4TH COUNCIL DISTRICT RACE COMING DOWN TO THE WIRE.

Byline: Dominic Berbeo Staff Writer

In the high-stakes race to succeed the late John Ferraro in the City Council's 4th District, runoff candidates Beth Garfield and Tom LaBonge have engaged in a bitter and costly slugfest.

Garfield, a wealthy labor attorney and former community college board president, says she wants to shake up City Hall. LaBonge, a former council aide who has spent the past 27 years working downtown, says he wants to make city government work better.

The district includes parts of North Hollywood and Studio City but is largely located south of the Santa Monica Mountains.

Both candidates have had only six weeks to campaign and raise funds for Tuesday's runoff after qualifying from a crowded field of 10 in the Sept. 11 special election primary.

LaBonge received 6,873 primary votes, followed by 3,994 for Garfield. Third-place finisher David Roberti, a former state senator, was close behind with 3,769 votes, and is now endorsing and campaigning for LaBonge.

Although there are 123,531 registered voters in the district, only 21,736 voted in the primary, or 17.6 percent.

The top finishers spent nearly $1 million combined in the primary, and are expected to come close to that figure again in the runoff.

LaBonge accuses Garfield of trying to buy the election with her personal $700,000 campaign loan.

``I'm very proud of the fact that there are more than 1,700 people that contributed to my campaign, and the fact that I don't have to write myself a check,'' LaBonge said.

But Garfield, who will likely hold fund-raisers to pay herself back later, defended her loan as a way to balance off ``stellar-level'' contributions to LaBonge's campaign from what she characterized as large development firms.

``My contributions will come mostly from individuals, that's the difference,'' she said. ``Tom has raised money at an unprecedented rate from special interests, and spending my own money keeps me independent from that.''

Garfield says her main reason for running is to ``shake things up'' at City Hall, and she criticizes LaBonge for being what she calls part of the downtown system.

``He will continue doing things the way he always has, which means the only way to get things done is through the council office. I want to wrestle power away from the downtown bureaucracy and give it to the neighborhoods.''

LaBonge said he has no hesitation in opposing big development.

``I plan to bring whatever change to City Hall that is necessary to make people enjoy the community they live in,'' he said.

Both candidates promise to make city departments more responsive to residents.

Garfield has proposed sitting down with the newly formed neighborhood councils in her district and coming up with a list of priority projects, problems, and a timetable to respond to them.

``The secession movements have given us a one-year window of opportunity to bring neighborhood leaders and city departments together to figure out how to make things work,'' she said.

LaBonge proposes setting up special task forces in every council district that would bring a liaison, or ``go-to person,'' from each city department that supplies basic services together with neighborhood leaders to work out local solutions on a regular basis.

``Within one month after being elected,'' he said, ``I pledge to sit down and put together a team in the district to make City Hall and city departments more accountable and more responsive.''

LaBonge, who grew up in Silver Lake, served as Ferraro's chief deputy for 15 years until 1993. He served as an aide to former mayor Richard Riordan for seven years and has worked as a community relations deputy for the city's Department of Water and Power for the past few years.

He got his start in politics in 1974 working as a youth volunteer for then-Mayor Tom Bradley. He also worked as a field assistant for former Councilwoman Peggy Stevenson.

In 1993, he narrowly lost a runoff bid for the 13th Council District against Jackie Goldberg, who has since been elected to the state Assembly.

Some of those endorsing LaBonge include the Police Protective League; United Firefighters of Los Angeles; the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce; and primary opponents Susan Fong, Richard MacMinn, Linda Lockwood, and Larry Green.

Garfield is no stranger to politics herself.

A former president of the Los Angeles Community College Board of Trustees, Garfield is married to former Assemblyman Wally Knox, who was termed out and lost a state Senate bid last year against Sheila Kuehl.

Garfield, whose father founded a successful chain of drug stores in San Diego, grew up in Southern California, and has been living in the district since 1977 after earning her law degree from the University of Michigan.

She co-founded the law firm Holguin & Garfield, located in the Mid-Wilshire district, which specializes in labor issues.

Some key endorsements for Garfield include the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor; the Association of Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs; the Central California Chapter of the Democratic Party, and United Teachers Los Angeles.

The Federation of Labor spent $31,029 in the primary on mailers supporting Garfield, according to records on file with the City Ethics Commission. The Democratic Party has also announced it will supply mailers and possibly other support for her in the runoff.

The special election was triggered by the death in April of Ferraro, who had retained the 4th District seat with little challenge since 1966.

Ferraro was the longest serving council member when he died, and had presided as president of the council for some two decades - giving him an air of authority at City Hall and making him a key figure in passing or killing bills.

Ferraro's successor in the district will serve out the remainder of his unfinished term ending in 2003, and be eligible to run for two additional four-year terms.

WHERE THEY STAND

BETH GARFIELD

Age: 49

Occupation: Labor law attorney, former president of Los Angeles Community College Board

Residence: Larchmont Village

Web site: none

--Public safety: Supports hiring more police officers, expanding senior lead program, creating new community police units, would only renew Parks' contract next year based on reforms.

--Housing: Supports $100-million housing trust fund, possibly strengthening rent control.

--Secession: Opposes secession, supports advisory neighborhood councils.

--Traffic: Supports peak-hour one-way lanes, reverse lanes, no construction during peak hours, shuttles to get to subway, and additional bus and rail.

--Gangs: Supports gang injunctions, additional funding for after-school intervention programs.

TOM LABONGE

Age: 48

Occupation: Community relations director, former chief field deputy to John Ferraro

Residence: Silverlake

Web site: www.tomlabonge.com

LABONGE:

--Public safety: Pledges to hire 1,400 new police officers, supports doubling senior lead officer program, alternative work week, would not rehire Chief Bernard Parks next year unless major reforms are implemented.

--Housing: Supports $100-million housing trust fund, possibly strengthening rent control, creating special courts for housing issues.

--Secession: Opposes secession, supports advisory neighborhood councils, creating liaison city/neighborhood teams.

--Traffic: Supports putting more parking officers on traffic control duty, peak-hour one-way lanes, reverse lanes, no construction during peak hours, shuttles to get to subway, and additional bus and rail.

--Gangs: Supports gang injunctions, additional funding for after-school intervention programs.

CAPTION(S):

2 photos, box

Photo:

(1) BETH GARFIELD

(2) TOM LABONGE

Box:

WHERE THEY STAND (see text)