Englander Backs Firefighters Union Boss for Harbor-Area Council Seat

Freshman Councilman Mitch Englander threw his support Wednesday behind firefighters' union president Pat McOsker in the campaign for the open 15th District City Council seat vacated by Janice Hahn.

Before being elected, Englander, a reserve police officer who lives in Granada Hills, was chief of staff to former 12th Council District representative Greig Smith. His district includes Chatsworth.

McOsker led a bruising battle with Smith in May over scaling back the fire department budget and elminating some fire and paramedic units. As president of the firefighters' union, McOsker fought hard but lost. The City Council eventually trimmed the budget by $54 million and permanently eliminated 18 fire and emergency vehicle units, including one in the harbor-area 15th District.

The union argued that the plan would reduce paramedic response times, which account for more than 80 percent of emergency calls.

Despite that contentious battle political, Englander cited McOsker's public safety credentials. He is a 30-plus year veteran of the Los Angeles Fire Department.

"I'm looking for someone to partner with me at City Hall on fighting to keep our neighborhoods safe for residents and businesses,'' Englander said.

"He has always served L.A. residents and fought to preserve the fire protection and emergency services we need.''

Other front-runners in the race include Rudy Svorinich, who held the seat from 1993-1997, Assemblyman Warren Furutani, and Joe Buscaino, a LAPD senior lead officer in San Pedro.

The race is McOsker's first campaign for public office.

Hahn, who served two terms in the heavily Democratic district, won a special congressional election in July to replace Jane Harman, who stepped down earlier this year to run the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, a foreign policy think tank in Washington.

Former City Councilman Robert Farrell, who represented the city's 8th Council District from 1974-1991 is also in the race.

Two of Hahn's former staffers are running. Gordon Teuber was Hahn's planning deputy, and Justin Brimmer was a lower-level legislative deputy.

Jayme Wilson, who owns the Ports O'Call restaurant in San Pedro, is also in the race.

Twenty candidates have filed to run. Others include self-described businessmen, a Realtor, community activists, a minister and an actor/director.

Candidates have until Sept. 12 to submit enough petition signatures to become official candidates—a minimum of 500 signatures and a $300 filing fee, or a minimum of 1,000 signatures with no fee.

Buscaino is the only candidate to have actually qualified for the ballot.

City News Service contributed to this report.