WEST LOS ANGELES : Feuer Says Yaroslavsky Faces Conflict of Interest

In the first face-to-face debate of the runoff campaign for the 5th District City Council seat, candidate Mike Feuer said that if his opponent, Barbara Yaroslavsky, is elected, she will face a potential conflict of interest in dealing with her husband, a county supervisor.

“It’s going to happen a lot” because the city and county governments often sue each other over allocation of state funds, Feuer, former head of a free legal services clinic, said Thursday night.

Yaroslavsky, an activist seeking the council seat her husband, Zev Yaroslavsky, held for 19 years before being elected to the county board, rejected the charge, saying the two governments generally operate separately. “There is definitely a separation of powers here,” she said.

Feuer and Yaroslavsky were the top two vote-getters in the April 11 primary for the seat, which represents parts of Van Nuys, Studio City, Sherman Oaks and the Westside. Feuer drew 39% of the vote; Yaroslavsky took 26%. The runoff election is June 6.

They launched their runoff campaign at a forum attended by about 40 residents at Canfield Heights Elementary School in Beverlywood. The exchange over the potential for conflicts of interest--generated by a question from the audience--provided the only fireworks in the debate.