City Hall Awaits Massive Change Of Power at Top.

With the 2000 presidential election ordeal finally out of the way, Angelenos may be tempted to put away all thoughts of polls and ballots. But elections will once again dominate the local headlines in 2001, as the city of L.A. prepares for one of its most massive handoffs of power ever.

Elections for mayor, six open City Council seats, and two other key posts are slated, due primarily to the fact that eight-year term limits passed in 1993 are finally taking effect and forcing politicians to move on.

Ironically, though, term limits on the state level are responsible for another major trend shaping up in 2001 -- the recycling of familiar faces into various city posts.

The race to replace term-limited Mayor Richard Riordan has already been on for a full year and will only heat up even more in the months before the April primary. Six major candidates are vying to be among the top two vote-getters and qualify for a June runoff. They are City Attorney James Hahn, City Councilman Joel Wachs, former Assembly Speaker Antonio Villaraigosa, Congressman Xavier Becerra, state Controller Kathleen Connell, and businessman and city commissioner Steve Soboroff.

"It's a very strong pool of candidates," said Xandra Kayden, president of the L.A. Chapter of the League of Women Voters. "With term limits, the mayor most likely serves out two terms, which makes for an awfully long wait. Then there's this huge burst of excitement, and that's why we saw such a huge pool get out so early."

But that's not all. Eight council seats are up for grabs; thanks mostly to term limits. Six of those are open seats. But don't look for several new faces on the council: current or former state legislators are running for four of those open seats and are largely favored to win them.

Two other city posts are up as well: City attorney and city controller, and termed-out City Council members are front-runners in both of these races.

"It seems that the real impact of term limits has been to recycle the candidates, shuffling them from one office to another," Kayden said. "In the next two years, we may even see a majority of the City Council made up of termed-out state legislators."

Main attraction

The major headline grabber, though, is going to be the mayor's race. Because L.A. is the nation's second largest city, its mayor draws lots of national attention. And because there are six candidates, it's widely believed none will draw the 50 percent-plus-one necessary to avoid a runoff.

The conventional wisdom is that James Hahn will make the runoff, partly because of his name recognition and because he is the only candidate who has previously won a citywide election. Whether he wins the runoff is another matter; Hahn's admittedly bland campaign style may not be enough to put him over the top.

Most political observers say that Hahn's likely opponent will be Wachs. As a 30-year veteran of L.A. politics, Wachs' name is well known to Angelenos. And he has strong ties in the San Fernando Valley, which provides nearly half of the votes citywide.

But, says one political observer, if Soboroff or Connell sink a lot of their own money into the campaign, they could make the runoff.

"If either one of them puts in $3 million or $4 million, it could totally change the landscape," said Richard Lichtenstein, president of Marathon Communications and a City Hall lobbyist.

On the other hand, if Becerra were to drop out of the race -- and most observers don't give him much of a chance to make the runoff -- then Villaraigosa could make the final cut.

"Right now, the polling shows that Becerra is siphoning just enough votes away from Villaraigosa to keep him from breaking through," Kayden said.

Unlike the last open race in 1993, no clear overriding issue has yet emerged to define the campaign, although the fallout from the L.A. Police Department Rampart Division corruption scandal has split the candidates.

"There are several issues that could catch fire besides Rampart, such as secession, education and traffic issues," Lichtenstein said.

City Council scramble

Meanwhile, two of the City Council races are likely to generate considerable attention of their own: the Fifth District race on the West-side to replace termed-out Councilman Mike Feuer, and the 13th District race in Hollywood to replace former Councilwoman Jackie Goldberg, who has moved up to the state Assembly.

The race to replace Feuer was shaping up to be the most hotly contested council contest -- until former state Sen. Tom Hayden stepped in. With his national star power and name identification, Hayden immediately became the front-runner and will likely inherit the leftist mantle on the council held by Goldberg.

As for Goldberg's seat, two front-runners have emerged: termed-out state Assemblyman Scott Wildman and Mike Woo, the former mayoral candidate who held the council seat 10 years ago. Other candidates likely to draw interest are Jackie Goldberg's brother Arthur and Eric Garcetti, the son of ousted L.A. County District Attorney Gil Garcetti.

State legislators also figure prominently in two other races: the First District (replacing Councilman Mike Hernandez) and the Ninth District (replacing Councilwoman Rita Walters).

Although he has yet to officially declare, state Sen. Richard Polanco is widely expected to enter the race for the First District. Assuming he does, Polanco -- who is very popular in his district -- would instantly jump to front-runner status, relegating Hernandez deputy Ed Reyes to a distant second.

And former state Assemblyman Carl Washington is widely expected to beat out a weak field of candidates to replace Walters.

Tough to call

Two other council races have no current or former state legislators running and are harder to call: the Third District (replacing the termed-out Laura Chick) and the 15m District (replacing termed-out Councilman Rudy Svorinich). In the Chick district, Francine Ocshin, chief deputy to Councilman Hal Bernson, is regarded as the front runner, with community activist Judith Hirshberg a close second.

And in the Harbor area, Janice Hahn (son of the late County Supervisor Kenneth Hahn and sister to James Hahn) is the front-runner on name recognition. But two other candidates, city commissioner Robert Nizich and liberal activist Hector Cepeda may give Hahn a run for her money.

In other city posts, the most exciting race is the one to replace James Hahn as city attorney. Councilman Mike Feuer is regarded as the favorite, but Deputy Mayor for Economic Development Rocky Delgadillo has raised a lot of money from local business executives, while prosecutor Lea Purwin D'Agostino has racked up several endorsements from the law enforcement community.

"How to .deal with the Rampart settlements will be a key issue in this race," Kayden said.