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Last Updated 5/2/07

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Donna Vinci Gives Local Women Gift To Remember

Compton School District Superintendent to Step Down

A Tribute to Congresswoman Juanita Millender-McDonald

Community Reacts to Millender-McDonald’s Passing

Decades-old Traffic Signal System Finally on Its Way Out

Sheriff’s Department Teams With ABC to Cite Those Selling, Buying Youth Alcohol

Celebrity Collaboration at Compton’s Carver Elementary School

Authorities Buckling Down on Safety Belt Law

City Commissioning Cost Allocation, Utility Fees Study

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Isadore Hall — Sacramento or Washington, D.C.?
Local councilman considering a vie for open congressional seat

By Allison Jean Eaton
Bulletin Staff Writer

Although he’s still interested in Sacramento, the city’s 4th District councilman could be on his way to Washington, D.C.

With the April 21 passing of Rep. Juanita Millender-McDonald, constituents in the 37th Congressional District will soon head to the polls for a special election to seek her replacement.

And Councilman Isadore Hall is seriously contemplating running for the open congressional seat despite his continued interest in running for Assemblyman Mervyn Dymally’s seat when the assemblyman is termed out.

“While I am certainly excited about the opportunity in Sacramento, I would also like to continue the work of our legendary Juanita Millender-McDonald and to build upon the legacies she established,” Hall told The Bulletin.

He said he will make his final decision Monday. He traveled to the nation’s capitol earlier this week to lobby members of Congress for their support if he does decide to run.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger last week ordered the election be held by Aug. 21. Because a primary must precede the general election by two months, the primary is slated for June 26. If no candidate receives more than 50 percent of the vote in the primary, a runoff between the top candidates in each party will be held in August.

The councilman’s campaign manager, Jewett Walker, told the Bulletin Sunday that Hall wanted to wait until after Millender-McDonald’s Monday funeral.

“Certainly, considering the work that he’s done, he has a very good chance,” said Walker relative to the congressional seat. “He’s worked very hard, he’s viable, a good fundraiser and a consensus builder. His concerns go beyond the local level. He’s concerned about health care, education — things that are really more at a national level.”

Hall was last month re-elected to the Compton City Council in what Mayor Eric Perrodin described election night as “probably the largest margin of victory in the history of Compton politics.” Hall, who was challenged by former Councilman Fred Cressel, walked away with 75 percent of the vote. That night, Perrodin described Hall as being bound for Sacramento or Capitol Hill in the future.

Hall was first elected to the City Council on April 15, 2003. Prior to that, he served on the Compton Unified School District Board of Trustees. He was elected to that body in November 2001 and served two consecutive terms as board president, being the youngest person to serve in that capacity in the district’s history. Under his governance, the district secured an $80 million bond from voters to refurbish the city’s aging schools and built the first new school facility in 35 years.

He represents the Hub City on the Metropolitan Water Board, the Gateway Cities Council of Governments and the Southern California Association of Governments.

An avid champion of business and economic development, Hall established the city’s Quarterly Business2Business Breakfast Roundtable, a networking session that meets each quarter and is open to local businesses. Most recently, Hall has worked with executives from Best Buy and other stores slated to set up shop in the city’s new shopping center to bring approximately 1,000 jobs to the community.

Hall is a real estate executive and belongs to Double Rock Missionary Baptist Church, where he is a member of the ministerial team.

The 37th Congressional District includes Carson, Compton, much of Long Beach, parts of Los Angeles, Watts-Willowbrook and Signal Hill.

Other candidates rumored last week to possibly run for the late congresswoman’s seat include state Sen. Alan Lowenthal, state Sen. Jenny Oropeza, former Assemblyman Jerome Horton, Assemblywoman Laura Richardson, Carson Mayor Jim Dear and Long Beach Councilwoman Tonia Reyes Uranga.

Democrat Mervin Evans and Republican L.J. “Bishop” Guillory, took out nominating papers last week, said a spokeswoman for the L.A. County Registrar/Recorder’s Office.

Herb Peters, a Libertarian, requested petitions in lieu of the $1,652 filing fee, she said.

Both Evans and Peters had already launched Websites Sunday announcing their candidacies.

Walker said that the way the field is shaping up, Hall has as good a chance as anyone.