they may nonetheless carve up what has been Flores’ San Pedro base and boost the chances of Hahn and Furutani in the 15th, which stretches from San Pedro to Watts.

Some of Flores’ supporters acknowledge that, this time around, the incumbent is unlikely to cruise to victory the way she did in her three previous council contests.

Said John Mendez, a Flores supporter in Wilmington: “There’s definitely more of a race than there’s ever been before.”

On the issues, the seven candidates in the 15th District agree on such high-profile priorities as boosting police protection and using spending cuts--not tax increases--to deal with Los Angeles’ looming budget deficit. Here is a sampling of their positions:

JOAN MILKE FLORES

Throughout the campaign, Flores has touted herself as a fiscal conservative who is tough on crime but moderate on social issues.

She opposes Proposition 1, a question on Tuesday’s ballot that would tax property owners to hire 1,000 additional police officers. She faults the proposal because the tax would not be levied on renters and because there is no guarantee that her district would get any of the additional officers. She favors increasing the number of civilians working in the Police Department in order to free officers from desk jobs.

In the face of a city budget deficit that may amount to $500 million next year, Flores joins those who want to eliminate the Board of Public Works. She also proposes that an early retirement plan for city employees be developed.

Cutting programs or combining the Cultural Arts Department and Recreation and Parks Department also would be a priority, she said.

“This is really going to hurt me,” Flores said. “But if the choice is between police and garbage collection or the arts, the arts have to go. I know I’m going to lose votes, but I’m not willing to propose raising taxes.”

None of the candidates, in fact, advocates raising taxes.

JANICE HAHN

Like Flores, Hahn says she, too, favors disbanding the Board of Public Works. But similarities between the two end there. Unlike Flores, Hahn favors the ballot question to hire police, saying $73 per property owner is worth the extra 1,000 officers.

Also, recreational and beautification programs are high priorities with Hahn’s supporters, whether they are gang members seeking athletic outlets or homeowners who want to spruce up their neighborhoods. Hahn does not promise to shield such programs from budget cuts, but said she would press the federal government to help fund such efforts before she would recommend local reductions.

“The federal government is obligated to release federal money to Los Angeles,” Hahn said. Pointing out that she is a Democrat and Flores a Republican, Hahn said that since the nation now has a Democratic President and California has two Democratic senators, the traditionally nonpartisan council seat has become a partisan matter.

“Is a Joan Flores better able to partner with (Sen.) Dianne Feinstein and Bill Clinton, or (is) Janice Hahn?” she asks. “You need someone who really has an in with these people, who can call and say, ‘I need help here in the 15th District.’ ”

WARREN FURUTANI

Furutani says he supports Proposition 1 but that he has reservations. It is clear that people want more law enforcers on the street, he says, but there also should be more civilians working in the Police Department to allow better deployment of officers.

“I want to increase the number of police, but the problem I have with (Proposition 1) is that it’s appealing to people’s fears more than anything else,” he said. “We have to make the case to civilianize the Police Department.”

Furutani says his first move toward balancing the city’s budget would be to launch a management audit to determine where to cut in City Hall’s middle management.

“There’s a lot of people who walk around with Styrofoam cups and you’re not sure what they do,” said Furutani, who also advocates the creation of local town councils to advise City Hall.

RUDY SVORINICH

A San Pedro businessman and dark-horse candidate, Svorinich has run a surprisingly well-financed campaign. His family has roots stretching back 70 years in San Pedro, and he is running as a favorite son. Svorinich says he is the candidate who can best understand the character and needs of the harbor area.

Svorinich strongly favors increasing the number of police officers, but would not vote to raise taxes to do so. He says the money should be found by eliminating waste at City Hall, but does not specify where to make such cuts.

Svorinich is running on a strong pro-business platform, tying the economic and social troubles of the district to fleeing or faltering businesses and excessive government regulation. Too much taxation is also driving businesses out of the area, he says.

DIANE MIDDLETON

San Pedro attorney Diane Middleton takes unabashedly liberal stands on social issues in the harbor area, where she has been a community activist for years. Not surprisingly, she has won the support of social service and labor groups.

She says job creation would be her top priority. She pledges, for example, to use revenue from the Port of Los Angeles to promote the expansion of more harbor area businesses into the lucrative Pacific Rim trade.

“There is not a social problem facing us that wouldn’t be solved by a good job,” Middleton said. “It’s not so much job training, but many times it’s channeling people into the right direction. We have many jobs open in the medical and technical field and we don’t have people who can fill those jobs.”

Middleton opposes hiring more police. Like the other candidates, she supports increasing the number of civilians working in the Police Department to better deploy existing officers. But to be effective, officers need better training to make them more sensitive to the communities they patrol, she said.

“I believe the way to (fight crime) is through putting people to work,” Middleton said.

JAMES THOMPSON

James Thompson, also a San Pedro attorney, has worked in the city’s Department of Water and Power and in the California State Bar. Like all the candidates except Flores and Furutani, he has never held public office. But by taking part in several Wilmington and San Pedro community projects, he has stirred up interest in his candidacy.

Thompson proposes to greatly expand community service programs--for instance, by requiring misdemeanor offenders to work for the city. He also advocates the creation of a city employment agency to route convicts to private employers, who would pay the city for the offenders’ services.

Innovative management of the Port of Los Angeles, the Department of Water and Power and Los Angeles International Airport should be the City Council’s major focus for raising revenue, not taxpayers, Thompson says. Like mayoral candidate Richard Riordan, he favors leasing Los Angeles International Airport to a private holder. Thompson also proposes creating local town councils.

LOUIS DOMINGUEZ

Louis Dominguez, the director of computer operations in Mayor Tom Bradley’s office, has stressed ethics and integrity in his campaign. Government cannot do a good job of serving people who do not trust it, he says. Dominguez has strong ties to the state and national Democratic Party and, like Hahn, says he could use them to help the city out of its budget crisis.

He also proposes that the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach stop competing with each other and launch joint projects. The competition, he said, hurts the region’s economy.

The problems of the 15th District, however, are not likely to be solved by the City Council, Dominguez says. Communities must band together to look out for their own economic needs, he says.

Dominguez does not support hiring more police officers before a thorough study is made of how existing officers are deployed.

“The problem is that the policy now is to get them out of the patrol cars when it’s time for them to rise in the department,” Dominguez said. “We need to look at ways of rewarding police officers who want to stay in the patrol cars. Most police join the department because they want to fight crime.”

Campaign Funds

A breakdown of fund-raising in the 15th City Council District race as of April 3. Joan Milke Flores: $176,694 Rudy Svorinich: $89,896 Warren Furutani: $88,725 Janice Hahn: $51,120 Diane Middleton: $42,822 Louis Dominguez: $6,265 James Thompson (no reports filed) Source: city clerk’s office