LOCAL ELECTIONS : COMMUNITY COLLEGE TRUSTEES : Runoff Candidates Offer Study in Sharp Contrasts

For voters who want clear-cut differences between candidates, the race for an open seat on the Los Angeles Community College District Board of Trustees could be just the ticket.

Tuesday’s runoff election pits retired college administrator Kenneth S. Washington, 68, against West Hollywood City Councilman Paul Koretz, 36, who quit his job in September to campaign full time.

Washington spent most of his long career in higher education and was elected one of the district’s original trustees in 1969. Koretz, a UCLA graduate who said he regrets not having attended a community college first, plans to run for higher office some day.

Washington, with limited election funds, is confining his campaigning largely to Los Angeles’ black community, where he has a strong base and name recognition. Koretz, with strong backing from Local 1521 of the American Federation of Teachers College Guild and almost 100 endorsements from political and civic leaders and groups, has money for political mailings or activities throughout the 800-square-mile district.

But the two men have at least one similarity in their approaches to solving the district’s financial problems: both would lobby for more funding from Sacramento, which provides most of the district’s money. Mayor Tom Bradley wound up endorsing them both; a Bradley spokesman said the mayor did so because he considers each a good candidate.

Both candidates say they could devote themselves full-time to the $24,000 a year post, although Koretz said he may take a part-time consulting job after six months to a year in office.

Koretz’s guild backing and Washington’s district and community ties pushed them to the top of a 10-candidate field for Office No. 5 in the April primary. Koretz received about 23% of the vote, Washington about 21%.

Candidates must run at large for one of seven seats on the board governing the nine-campus district, which has about 5 million residents. Almost 2 million are registered voters. In addition to communities served by the Los Angeles Unified School District, the 111,500-student college district includes Alhambra, Beverly Hills, Burbank, Culver City, Las Virgenes, Montebello and the Palos Verdes Peninsula.

Because of the district’s size and the usually low voter turnout, guild backing has made the difference in most recent trustee contests. But two years ago, Patrick Owens bucked the trend by defeating a guild-backed candidate.

“We do not have time to train people,� said Washington in a swipe at Koretz’s inexperience with two-year colleges. “I can go right to work on solving this district’s many problems, the most pressing of which is money.�

Washington began his career as a high school teacher, then counselor, with the Compton Unified School District.

“My job was to help minority kids get into higher education, and I’ve pretty much been there ever since,� Washington said. “I have always been committed to the kinds of students who attend community colleges.�

Washington also worked as assistant California superintendent of public instruction and was an administrator at UCLA, Cal State Los Angeles and San Francisco City College, where he was president from 1975 to 1982. He left San Francisco to become a vice chancellor for the local district until 1986, when he retired. He served on its board from 1969 to 1975. In 1974 he ran a high-profile race for state Senate but was narrowly defeated by then-Assemblyman Bill Greene.

He said his tenure during another tight fiscal time--the mid- 1980s, when teachers and others were laid off to help balance the budget--gives him the experience to help the district weather its current fiscal troubles, precipitated largely by insufficient state funding. But the guild blames Washington, along with the rest of the district administration, for the earlier problems.

Washington said “all areas of the college community should share in the austerity . . . we should not protect one group or one need over all the others.�

He proposes coordinating classes with other institutions to avoid duplication and increasing class sizes somewhat to accommodate more students.

Washington had raised about $12,000 by May 18, the latest campaign finance reporting period, much of which he spent on mailers in City Council districts 6, 8 and 9, which have hotly contested races on the same ballot. He is supported by many of the area’s politically powerful black ministers, as well as endorsements from Owens and retiring Trustee Harold Garvin.

Koretz raised enough money--almost $62,000 in donations and services--to lend Trustee David Lopez-Lee $11,500 for a successful primary campaign. About a third of Koretz’s money--$22,300--came from the guild in the form of political mailing services.

Educated in Los Angeles schools, Koretz, a former executive with the California League of Conservation Voters--an environmental watchdog group that rates legislators--said he will seek private funds for the colleges. He would use the money in part to add teaching positions, much as four-year universities do.

He would cut administration to restore some of the hundreds of classes eliminated this school year so that fewer students would have to be turned away. He called for an independent budget analyst who would answer to the board of trustees.

Koretz, whose first try at elected office was an unsuccessful bid for the Los Angeles Board of Education while he was still in college, said his “outsider� status would serve the district well because he could bring fresh ideas and important contacts.

Although he wants to eventually run for the state Assembly, he said he would not do so “until this district has really been turned around.�

“I have been watching the community college district for a long time,� Koretz said. “There are very important funding and access issues, and even though this is a career sidetrack for me, I feel it is important. I can make a difference.�