No Setbacks in Recovery, Galanter Says

She said her throat still hurt, her stomach troubled her and that she still could not eat solid food, but Los Angeles City Council candidate Ruth Galanter said Friday night in a telephone interview from UCLA Medical Center that she has suffered no serious medical setback since the near fatal assault on her three weeks ago.

While Galanter indicated that she might not be 100% recovered by July 1, the date that she would take office if she is elected Tuesday, she said she would be well enough to do her job.

“I do expect to be able to serve, and I plan to serve,” she said.

Galanter faces City Council President Pat Russell in the runoff election for the 6th District seat in western Los Angeles.

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Sounding a little weary and a little croupy, Galanter offered more details than she had in one previous interview about her medical condition and about circumstances surrounding the attack on her.

Galanter called The Times in response to a reporter seeking further details after her doctors had recommended that she not attend a preliminary hearing scheduled Monday for the man charged with entering her Venice house May 6 and stabbing her twice in the neck. Galanter had said earlier that she planned to testify at the hearing.

Galanter’s campaign staff in the past has tried to prevent her health from becoming an issue in the election, in part, by saying that they thought she would be able to leave the hospital this weekend.

Galanter, who has been listed in good condition for the last two weeks, said Friday that she did not know how much longer she would have to stay in the hospital. She said there is “no way to answer” whether she will be fully recovered by July 1. But she said she would be ready to take on the responsibilities of the office.

Voting could also be a problem for her, she said. She said she probably would not be able to go to her polling place and had not obtained an absentee ballot.

“I hadn’t really thought about it until this moment. Now, I’m going to look into it.”

Galanter replied, “OK” when asked how she felt. She said her strength “comes and goes.” She said she was having difficulty with digestion but said doctors told her it was a normal reaction to the kind of trauma she suffered. She also said it hurt to swallow as a result of a healing process in which “new tissue was tightening up.”

But she emphasized that there have been no serious setbacks, including a stroke, to her recovery.

The question of a stroke was provoked by her slightly impaired speech and by her appearance-- one side of her face seemed immobile--during a hospital press conference last week.

“No stroke, not even close,” she said Friday.

She was also asked if she had been raped, a question that police investigators have declined to answer.

“Not that I know of,” she said, explaining that she could have blacked out during the attack.

Then, she talked briefly about what she said she remembered of the attack.

“I heard a noise in the house. I reached for the alarm and didn’t quite make it. The next thing I knew there was a hand (preventing her from setting off the alarm) and a knife going into the back of my head.”.

After she was stabbed, Galanter said, she was able to trigger the alarm switch. The sound of the alarm and her screams alerted neighbors.

Spokesmen for UCLA Medical Center also released a statement about Galanter’s condition Friday evening.

Saying that she remained in good condition, it also stated that Galanter has not suffered a stroke, and it went on to say:

“Her neurologic function is normal. The only further action now being contemplated is that she will continue to be hospitalized for observation and medical treatment of her injuries. No date for her discharge has been set.”

Earlier Friday, Deputy Dist. Atty. Dale Davidson, the prosecutor in the case, said that he was told that Galanter’s doctors want to keep her in the hospital “under observation, possibly for a couple more weeks.” Davidson said the doctors believed that the stress of traveling and attending a highly publicized court hearing might not be good for her.

Davidson and defense attorney James M. Epstein both said that they were agreeable to postponement of the hearing. Epstein said he was “sure” that the defendant, Mark Allen Olds, 27, would have no objection to the postponement.

Olds, who has a history of gang membership and drug use, lived in a boarding house across the street from Galanter’s home in Venice.

Meanwhile, in a last-minute move Friday, Assemblyman Tom Hayden (D-Santa Monica) endorsed Galanter and said that he will wage a limited, independent campaign on her behalf, even though she has asked him not to.

Hayden’s political organization, Campaign California, announced that it will spend about $15,000 on the pro-Galanter effort. The group will send out one mailer. Hayden supporters also plan to man telephones and campaign on foot for Galanter.

“We are concerned about the future of the 6th District,” said Bob Mulholland of Campaign California. “And we feel Ruth offers a fresh alternative.”

Times staff writers Terry Pristin and Alan Citron contributed to this story.