Foes face 'Ledford machine'

Mayor: Grassroots support means one lawn at a time

This story appeared in the Antelope Valley Press October 10, 2000

By BOB WILSON
Valley Press Staff Writer

PALMDALE - People who have lost bids to unseat Palmdale Mayor Jim Ledford have learned he is a formidable foe, consistently drawing more votes than competitors, even though some may outspend him.

Those who oppose Palmdale's mayor, either openly or behind the scenes, have dubbed his base of support "the Ledford machine."

If that is the case, Ledford contends it is less like a John Deere harvesting a huge field of ballots than a scattering of lawn mowers accomplishing the same goal one front yard at a time. Call it mowing the grassroots.

Ledford says his little machine yields elections decided by the many, whereas he contends in neighboring Lancaster, elections are decided by the few.

"I think it's two different dynamics," he said.

Instead of basing his support on his ability to take directions from a few politically active citizens who often operate as power brokers, he has built a base of grassroots support by interacting with an array of residents - primarily homeowners groups - on an issue-by-issue basis, Ledford said.

"A lot of my support is based on people who came to the city with an issue, and we were able to resolve it in what we believe was to everybody's satisfaction," he said.

When the members of a homeowners group leave the council chambers believing they have been heard and treated fairly, they repay that treatment with votes, Ledford said.

Not all have walked away satisfied, but those who did helped give Ledford 51% of the vote in November 1999, leaving the other 49% to be split between his three challengers: Rick Norris, Carlos Chavez and John Grant.

Of the losing candidates, Norris - backed by the funding, organization and expertise of Lancaster political maestros Frank Visco, R. Rex Parris and Assemblyman George Runner - took 33% of the remainder.

Though he has a number of people who contribute to his campaigns, Ledford says they do not do so in lockstep under marching orders.

Among those named by Ledford's foes as integral parts of his machine have been developers A.C. Warnack and Gregg Anderson, as well as retired waste-company operator Phil Arklin and Palmdale on the Move, a political committee headed by heating-andcooling businessman Russ Croasdale.

Campaign records from the 1999 council election showed Anderson contributed $1,000 and Arklin contributed $500, while Warnack and Palmdale on the Move contributed nothing directly to the $23,583 spent by Ledford.

Still, Palmdale on the Move raised $21,099 and paid $13,955 for campaign literature disseminated during the 1999 campaign, records showed. The bulk of the committee's money was spent at AMAC, a Redondo Beach elections-campaign firm.

The candidates touted in committee-produced literature included Ledford, council contenders Dave Collin, Dawn Charlton, Al Beattie, Alan Lee Jr. and Bernie Longjohn, as well as Palmdale Water District board of directors candidates Jay Freeman and Lynn Coffee.

Political involvement

"A.C. has been supportive of me in, I think, the last three mayoral elections," contributing varying sums in each, Ledford said. "But he hasn't always endorsed everything I've done."

For example, in the 1999 election, Warnack endorsed and financially supported council candidates Bernie Longjohn and Robert "Bo" Bynum, while he, Ledford, favored Dawn Charlton and Dave Collin, the mayor said.

Attempts to reach Warnack for comment were unsuccessful. Messages left for the local landowner and developer at his Lancaster office drew no response.

"The same with Gregg (Anderson)," Ledford said. "Gregg helped other candidates, not just mine. So it isn't a case of 'Here are our two candidates; we're all going to rally and put our resources behind them and get them elected.' "

Anderson agreed, noting that in 1999 he provided financial support to a number of candidates, including Sandy Corrales, Al Beattie, Bynum and Charlton.

"In the last couple of elections, I have supported candidates that Jim (Ledford) did not support," he said. Some years, he and the mayor "have totally disagreed, but we've always kept things on a friendly basis."

Although he has contributed only to Corrales so far, he expects to donate to others before the Nov. 7 election, Anderson said, naming Jim Root and John Mayfield specifically. Both of them are Ledford candidates.

That support will be based on the candidates' prior experience in Palmdale government, not because Root and Mayfield are Ledford's choices, the developer said.

"If there is a Ledford 'thing,' I'm not a member of the band by any means," said Anderson, the developer of the Rancho Vista planned community.

"But," Anderson continued, "I certainly have agreed with what's been going on in the city for the past four or six years."

Although he has declined in the past to fund the Palmdale on the Move group, he expects to do so this year in an attempt to focus support on a few key candidates, Anderson said.

The November 1999 election was a fractious affair.

"There were too many people running for the same office," which allowed winners to attain victory with a relatively small percentage of the vote, Anderson said.

Though both Ledford and Palmdale on the Move also favor election of Root and Mayfield, they do not support Corrales, who is supported by Anderson.

"Those are my choices. They have absolutely nothing to do with Ledford," the developer said. "But I'm glad he is supporting some of my choices."

So far, Anderson said he is unaware of which candidates, if any, Warnack might be supporting. "I haven't talked to A.C. in the last 10 years."

Warnack, reputedly a developer with Republican leanings, remains so low-profile he could not be reached for comment.

"I understand he's been active, but I don't go over all these campaign records to find out who he's supporting," Anderson said.

Anderson's own image as a player in Palmdale politics may have grown because of his involvement with Measure E, a statewide school-bond measure narrowly defeated by voters in November 1999, the developer said.

That measure was so important to the quality and growth plans for local schools that Anderson said he asked some of his business associates - those who operate contracting firms that do business for his development company - to help raise money to support its passage.

But for local elections, he does not call upon those contractors for contributions, Anderson said.

"I'm not a power broker. I don't solicit political funds from any group for local candidates."

Consistent support

Arklin, who was out of town on a hunting trip, has been relatively consistent in his support of Ledford, according to his brother-inlaw, Craig Eomurian.

"Phil has always supported Jim" and has listened to the mayor's opinions on other candidates, Eomurian said. But so far, no one in the November 2000 race has asked for Arklin's support.

"Phil doesn't run campaigns. He just contributes," said Eomurian, who was the chief financial officer for Arklin's Palmdale-based waste operation before it was sold in mid1999 to Waste Management.

Sometimes Arklin's contributions were in cash; other times it was in the form of sponsored advertising, campaign records showed.

"I think the citizens of Palmdale control Palmdale politics," Eomurian said. "It's grassroots, from what I've seen."

Those roots reached out to homeowners motivated to become politically active in the mid-1980s, according to Croasdale, who leads Palmdale on the Move.

Palmdale on the Move spun off from the organization founded by those homeowners, an organization called the Palmdale Community Association, Croasdale said.

Formation of the organization 15 years ago was supported by former city administrator Greg McWilliams, who sought to improve communications between residents and City Hall, according to Valley Press archives.

Palmdale on the Move is fueled neither by partisan politics nor by the money of Warnack or Anderson, who sometimes have funded candidates running against those the group was supporting, Croasdale said.

"I worked with Gregg Anderson on some campaigns way back for Pete Knight, but that was the end of it," he said, referring to state Sen. William J. "Pete" Knight, RPalmdale, who preceded Ledford as Palmdale's mayor.

"When I worked on Jim Ledford's and Jim Root's and David Myers' campaigns, (Anderson) wasn't involved," Croasdale said.

As for Warnack, "He's never directly contributed to me," but he may have contributed directly to some of the same candidates, he said.

The money flowing into Palmdale on the Move comes from homeowner activists, farmers and other large-property owners, including some developers who have interests in Palmdale's growth, Croasdale said.

For the 1999 election, the committee's campaign reports showed a substantial portion of its money - $8,000 of its $21,099 - came from residents of Bakersfield.

Six Bakersfield people with the surname of Jamieson - at least one of whom is an attorney - contributed $1,000 each to the group.

Croasdale said the contributions may have been spurred by fliers he sent to many people with property interests in Palmdale.

"I think they own land here," he said of the Jamiesons. "I don't know some of the people who send contributions. I never got into a discussion with (the Jamiesons)."

Attempts by the Valley Press to discuss the contributions with Jamieson family members were unsuccessful.

Also putting up $1,000 each were Bakersfield residents James C. Lundy and John C. Abrams. The Riverton Group of Newhall contributed $1,000 as well.

Another $2,000 came from Fred Liao, a Monrovia home builder; $1,200 came from the Calandris, a Lancaster family that runs a local farming operation; $1,000 came from the Namvars, a family that runs a Los Angeles insurance company; and $1,000 came from Stanley Rothbart, the Santa Monica developer behind plans to construct a new Wal-Mart-anchored shopping center at 47th Street East and Avenue S.

Contributors of smaller amounts were responsible for the remainder. No contributions were directly attributed to Anderson, Warnack or Arklin, and only $788 worth of cash and noncash contributions failed to identify a donor.

Although he accepts contributions from outside Palmdale's borders, "I use it here to put in home people," Croasdale said.

His committee will be active in this year's Palmdale City Council election, he said. "We're concerned about home rule. We should be controlling our government from within."

Palmdale has no need of advice from, or control by, those with whom it competes for businesses, jobs, services and amenities, Croasdale said.

"If you're raising your children and grandchildren here, and if you care about the environment, you should want home rule, because you should want to be protecting them."

Also, Palmdale must protect its General Plan, which will control the city's growth, he said.

"I'm afraid we're going to get outsiders in here who don't give a damn about our General Plan, and you're going to start getting General Plan amendments that start screwing things back up again."

If there is a machine dedicated to that end, "it's a grassroots machine," Croasdale said.

"If Ledford has anyone, he has us, and we have the ability to raise about $20,000, which isn't a whole lot of money."

"I would love to see Gregg Anderson step up to the plate and get with these grassroots organizations and support what we want," he said. "But I've fought some of his candidates and won a few (battles), and he's won a few."

Frequently, Anderson and others provide contributions to both sides of a campaign in order to maintain contacts regardless of who wins, he said.

In the 1999 election, home-rule candidates lost because the votes were spread so widely among so many candidates, according to Croasdale. "We know 80% of the voters did not vote for the winners. That means only 20% of them did."

County records showed Councilman Mike Dispenza reached victory with 31% of the vote, Councilman Rod Penner with 28%, and former Councilman Kevin Carney with 23% in their respective races, leaving the remainder to be shared by 16 other candidates seeking office.