3RD DISTRICT: HOPEFULS HAVE CITY RESUMES.

Byline: Harrison Sheppard

TUESDAY'S election to succeed West Valley Councilwoman Laura Chick has attracted a field of six candidates - all of them current or former city employees.

Three - Tsilah Burman, Judith Hirshberg and Francine Oschin - have been on the staffs of City Council members.

The other three are city workers. Frank Bush is a city senior building inspector. Jason Dominguez is a deputy city attorney. Dennis Zine is a police sergeant.

Chick, who cannot seek re-election because of term limits, is running for city controller.

Oschin, 57, is assistant chief deputy to Councilman Hal Bernson.

She wants to increase the police force, supports an independent San Fernando Valley school district, and favors council redistricting that doesn't split communities like Van Nuys into two or more districts.

Also, ``I'd like to see another Valley district,'' the Reseda resident said. ``We need it and we deserve it.''

On the issue of Valley secession, she said she is waiting for the county study to be released, but said she has ``no problem at all with the idea of secession, if that's what Valley voters want.''

If elected, she would work to make sure the issue gets on the ballot in 2002, she said.

Hirshberg, 67, a deputy to former Councilman Marvin Braude, said she will focus on neighborhood concerns.

``People are concerned their neighborhood looks safe, that it's nice, that it's clean,'' she said. ``It means keeping the street swept and taking care of the trees.''

She wants a Los Angeles Police Department ``that looks more like the people it protects and serves'' by recruiting more women and minorities.

Hirshberg, who lives in Encino, favors an east-west light-rail line along Oxnard Street and Chandler Boulevard, rather than the proposed busway.

The 53-year-old Zine, an elected director of the police officers union, has been with the LAPD for 32 years. He said Chief Bernard C. Parks should leave when his current term expires next year.

``This Police Department is in crisis. We need to respect what Chief Parks has done in his career and recognize that, and we need to have a replacement in management,,'' Zine said. ``I'm not saying fire the chief. I'm saying let the man retire in dignity.''

If elected, Zine has pledged to give up $25,000 a year in council salary to

donate it to community groups. He would become a reserve police officer - a volunteer position - to stay in touch with district needs. Zine lives in West Hills.

Burman, 42, is an investment adviser for CB Richard Ellis Investors, a pension investment firm. She lives in Woodland Hills.

Burman has worked on the staffs of several elected officials, including Zev Yaroslavsky when he was a City Council member, and Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Los Angeles. She also serves on the South Valley Area Planning Commission.

To create better access and customer service, she plans to have an office open until 8 p.m. once a week and hold town hall meetings four times a year.

To create more efficiency in government, she proposes using more incentives and disincentives for city employees. For example, she said, in San Diego if people who file for development permits don't get a response within a week, the project is automatically approved.

``All of a sudden, things are done quicker, more effectively, more efficiently,'' Burman said.

She would like to see a financial and managerial audit of the LAPD and thinks Parks should be replaced.

Dominguez heads a Valley division of a citywide nuisance abatement program that has been credited with helping to reduce crime.

The program brings together city agencies, community groups and residents to work on crime prevention, community improvement and evicting gang members and drug dealers.

Dominguez, a fourth-generation Angeleno, speaks German, Czech and Spanish. Dominguez, 32, lives in Van Nuys.

He thinks Chief Parks should be given a chance to improve the department, at least until his contract expires next year. He supports a compressed works schedule for LAPD officers.

He is not impressed by the neighborhood councils and the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment.

``I believe in neighborhood groups - we've got thousands of them already,'' he said. ``I think the city has a role in facilitating their success, but we don't need a department that's going to spend $10 million a year to do that.''

Bush, 45, is a senior building inspector for the city and a lifelong resident of the district. He lives in Reseda.

His top priority would be restoring the LAPD, and he believes Parks should be replaced.

``I think we need some revamping of the supervision, the management of the department,'' Bush said. ``We've had some reforms that were offered that weren't taken care of, which led us to the consent decree - which I'm not necessarily in favor of.''

He also would like to see expansion of youth activities such as mentoring and after-school programs. He would rather see council districts redrawn to stop at Mulholland Drive, so the Valley would not have split districts.

CAPTION(S):

6 photos

Photo: (1) BUSH

(2) BURMAN

(3) HIRSHBERG

(4) OSCHIN

(5) DOMINGUEZ

(6) ZINE