Posted on Tue, Jan. 29, 2008

Mayor Mara Giulianti's 20-year reign in the city of Hollywood ended on Tuesday night, after voters chose Peter Bober as their new mayor.

The hotly contested mayoral race had turned into a debate of old versus new.

Giulianti based her campaign on the positive change she brought to the city, including improving a once crime-riddled and vacant downtown and breathing life into an underutilized beach.

Giulianti, who has been mayor 20 of the past 22 years, made powerful allies and teamed with lobbyists and developers to bring new construction to the city.

But it may have been her relationship with those allies that turned some voters off after a tumultuous year highlighted by scandal.

''I'm tired of hearing about conflicts of interest and computers crashing and squandered money,'' said resident Joel McKenzie, after voting at the Hollywood Gardens precinct. ``I think it's time for change. Things aren't working now, so we need to give someone else a shot.''

Critics pointed to Giulianti's involvement in a 2004 deal with Schwing Bioset that spawned a state attorney's office investigation as a sign that she was too close to lobbyists.

Former Commissioner Keith Wasserstrom was convicted of felony charges for his role in helping Schwing win the multimillion-dollar contract, but Giulianti also played a role by advising a lobbyist on how to convince others on the commission to vote for the sludge-processing firm's proposal. Another company had offered a similar service for millions of dollars less.

Giulianti was never charged with a crime, but Bober used the scandal and Giulianti's immense campaign war chest as proof she answered to lobbyists and not voters.

''I think change was a major factor. People were tired of the wasteful spending of their tax dollars,'' Bober said. ``We are going to have almost an entirely new commission, and we need to get together and discuss our shared goals so we can move the city forward together collectively.''

Bober has been a commissioner for west Hollywood since 2000, but made his mark on the commission by battling with Giulianti on many issues. He has voted against many of the hefty incentives offered by the city's downtown and beach Community Redevelopment Agencies and has preached ethics reform.

He tried unsuccessfully to institute campaign finance guidelines that would all but eliminate contributions from developers and lobbyists. The measure was defeated after vehement protest by Giulianti.

Bober did strengthen the city's lobbying rules by preventing lobbyists from having closed-door meeting with city officials or commissioners during a bid process.

''Finally we have a mayor who will listen to what the people have to say,'' said Hollywood beach Carl Ignacuinos, after voting Tuesday. ``He is going to increase the police presence in the neighborhoods and he is going to watch city spending.''

On Tuesday, Giulianti conceded defeat. With a third of the precincts reporting, a teary-eyed Giulianti took the microphone and addressed a roomful of supporters, thanking them for their support.

At first the crowd cheered, but silence fell upon them as they listened to the mayor concede.

''The will of the people appears to be change, and I always listen to the will of the people,'' Giulianti said. ``I'm sorry I let all my supporters down.''

But it didn't take long for Giulianti to take shots at her successor.

''It's going to be a different city with a part-time mayor,'' she said, referring to Bober's full-time job as a lawyer. ``We're going to have some people on the commission who don't have the record or the experience.''

Giulianti considers the next four years pivotal to the future of the city -- noting that several large developments on the beach and downtown need to be completed.

The new Marriott hotel to be built on CRA land at Johnson Street and State Road A1A is supposed to be the catalyst for the beach and is expected to be complete by 2011.

A downtown CRA housing development also is slated to be complete by next election, as well as major private projects -- the Sheridan Stationside Village and Trump Towers.

She said she also wanted to focus on the U.S. 441 corridor to encourage new mixed-used developments and existing businesses to spruce up their store fronts.