ELECTION MUNICIPAL RACES : Extended Filing Attracts 7 More Candidates in 4 Cities

Seven additional candidates filed nomination papers during a filing extension period in four South Bay cities where incumbents did not seek reelection for the April 10 municipal elections.

Two candidates filed in Lawndale, three more filed in Palos Verdes Estates, and one additional candidate filed in both Lomita and Avalon.

In Lawndale, former Planning Commissioner Gary McDonald and Frances Ramsey, an inventory control specialist, joined a field of seven other hopefuls competing for two council positions.

Mayor Sarann Kruse and Councilman Dan McKenzie declined to seek reelection, which automatically extended the nomination deadline from last Thursday to Tuesday. No additional candidates filed for mayor during the extension period, leaving four candidates.

City Clerk Neil Roth will run unopposed for his second four-year term because the only challenger, former Deputy City Clerk Barbara Grimes, was disqualified when city officials determined that three people who signed her nomination forms where not registered voters in the city.

The other council candidates are incumbent Larry Rudolph; Herman Weinstein, a real estate agent and flight engineer; Nancy Marthens, a business data analyst and former parks and recreation commissioner; Ronald V. Maxwell, a planner and analyst at an office furniture company and former parks and recreation commissioner; Norman Lagerquist, an aerospace engineer and vice president of the La Palma Homeowners Assn.; William Johnson, a manager of operations at a grocery store chain and president of La Palma Homeowners Assn., and Uffe Moller, an aerospace manager.

The candidates for mayor are Councilman Harold Hofmann; Virginia Rhodes, an officer manager and former planning commissioner; Michael Machado, a tow truck operator, and Melissa A. Bergstrom, a health counselor.

McDonald resigned from the Planning Commission in June, announcing that he would run for mayor against Kruse. However, McDonald, who owns a small development consulting firm, said he changed his mind and is now supporting Hofmann for mayor.

McDonald, who is closely allied with the three-person majority on the council, was an unsuccessful candidate for a council seat in 1982 and for the city clerk’s seat in 1986.

Councilwoman Carol Norman has signed nomination forms for mayor to Rhodes, who has been a longtime community activist in the city and in local school districts. Councilmen Rudolph and McKenzie have nominated Hofmann for mayor and McDonald for the council.

Hofmann, who operates a sewage contracting company, has nominated Rudolph and McDonald for council. McKenzie has also nominated Rudolph.

In recent interviews, several candidates said they expected the Lawndale campaign to focus mostly on development issues, such as the city’s increasing residential density, parking problems and a shortage of parkland.

Some challengers said they expect to campaign for stricter enforcement of building standards and a tighter control on developers in the city.

The city is still recovering from a development dilemma that arose in November when voters rejected measures designed to resolve questions on the city’s General Plan. Essentially, the voters rejected the city’s 1976 General Plan and forced city officials to temporarily stop issuing building permits.

In December, the state Office of Planning and Research allowed the city to issue building permits for one year under the 1976 General Plan while the city works to draft a new plan for the voters’ approval.

Some challengers have said the development dilemma resulted from the council’s failure to adhere to the community’s desire to put tighter controls on residential density in the city.

However, the incumbents have blamed the crisis on a group of city activists--including Marthens and Rhodes--who they said misled voters to reject the General Plan.

In Palos Verdes Estates, three additional candidates filed during the extension period to run for three City Council seats. They are Ann Leatherbury, a community volunteer and businesswoman; Rosemary Humphrey, a school administrator, and Alva Yano, a physics professor.

They will join three other hopefuls: incumbent Ruth Gralow, insurance broker Michael Moody and engineer Maurice Commanday. Councilmen Edward Ritscher and James Kinney are not seeking reelection.

In Lomita, one additional candidate, retired fire captain Clifford Bertrand, filed nomination papers Tuesday and joined five other candidates vying for three council seats.

The other challengers are Beverly Hart, a college administrator; Lawson Pedigo, a property manager, and Chuck Taylor, an advertising executive and member of the city’s Planning Commission. Incumbents are Robert Hargrave and Peter J. Rossick, both seeking seeking second terms on the council.

Councilman Hal Hall did not file for reelection.

The race for three seats on the Avalon City Council grew by one when businessman Ralph J. Morrow Jr. filed nomination papers Tuesday. He joins challengers Barbara J. Doutt, a community volunteer; Dennis F. Reitinger, an Avalon businessman, and former council member George Scott, a newspaper distributor.

They fill face incumbent Hal Host, who is seeking his second term on the council. Councilwoman Irene Strobel decided not to run for reelection.

Avalon Mayor Hugh T. (Bud) Smith is unopposed in his bid for a second term as the city’s directly elected mayor.

In Manhattan Beach, college student Steven A. Napolitano, who failed to get his name on the ballot as a City Council candidate because of an insufficient number of valid signatures on nomination papers, said Wednesday that he will refile as a write-in candidate. Mayor Connie Siever, Councilman Larry Dougharty and challenger Dan Stern, an aerospace executive, will be on the ballot vying for two seats on the council.

Napolitano, an art student at Loyola Marymount University, filed 20 signatures--the minimum number required--on nomination papers last week. But according to city officials, only 18 were registered voters in the city. Napolitano has until March 27 to file 20 valid names to become an official write-in candidate.

Times staff writers Adrianne Goodman and Gerald Faris contributed to this story.