CANDIDATES SPEAK OUT ABOUT CITY MOST ADDRESS GROWTH, CRIME.

Byline: Jim Skeen Staff Writer

LANCASTER - Population growth, crime and community involvement were among the topics of a candidates forum in which city officials said they are working on all three fronts while the challengers said new blood is needed.

Wednesday's luncheon forum, hosted jointly by the Antelope Valley Chambers of Commerce and the Building Industry Association, drew four of six mayoral candidates and nine of 10 council candidates registered for the April 11 election.

Mayoral candidates Henry Hearns, Gene Gaynor, David Paul and Peter Ware were there, as were council candidates Ed Sileo, Ron Smith, James Abedejos, Janette Crawford, David Abber, Roger Price, Nellie Tillman, James Young, and Barry White.

Mayoral candidates Doug Sichley and Irv Mitchell Jr. and council candidate Kenneth Williams did not attend.

The city officials running for office - Vice Mayor Hearns for mayor, Councilman Sileo for re-election, and Planning Commissioner Ron Smith for council - said the city has been making strides against crime, adding deputies, code enforcement officers and community service officers.

The city is also updating its General Plan, which will determine what types of development will go where. That process will involve citizens in deciding how the city will grow, they said.

In addressing challenges before the city, Sileo compared Lancaster with neighboring Palmdale.

``Where we differ from Palmdale is we've been creating hundreds of jobs every year,'' Sileo said. ``We need to make up the difference on the retail side.''

Hearns, who has been on the council since 1990, said city officials are taking steps to solve problems in the city. He said his political record tells his story.

``I have a track record,'' Hearns said. ``The rest of them are going to have to say what they will do.''

Smith, who chairs the Planning Commission, said he wants to engage good citizens to be more involved in running the city, and he wants to legally run the criminal element out of the Antelope Valley.

Criminals can be encouraged to leave by citing them for even minor offenses, such as not having vehicle license plates or for keeping trash around their homes, Smith said.

``We have to make it miserable for them,'' Smith said.

As in a previous forum, the strongest attacks against the current city government came from mayoral candidate Gaynor, who ran unsuccessfully against Roberts in 2004 and 2002, and from council candidate Abber, who ran for mayor in 2000 and 2002.

Gaynor said the city has allowed growth to get out of control and that there is no plan for development. Gaynor also said the city has not done enough to fight crime and that the morale of its residents has fallen.

``The biggest challenge is restoring the pride and enthusiasm we had before it started to slide under the group we have now,'' Gaynor said.

Abber said city officials failed to act on a number of issues associated with growth, including crime. Abber promised to add 20 deputies to the city's law enforcement contract.

Abber also faulted city officials for a lack of progress in revitalizing downtown.

``Revitalization has been a lot of talk and no action,'' Abber said.

Mayoral candidate Paul said he decided to run because he has been trying unsuccessfully to interest Lancaster officials in efforts to slow city traffic down or in what he calls his ``human accountability project,'' a plan he described as ``getting everybody to agree to be better people.''

Mayoral candidate Ware and council candidate Tillman both spoke of the need for more community involvement.

``We need to listen to the community,'' Tillman said.

CAPTION(S):

13 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) ABADEJOS

(2 -- color) ABBER

(3 -- color) CRAWFORD

(4 -- color) GAYNOR

(5 -- color) HEARNS

(6 -- color) PAUL

(7 -- color) PRICE

(8 -- color) SILEO

(9 -- color) SMITH

(10 -- color) TILLMAN

(11 -- color) WARE

(12 -- color) WHITE

(13 -- color) YOUNG