Candidates Say Opponent Asked Them to Drop Out of Council Race

Two candidates vying to represent the Westwood-to-Van Nuys district on the Los Angeles City Council said Thursday that a third candidate had tried to persuade them to drop out.

Victor Viereck and Jill Barad said opponent Ken Gerston of Sherman Oaks approached them about abandoning their campaigns.

Gerston said he suggested that Viereck and Barad drop out and support him to further the influence of the San Fernando Valley.

“We need a Valley representative here. This district has never had a Valley representative,” Gerston said. “What I said [about Barad] was, since my campaign is stronger, why doesn’t she run for something else.”

Viereck, a Valley Village accountant, said Gerston approached him at least twice, suggesting that, if he dropped out, Gerston might arrange a city appointment for him.

“He did not make it sound real definite. He never guaranteed anything,” Viereck said.

He said Gerston claimed to be in the best position to be the Valley candidate to win against the seven candidates from the West Los Angeles portion of the district.

Barad, a Sherman Oaks political consultant, said Gerston approached one of her supporters and asked what it would take to get her to drop out of the race, and suggested he might be able to help her win a seat in the Assembly.

Gerston said he told Viereck that she might be able to help the city in a role other than council member, but he denied offering anything to either candidate in return.

Eleven candidates are vying for the 5th District seat being vacated by Councilman Mike Feuer, who is running for city attorney.

At a candidates’ forum in Van Nuys Thursday, attended by nine contenders, topics included abolition of the city’s controversial business license tax and increasing the number of council districts wholly within the Valley.

Candidates were asked for solutions to the Valley’s traffic congestion and whether they support the Van Nuys Airport master plan, which could allow for development of 113 acres at the airfield.

Former state Sen. Tom Hayden, who is seen as a leading candidate in the race, joined Barad in calling for changing the gross receipts tax to one based on net income. Hayden also called for tougher enforcement of the business tax, which he said many businesses don’t pay.

“It is a disadvantage for people who pay their taxes,” to have lax enforcement, said Hayden, a Westwood resident.

Former federal prosecutor Jack Weiss, another leading contender, said the Valley needs more mass transit, more traffic synchronization and the creation of a Valley transit zone.

All of the candidates supported increasing the number of Valley-only council districts from four to at least five, while Gerston called for six districts. Consumer protection attorney Nate Bernstein said he supported seven such districts.

When asked if they would support a Van Nuys Airport master plan that would allow development of as much as two-thirds of the undeveloped airport property, none of the candidates offered unconditional support, while Hayden and Bernstein voiced the strongest opposition.