Mayor Endorses Huizar’s Ex-Aide

Even as he presses his case to take over the Los Angeles Unified School District -- and replace its elected board with his own appointees -- Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa endorsed a candidate Thursday to fill the vacant seat on the school board.

Villaraigosa said he was backing Monica Garcia, the former chief of staff to Jose Huizar, who left the District 2 school board seat in November after his election to the City Council.

“I proudly endorse Monica Garcia because I know how important this election is. LAUSD and the city is at a crossroads,” Villaraigosa said during a news conference at a Boyle Heights school. “We cannot allow this district to backslide into the past, into a time of denial and failure. We’ve got to move forward.” Garcia, one of five candidates for the job, also received support from state Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez (D-Los Angeles), Huizar and Councilwoman Wendy Greuel. The special election is March 7. Garcia declined to take a position on the mayor’s effort to take over the school district -- a goal he wants to accomplish by early 2008 with voter and legislative approval -- but said the board needed to work with him.

“We need to see his plan,” she said after the news conference. “I’m running for the school board the way the school board is.”

The other candidates are Christopher Arrellano, Maria Lou Calanche, Ana Teresa Fernandez and Enrique Gasca.

Arrellano has secured the support of his former boss, council President Eric Garcetti, and United Teachers Los Angeles, among others. Gasca’s endorsements include Local 500 of the California School Employees Assn. and the Los Angeles School Police Assn.

Both Huizar and Nunez praised Garcia’s work as Huizar’s chief of staff for 4 1/2 years.