City showdown shaping up as November sequel

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

By BOB WILSON
Valley Press Staff Writer

PALMDALE - Political gunslingers in the Antelope Valley are strapping on their holsters and heading for another showdown at the voting booths on Nov. 7.

This year's City Council election holds the promise of being a sequel to the political shootout that began in November 1999 - a battle that left both winners and losers bloody and wounded after the polls closed.

When the smoke cleared last year, Mayor Jim Ledford was the only man left standing on one side of the council corral.

On the other side were Kevin Carney, Mike Dispenza, Rod Penner and Shelley Sorsabal, all elected, in large part, with the support and backing of Ledford's political antagonists in Lancaster.

That rivalry stemmed from Ledford's leadership of Palmdale throughout a decade in which Palmdale grew from being a thorn in Lancaster's side to a stake aimed at its heart in terms of competition for new businesses and tax revenue.

But the political gunplay of the 1999 election took its toll on Lancaster's cowhands at the Palmdale ranch.

First Carney, then Sorsabal, dropped to the ground, turning in their resignations because of turmoil in their personal lives.

Carney, a former high school board member and career sheriff's deputy, was arrested on multiple charges of alleged child molestation. His trial on 16 felony charges began Oct. 3 and continues this week.

Sorsabal's public life changed in the face of a threatened recall effort initiated by a political rival - council candidate Jeff Storm, who was not elected.

Sorsabal denied the allegations - which were never proven - that she interfered with the city manager's duties or voted in ways that could benefit her business interests.

But the charges took their toll, and Sorsabal said fighting for her seat was "not worth the damage that an ugly, spiteful, politically motivated recall attempt would have on me personally, my family, my career and the city of Palmdale." Now she is pursuing her business and politics at the state delegate level.

The council resignations left newcomers Dispenza and Penner sharing the council dais with veteran political gunslinger Ledford. It's a more lonely roundup than anyone counted on.

Since November, Penner seems to have ambled to a neutral corner of the council corral.

In fact, all three council members holstered their guns for the past several months in order to keep the city running and let the smoke clear. Largely, it has.

But it's showdown time again.

Last week, Dispenza came out - rhetoric blazing - firing away at two candidates backed by Ledford. They would be council veteran Jim Root and Planning Commissioner John Mayfield.

Dispenza said the buckaroos he'd like on his council posse are businessman Rick Norris and attorney Richard Loa.

Root and Mayfield are stressing their veteran service to the community in their records on the council and planning commission. Loa and Norris are mounting campaigns that identify themselves as the apostles of fresh ideas and an independent approach to solving city problems.

Lee and Corrales, both Democrats and unionists, cast themselves as the true independents.

But meanwhile, the shootout is a metaphor for the "Palmdale first" Ledford slate and the "Let's Be Friendly to Our Neighbor to the North" ticket of Loa and Norris. Each point of view has its own validity, and all candidates, naturally, argue that they are best.

As in any Valley showdown, the ammunition of choice is the political mailer.

Dispenza noted that a mailer for Root and Mayfield showed only a picture of the popular Ledford.

"I hold in my hand a very expensive brochure. I can't tell by this who's running, since the mayor's picture appears, but neither Mayfield nor Root's pictures are anywhere to be found," he said.

"By looking at this, control of the council is obviously important to the mayor," Dispenza remarked.

The first-year councilman also took potshots at two other candidates - Sandy Corrales and Alan Lee - calling them puppets of the unions that are supporting their campaigns.

This past fall, Dispenza, Carney, Penner and Norris were characterized as the puppets of Lancaster.

Only Norris, who vied for Ledford's mayoral post, was defeated. But he is back in the saddle again, headed for the council and putting himself forward as the candidate of ideas and vitality.

This fall, Norris and Loa again are enjoying the general approval and support of the Valley's political elite, who happen to make their homes on the range up Lancaster way - businessman and GOP activist Frank Visco, Assemblyman George Runner and attorney R. Rex Parris.

But after Ledford emerged from last November's shootout unscathed, the posse chasing him last year appears to have pulled in its spurs just a bit.

Visco works for Bush

This political season, Visco said he will support Loa's campaign with a donation of "a couple hundred bucks," but stated he will play a less prominent role than the one he took in the Dispenza-CarneyPenner-Norris campaigns.

Visco notes that when he becomes heavily involved in local politics, "People use it against me."

So Visco said he will turn his attention to his day-to-day business operations and other campaigns.

One of the campaigns for which he is actively working is a national victory for GOP presidential candidate George W. Bush. Visco serves on the Texas governor's national steering committee.

Runner said he would offer his advice and possibly "a small personal contribution" to the campaigns of Norris and Loa because they have worked on his behalf in the past.

Runner also has his eyes on a wider horizon, at state and national levels.

The bulk of his attention, and funds that he raises, will go to trying to place a majority of Republicans in the state Legislature and helping Bush defeat Democrat presidential contender Al Gore in November.

Runner has holstered his sixshooters, too.

As for the Palmdale campaigns, "I will not be actively involved. You will not see my name on any campaign literature," he said. "I am not giving official endorsements."

Runner's wife, Sharon, "is staying even farther away than I am" from the Palmdale races, the assemblyman said.

Sharon Runner is, however, involved in an effort to promote passage of Measure T, her husband said.

Measure T is a referendum in which Palmdale voters will decide whether to allow construction of a new Wal-Mart-anchored shopping center at 47th Street East and Avenue S.

"That's an issue that reaches across political lines," the assemblyman said.

It's also an issue that's important to the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union Local 770, which opposes construction of the nonunionized Wal-Mart on the city's east side.

Parris said he favored victories by Norris and Loa but remained uncertain if he would fund their campaigns.

"This is one of the few times where a council race in either city has become a partisan contest between Republicans and Democrats," he said. "Norris and Loa obviously have the Republican support, and (Sandy) Corrales and (Alan) Lee obviously have the support of the Democrats."

Given the tendency of Valley residents to favor Republican representation, "It will be like an election between (Los Angeles Democratic Congresswoman) Maxine Waters and (Santa Clarita Republican Congressman Howard P.) Buck McKeon - I've got a pretty good idea how that one would go," Parris said.

Norris and Loa also may have an advantage because they have arranged to be included on all the slate cards being prepared for the local election, Parris said.

Slate cards costly

Slate cards are costly mailers. Some of these mailers draw criticism for misleading voters by making claims of support or by indicating support from cleverly named committees with few, or any, members.

For any candidate to win, they will have to out-campaign "the Ledford machine, which is extremely well-financed," Parris said.

That, certainly, is the pot calling the kettle black. Expensive mailers to influence the electorate are a tradition on both sides of Avenue M.

Local polling data shows Ledford has a lot of support throughout the community, Parris said. "But what Ledford doesn't have is strong enough support to elect his pick of candidates on it."

That, at least, is what horse races, showdowns and elections are all about. What cards are you holding, pardner? The voters will call on Tuesday, Nov. 7.