COUNCIL HOPEFULS SPEAK AT NEIGHBORHOOD FORUM.

Byline: Charles F. Bostwick Staff Writer

PALMDALE - Five of nine City Council candidates skipped a front-yard candidates forum Saturday organized by residents of a central Palmdale neighborhood.

The four who showed took the opportunity to say they cared about all of Palmdale, not just the west side.

``Too often this part of town has been left out of the loop,'' said candidate Alan Lee.

Besides Lee, candidates present were Richard Loa, Sandy Corrales and Joseph Rivera Jr.

Lee, Loa, Jason Zink, Matthew Van Dyk and former Councilman Jim Root are running for the one-year term left vacant by the resignation of Shelley Sorsabal.

Corrales, Rivera, Rich Norris and John Mayfield are running for the three-year term left vacant by the resignation of Kevin Carney.

Held under an evergreen tree on a front yard on Stanridge Avenue, the forum was organized by the Oldtown Homeowners Group, which has been fighting a continuation school planned on Avenue Q and the carpool-bus-train station proposed on Avenue P-8.

Unlike forums during the last few council elections, this one had more talk about proper planning for residential and commercial development - and what problems result when it doesn't happen - than references to crime.

``I think a lot of the people who run Lancaster and Palmdale want to see this turned into a San Fernando Valley,'' Rivera said. ``I'm definitely opposed to that. I love our open spaces.''

Lee, Corrales and Rivera all spoke against the Wal-Mart store proposed at 47th Street East and Avenue S, which is on the Nov. 7 ballot as Measure T, while Loa said he favored it.

The Wal-Mart is opposed by the supermarket clerks union, whose members see it as a threat to their jobs and to other businesses around Palmdale.

Measure T opponents also spoke at the forum.

``It will shut down retail stores,'' Wal-Mart opponent Joanne Baltierrez said. ``It will shut down high-paying jobs.''

Corrales said the council should name one of its members as a liaison to work more closely with the local elementary and high school districts and with Antelope Valley College.

``The school districts need our help,'' Corrales said. ``They need to listen to the needs of the residents.''

Loa faulted the council's 3-0 vote last week to provide $6.4 million to help build a private hospital on 5th Street West, questioning the proponents' financial and managerial ability to build and run a hospital. The action will slow Antelope Valley Hospital's plan to turn a clinic under construction on East Palmdale Boulevard into a full hospital, he said.

A recurring theme of the two-hour forum was the oblique jabs exchanged between Lee and Loa, opponents for the one-year term, about their backers. They include Assemblyman George Runner, R-Lancaster, in Loa's case, and Assemblymen Scott Wildman, D-Glendale, and Herb Wesson, D-Los Angeles, and U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Los Angeles, for Lee.

``You've got to look at who's endorsing and behind these politicians,'' Lee said.

``Don't say it's great to bring in the ones from Los Angeles and attack those who try to work with our local officials,'' Loa said.

Other issues brought up by the audience included the local semi-pro football team's suggestion of building a covered athletic stadium, and whether motorists in Palmdale should be forbidden to talk on cell phones.