CITY RACES TO START MONDAY MAYOR, 2 OTHER INCUMBENTS TELL GOALS FOR FUTURE OF PALMDALE N.

Byline: JIM SKEEN STAFF WRITER

PALMDALE - With the race for City Council seats set to begin Monday, Mayor Jim Ledford, Mayor Pro Tem Mike Dispenza and Councilman Rick Norris said they will seek re-election in November.

Monday will be the first day candidates can take out papers to run for the two-year mayor's post and the two four-year council seats. The filling period for the election closes on Aug. 8 and the election will be held Nov. 4.

Ledford will be seeking his seventh term as mayor. Ledford also served four years as a Palmdale planning commissioner and two years as a councilman prior to his first election as mayor in 1992.

``I want to oversee some huge capital projects that have been in the works for a number of years,'' Ledford said. ``There are also some regional-type projects - the High Desert Corridor, the Palmdale Regional Airport - that could benefit from my continued presence.''

Among the projects Ledford wants to see completed are the Avenue S corridor project, which will widen one of the city's major east-west routes, and the creation of two regional parks that voters agreed last year to fund.

Dispenza and Norris are both seeking second terms on the council.

Dispenza, who operates a State Farm Insurance agency, was elected to the council in 1999.

``I want to continue to work with the Sheriff's Department to lower the crime rate,'' Dispenza said. ``What seems to work is when we target certain crimes, pick those crimes apart and get those people off the street.''

Dispenza also wants to work on bringing together the region's water suppliers to determine what improvements need to be made to ensure there is enough water to accommodate local growth.

Norris, who owns a company that makes water filters, was elected in a special election on Nov. 7, 2000, to complete three years of an unexpired term.

``We've got a good council. It's not a rubber stamp council,'' Norris said. ``In order for somebody to get elected they are going to have to show what they can do better than what this council has done over the past two or three years. That's going to be hard to do.''

Norris said he wants to continue efforts to attract airline service to the Palmdale Regional Airport, continue efforts to bring in passenger rail service to the region, and work on efforts to create a second east-west highway to link the Antelope and Victor valleys.

Norris said he also wants the City Council to do all it can to ensure quality residential development as the region goes through a renewed housing boom.

The only other known potential candidate for a council seat is Ollie McCaulley, who made a failed bid for the Assembly seat held by Sharon Runner, who succeeded husband George Runner. McCaulley expressed interest in running for a seat in conversations with Ledford and Dispenza.

McCaulley, is the director of housing and governmental relations for the Community Partnership Development Corp., a Los Angeles-based nonprofit organization that assists with housing programs for low-income and disadvantaged people.

McCaulley is a member of the city's newly formed Aviation and Aerospace Commission, a commission set up to advise the city on how to attract and retain aerospace work.

Jim Skeen, [phone]

james.skeen(at)dailynews.com

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4 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) LEDFORD

(2 -- color) DISPENZA

(3 -- color) NORRIS

(4) MCCAULLEY