Mayor Gets Physical : She Hears Enough, Hurls a Chair at Bell Gardens City Council Colleague

The mayor of Bell Gardens physically attacked another council member Monday night during a heated closed session from which officials emerged dazed and shaken, voted to fire the city attorney and then called off the rest of the scheduled meeting.

Mayor Josefina (Josie) Macias, saying she was fed up with Councilman Frank B. Duran’s demeaning comments about women, pushed Duran several times in the back, tried to slap him and then threw a chair at him after the city manager tried to break up the battle, according to several officials at the meeting.

Macias said in an interview Tuesday that she had been seething for months over what she described as Duran’s sexist and macho attitude, and that his actions in closed session Monday night--shaking his finger at her and ordering her to sit down and listen to him--were the final straw.

Duran refused to comment on the incident, other than to remark: “You know how women are.” He added, however, that he has consulted with an attorney.

Neither was injured in the clash, which occurred behind closed doors as council members debated whether to fire City Atty. Alan Gross.

The council has scheduled a special meeting tonight, in part to consider a movement led by Duran and Councilwoman Rosa Hernandez to remove Macias as mayor. Macias has held the largely ceremonial position since last March and was scheduled to step down in April. Like many cities, Bell Gardens council members select a mayor from among their ranks and rotate the position annually. Duran, as mayor pro tem, is next in line.

Monday’s clash was the latest sign that a council coalition that ousted four Anglo council members last year is beginning to unravel. Four new council members, including Macias and Duran, took office last spring in a euphoric celebration that some viewed as signaling a new era in this heavily Latino city long controlled by an Anglo Establishment.

In recent months, however, the mood has turned sour amid allegations of illegal hiring practices, racism and conflicts of interest within City Hall. Even Macias said she is “embarrassed” about the council’s recent behavior “because we fought so hard to get where we are.” But she said she had no regrets about her emotionally charged run-in with Duran.

Macias said her problems with Duran began several months ago when the councilman invited her to his home and told her that women have no place in politics. “He said that women should be home, making babies,” Macias said. “He has always wanted me to step back and let him run the show.”

Duran strongly denied that he ever asked Macias to his home, adding that he has “no problem at all working with women in politics.”

Equally upsetting, said those present at the closed session, was an offhand remark by Councilman Rodolfo (Rudy) Garcia, who reportedly expressed relief that the council had decided to fire City Atty. Gross, who is Jewish, and replace him with a Latino, Henry Barbosa, who has served as special counsel for the city.

Several sources quoted Garcia as saying, “It it were my money, I would never have hired a Jew in the first place.”

Councilman George Deitch was one of those who said he heard Garcia’s remark. “I couldn’t believe my ears,” Deitch said.

Garcia did not return phone calls from The Times.

By most accounts, Monday’s council session took a turn for the worse when Macias requested at the outset of the open meeting that Barbosa--who had long been rumored as in line to replace Gross--take a seat among the council members at the front of the hall where the council meets. In the past, Barbosa has been seated among city staff and Gross has sat with council members and the city manager.

As Barbosa rose to take his new seat assignment, Duran immediately ordered him to return to his seat among city staff. Macias and Duran exchanged heated words, with the red-faced mayor finally screaming, “This is my meeting and I will run it the way I want to run it!”

The council quickly went into closed session--with Gross, Barbosa and City Manager William Vasquez in tow. According to those present, Macias, 41, accosted Duran once behind closed doors, taunting and challenging the 57-year-old councilman.

“It got very thin,” Macias later admitted. “I got very close to him and told him, ‘You act like a woman and you should face me like a woman.’ ”

Macias said Duran became enraged and threw the first punch, and that she hit him back. But others said Macias started shoving Duran in the back as he sat in a chair, then tried to slap him in the face as Vasquez, the city manager, moved in to separate them.

Macias reportedly walked away, then turned around and threw a metal chair toward Duran, hitting the city manager instead, officials said.

When tempers finally calmed down, Gross and Barbosa were sent out of the closed session, taking their seats in the meeting hall. The council emerged half an hour later and voted 3 to 2 to dismiss Gross and replace him with Barbosa. Garcia and Duran voted against the proposal.

Gross had no comment about his removal. He had been campaign treasurer for the so-called No-Rezoning Committee, a group that led the effort to recall four Anglo council members late in 1991, then supported Duran, Macias, Deitch and Garcia. The committee was formed to oppose controversial zoning changes that members claimed were unfair to the city’s poorest residents, mostly Latinos. Gross was appointed city attorney last March, succeeding Peter Wallin, who had resigned after the new council was sworn in.

Council members Hernandez and Deitch said they voted to fire Gross because they wanted someone with more experience in municipal law. Both said much of the legal work for the city was being duplicated by Barbosa, and it was costing the city too much money.

Gross billed $111,083 to the city in legal fees between March and October of 1992. Barbosa, who also acts as city attorney in Lynwood and Montebello, billed $168,908 in fees between April and mid-November.