City Hall on Last Day to File: Just Like a Deli

“I need this job like I need a hole in the head,” said Charles Zinger as he filed the papers Saturday that sent him on another against-all-odds run for city attorney.

But Zinger, a deputy city attorney whose under-financed, losing campaign four years ago attracted considerable attention, felt the job was worth it enough for him to take an elevator to the 23rd floor of City Hall, present petitions with at least 500 signatures and pay a $300 filing fee.

During his 1981 campaign, Zinger accepted only one kind of donation, Zinger pastries, which he passed out at events. That brought him attention, as did his sharp-tongued comments about his foes, which he called “zingers.”

“Mr. Zinger, I need a number on your check,” said a clerk Saturday, as if Zinger were shopping.

Actually, several observers felt the comparison between the city clerk’s election office and a delicatessen was apt, as dozens of candidates for the April 9 Los Angeles city election turned in their papers on the last day of filing.

So many candidates were trying to get their papers in before the deadline that clerks put up a sign on the door telling everyone to take a number. Inside, candidates were lined up four deep at the counter.

Los Angeles City Councilman Howard Finn and his wife, Anne, waited inside the counter, checking the lists for the final tally of opponents against him in his 1st District, which covers the East San Fernando Valley.

There were four, none especially well-known, and Finn was pleased. “I expect to take them all seriously because they are all good people,” said the heavily favored councilman. “But I have a record to stand on, not promises.”

The positions of mayor, city attorney, controller, eight City Council seats, three places on the Los Angeles Board of Education and three on the Board of Trustees of the Community College will be on the April ballot. If nobody gets a majority of the votes in each contest, a runoff will be held June 4.

Most of the attention so far has been on the mayor’s race, in which the main candidates are Mayor Tom Bradley, running for a fourth term, and Councilman John Ferraro.

On deadline day, each man pursued the strategies that have marked the opening weeks of the campaign. Bradley renewed ties with old supporters, while Ferraro sought to develop issues that would unite voters against the mayor.

Addressed Labor Group

Bradley spoke to a labor group, the United Teachers of Los Angeles. “You have a friend in City Hall--if you keep him there,” the mayor said.

Ferraro, who opposes the Metro Rail subway proposal backed by Bradley, appeared at a Southern California Rapid Transit District hearing on fare increases as part of his campaign to use more local transit tax funds to keep fares down.

As it stands now, Bradley is heavily favored to beat Ferraro, but the councilman is energetically raising money and is concentrating on areas where his staff believes the mayor might be vulnerable.

The other potentially intense race is for city attorney, in which Zinger finds himself out-financed again.

Lisa Specht, an attorney and a television commentator, City Controller James K. Hahn and Murray Kane, an attorney who has specialized in redevelopment, are considered top contenders in a field that also includes Betsy Mogul, another deputy city attorney.

The April Primary Candidates

LOS ANGELES MAYOR Eileen Anderson, Singing, Dancing Candidate

Tom Bradley, Mayor

Walter Buchanan, Political Activist

Venus De Milo, Part-Time Clerk

John Ferraro, Member, City Council

Sal Genovese, Community Adviser/Educator

James E. Harris, Auto-worker

Judy L. Huffman, Consultant

William Loska, Baker

LOS ANGELES CITY ATTORNEY James Kenneth Hahn, City Controller/Attorney

Murray Kane, Prosecutor/Attorney

Betsy Mogul, Deputy City Attorney

Lisa Specht, Attorney/Television Commentator

Charles Zinger, Deputy City Attorney

LOS ANGELES CONTROLLER Celes King III, Bondsman

Joseph Paul Pietroforte, Controller/Business Executive

Dan Shapiro, Attorney

Alice Travis, L.A. City Commissioner

Rick Tuttle, Community College Trustee

LOS ANGELES CITY COUNCIL DISTRICT 1 Louis Cichelli, Contractor

Howard Finn, Member, City Council

Noel S. Horwin, Business Development Consultant

Elton Michael, Police Detective

Betty Rockwell, Community Activist

DISTRICT 3 Gilbert Eisner, Public Policy Adviser

Gary Klein, City Government Adviser

Jon Robert Lorenzen, No occupation listed

Matt Lynch, Small Businessman/Attorney

Jeanne Nemo, Teacher

Joy Picus, Member, City Council

DISTRICT 5 Zev Yaroslavsky, Member, City Council

DISTRICT 7 Ernani Bernardi, Member, City Council

Paul Goldener, Legislative Aide

Marty Israel, Television Consumer Advocate

DISTRICT 9 Donald L. Barnett, Postal Employee

Tom R. Chung, Community/Business Consultant

Ocie P. Hinkle, Businesswoman

Gilbert W. Lindsay, Member, City Council

Alice C. Tsou, Senior Citizens Advocate

DISTRICT 11 Marvin Braude, Member, City Council

DISTRICT 13 James M. Duree, Consultant

Craig R. Freis, Independent Small Businessman

Arland Johnson, Civic-Community Leader

Bennett S. Kayser, Systems Manager

Michael Linfield, Mathematics Teacher

Peggy Stevenson, Member, City Council

Mike Woo, Senator’s Legislative Aide

DISTRICT 15 Joan Milke Flores, Member, City Council

LOS ANGELES BOARD OF EDUCATION DISTRICT 2 Alan Gershman, Member, Board of Education

John Honigsfeld, Aerospace Computer Programmer

DISTRICT 6 Mary Louise Longoria, Educational Consultant

Roberta Weintraub, Member, Board of Education

DISTRICT 4 David Armor, University Professor Businessman

Betty Blake, Community Education Volunteer

Carolyn Brent, Educator

Elizabeth Ginsburg, Teacher, History/Government

Claude Parrish, Business Executive, Administration

Carie Vacar, Management Consultant/Educator

Robert J. Worth, Training/Education Administrator

COMMUNITY COLLEGES TRUSTEE DISTRICT 2 Sandy Blixton, Community Organizer/Writer

Arthur Bronson, Member, Board of Trustees

Richard E. Ferraro, Educator

Howard O. Watts, Disabled Veteran

DISTRICT 4 Jack Ballas, Assistsant City Attorney

Kendra M. Cole, Technical Instructor

Lindsay Conner, Member, Board of Trustees

Clydell Hill, No occupation listed

Joseph F. Kehoe, Education Reporter

Kenneth Palmer, Senior Citizens Representive

Jerry Zerg, Community Leader/Teacher

DISTRICT 6 Wallace Albertson, Member, Board of Trustees

J. William Orozco, Businessman

Julia Catherine Wrigley, Professor of Education