The Los Angeles Times from Los Angeles, California • 34

1 On the Road Back Four years ago, state Sen. Alan Robbins seemed headed for political oblivion. But his savvy and appeal to constituents has turned that around. Page 20. A Question of Murder A defense attorney admits his client was involved in a robbery but says he shouldn't be blamed for the accomplice's murders.

Page 20. Where'd the Snow Go? After a delay on the freeway, a blizzard finally came to San Fernando, much to the delight of several hundred children. Page 21. METRO Valley Edition Cos Angeles (Times Sunday, December 1, 1985 FCCtPart II NAACP's Latest Suit Revives Issue of 'Metro' Busing By DAVID G. SAVAGE, Times Education Writer rejected a court-ordered merger of the Detroit school district and districts in the suburbs, dashing the hopes of civil rights attorneys who saw metropolitan plans as a way to remedy segregation in city schools.

Since most urban school districts had become overwhelmingly black or Latino, desegregation within the city limits had become virtually impossible. But while the courts have frowned on forced mergers of city The NAACP's latest desegregation suit in Los Angeles, revived by a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision, seems to regularly prompt this puzzled inquiry: How do you desegregate a school system in which only 19 of the students are white? Though somewhat irked by the question, attorneys for the National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People reply that "one option" would be for the courts to enact a metropolitan desegregation plan, using white students from, for example, Beverly Hills, Santa Monica and the South Bay communities to desegregate schools in south Los Angeles. The legal argument goes like this: The state is a defendant in the NAACP law suit, and school districts are legal creations of the state.

If the civil rights attorneys can show in court that the state laws or acts caused or contributed to segregation in Los Angeles, the court could fashion a remedy that crossed district boundaries and ordered busing among the white and black communities. Attorneys and desegregation activists say such an outcome in the Los Angeles case is possible, but not likely. In 1974, the U.S. Supreme Court itp qjh are two-story, four-bedroom bungalows built in the early 1900s. JOE KENNEDY Los Angeles Times These are on 20th Street.

Seven candidates are vying for election to the Los Angeles City Council seat vacated by Arthur K. Snyder. Here is a look at where they stand. The 'Battle' of West Adams White Restorationists Buying Homes in Largely Black LA. Neighborhood and Hostility to Them Has Risen By SANDY BANKS, Times Staff Writer The San Jose school desegregation case could be a forecast for Los Angeles.

See Page 8. and suburban districts, some judges have recently ordered voluntary busing across district lines. In 1983, federal courts found that Missouri's history of segregation contributed to the problems of the St. Louis schools. As a remedy, the court set up a desegregation program that was both mandatory and voluntary.

The city and suburban school districts were required to set up magnet schools and busing programs that exchanged black and white students. But children who Please see BUSING, Page 2 Dorothy Andromidas Only Anglo in the race, minor party candidate, a long-shot. Antonio Rodriguez Longtime community activist, he hopes to make the transition to elected office. John Silva Small businessman and self-described long shot. The special election will constitute "a changing of the guard," $aid recently resigned Councilman Arthur K.

Snyder. Writer Most West Adams area homes From their front porches, residents of the West Adams neighborhood have watched with mixed emotions as their elderly neighbors disappear, and the young newcomers who replace them peel away the years on their aging homes, transporting the community back to yesteryear. For better or worse, West Adams, just northwest of USC, has become the new darling of historic preservationists. Since 1981, when middle-class whites began trickling into the area, buying time-worn homes and restoring them to their former glory, scores of newcomers have bought bargain-priced, mansion-sized fixer-uppers in the predominantly black neighborhood. As their presence has increased, so has the hostility between the newcomers and the longtime residents, many of whom feel the restorationists see the neighborhood only as a collection of historic nouses, ignoring the longtime residents inside them.

It is a conflict that is cropping up more and more in old, big-city neighborhoods as middle -class, mostly white "urban pioneers" move into minority areas to "reclaim" historic houses gone to pot. "At first, we thought they were coming in to be neighborly," said Marion Downs Smith, a Juilliard-trained classical musician who has lived in her home on 20th Street for 30 years. "Now, we see they're out to exploit and take advantage of us. They don't mean us any good. We're not going to sit idly by and let them take over like we're dummies." Now, what could have been a cooperative effort to upgrade neglected homes in this grand elderly neighbors are being pressured to sell their homes at below-market prices, she said.

Others simply mistrust leaders of the association, who have alienated their neighbors by disparaging the neighborhood in association meetings and talking about "rescuing" the area. "There are a lot of people in the association who acknowledge the fact that this is a community and they want to participate in that community," said Blackwell, who purchased a restored home in the neighborhood a year ago. "But there are a lot of others who don't who see themselves as coming in to rescue the community, and this community is not one that sees itself in need of being rescued." In many ways, the battle is a classic one that occurs wherever neighborhoods are shaken by change, whether by "gentrification" that replaces the poor with more affluent residents, or by the incursion of a new ethnic or immigrant group. Similar strains have emerged in other Los Angeles neighborhoods, such as Silver Lake, with its growing gay population; Angelino Heights, where the preservationists have been involved for several years; and between the black and Korean residents surrounding the city's expanding Koreatown district. "This is endemic to all situations where you have changing population groups, no matter who they are," said Ruth Ann Lehr of the Los Angeles Conservancy, a volunteer group that works to preserve the region's architecture and cultural heritage.

"There's kind of a feeling of territoriality toward Please see ADAMS, Page 12 Jffl Richard Alatorra Assemblyman, political veteran, he has blessing of Democratic "establishment." Gilbert Avila Only Republican candidate, he has Gov. George Deukmejian's endorsement. Stave Rodriguez Tried and failed to have office's former occupant, Arthur K. Snyder, recalled. Roas Valencia Former council aide, he served as Snyder's right-hand man.

WIISHIRE XT si Mte civ jv QivMfrC Center $1 Rosadale Cemetery JjCl VENICE 6t yC plf WASHINGTON BLVD. 'jlyl "sf JEFFERSON BLVD. ismmi. mmmm: msmm Los Angeles Times its most important event of the year. "It's really too bad about the hostility," said Karen Blackwell, one of only three blacks in the 100-member preservationists' group, the West Adams Heritage Assn.

"There's a lot of suspicion on the part of old-timers." Many residents believe their Campaign to Fill Snyder's Seat Family, School Ties Bind Latino Council Candidates old neighborhood has become mired, instead, in acrimony and resentment, fueled by fear and misunderstandings on both sides. The hostility reached its climax a month ago, when some residents waged a successful protest against the preservationists' annual Historic Homes Tour and Street Faire, forcing the group to scale down Bob 1 98 By JANET CLAYTON, Times Staff It is a political race that is a tempered, more genial version of "Family Feud," with a cast of candidates whose families have known each other for decades, who used to run around together as student activists, whose major supporters used to be in-laws. The Los Angeles City Council race in the Eastside 14th District is on again. This is the district's third election in little more than two years, following the 1983 regular election and an unsuccessful recall election last year. This time it is missing the long-embattled former Councilman Ar thur K.

Snyder. After several years of political, legal and personal controversies, Snyder resigned last month after 18 years in office in order to practice law full time. A Dec. 10 special election will be held to fill Snyder's seat. If none of the seven candidates receives at least 50 plus one vote, a runoff election will be held between the top two vote-getters, probably in February.

After 18 years of Snyder, the special election will constitute "a changing of the guard," the former councilman said. "How different Please see CANDIDATES, Page 18 JAYNE KAMIN Los Angeles Times Bortfeld was one of the first whites to resettle the area, in 1 He now sells real estate to restorationists in West Adams. James and Carolyn Shifflett broke the whites-only color barrier when they bought their 20th Street home in 1 947..