Mayor endorses Flores Aguilar for school board

Throwing his weight into the upcoming Los Angeles school board elections, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa declared his support for a heavily favored Latina candidate Wednesday and was poised to give his endorsement in another race. For weeks, the mayor had delayed his endorsements -- avoiding, for the time, political strife with the teachers union and African American leaders.

As expected, the mayor announced his support for Yolie Flores Aguilar, 44, who heads a Los Angeles County children’s services agency. She is backed by a broad swath of Latino officials and activists in heavily Latino District 5, where she seeks to replace retiring incumbent David Tokofsky.

Villaraigosa appeared with Flores Aguilar at Huntington Park High School, her alma mater, where he sounded his usual assertive tone about replacing school board members.

“I said we intend to take our case to the ballot box,” Villaraigosa said. “Make no mistake: It is a new day at L.A. Unified. For too long, this school board has resisted reform, circling the wagons instead of reaching to build a coalition for change.”

Flores Aguilar, who pledged to be an independent voice, said she nonetheless supports Villaraigosa’s efforts, which she characterized as a partnership rather than an effort to take over.

“The word ‘takeover’ for me is not helpful,” she said in an interview. “What we need is partnership.” She characterized the mayor’s efforts as “a tool for change,” adding that she’s “extremely grateful that someone would push and challenge the status quo in a way I haven’t seen before.”

Political observers uniformly described the endorsement of Flores Aguilar as an easy call. She faces Bennett Kayser, 60, a longtime middle school teacher and community activist who does not speak Spanish in a district where more than 56% of voters have a Spanish surname.

District 5 includes Silver Lake and Eagle Rock but also stretches across the Eastside and Latino-majority cities, including South Gate, Maywood and Cudahy. It was carved out with the intent of electing a Latino, but instead has been held until now by Tokofsky, a white who speaks Spanish.

Kayser, who also is white, said the endorsement was no surprise. “It frames the race a little more easily,” he said. “I assume the reason the mayor is endorsing her is that she supports his desire to take over the school board, and I don’t feel the mayor should be running the schools.”

Villaraigosa had powerful reasons to think longer about his endorsement decisions in the three other races. He has been trying to avoid, or at least postpone, a fight with United Teachers Los Angeles, which favors incumbent Jon Lauritzen in the San Fernando Valley, and the black political establishment in South Los Angeles, much of which leans toward incumbent Marguerite Poindexter LaMotte.

“The mayor does have to be cautious,” said Ed Burke, Lauritzen’s chief of staff. “The mayor does not want to go against UTLA, where he has strong ties, and with Marguerite LaMotte, he might be challenging the black community, and I don’t believe he wants to get in a fight with them.”

Sources close to Villaraigosa agreed with that analysis, even though some suggested that the mayor would inevitably oppose Lauritzen and go with city prosecutor Tamar Galatzan. And Wednesday night, the Galatzan campaign scheduled a joint news conference with the mayor for today. The other candidate in the race is teacher Louis Pugliese.

The mayor also has yet to take a position in the Watts-San Pedro-area race, which matches up former L.A. Unified senior administrator Richard Vladovic, retired Los Angeles middle school Principal Neal Kleiner and union organizer Jesus Escandon.

In the past, Villaraigosa has held off on endorsements until late in campaigns after front-runners have established themselves. This is a departure from the playbook of former Mayor Richard Riordan, who tried to reshape the school board by handpicking candidates early and then throwing his political and financial muscle behind them.

Ultimately, Riordan suffered setbacks after opponents demonized his choices as puppets.

“There could be a lesson learned there,” said Burke, Lauritzen’s staffer.

He would know, because he was part of a campaign that used such a strategy to unseat Caprice Young, Lauritzen’s predecessor, who had Riordan’s support. Villaraigosa wants to avoid that, sources close to the mayor told The Times.

LaMotte has the backing of many African American leaders, whose support is key to Villaraigosa’s future. Among them are Rep. Maxine Waters and Villaraigosa loyalist state Assemblywoman Karen Bass, both Democrats from Los Angeles.

LaMotte is running against Johnathan Williams, co-founder of the Accelerated School, a South Los Angeles charter campus where Villaraigosa delivered his first State of the City speech.

Williams enjoys the support of Riordan and some of the state’s leading charter school backers, who are expected to heavily fund his campaign. He could have the money he needs without Villaraigosa.

LaMotte, on the other hand, could be short on cash absent an endorsement from the teachers union. And that could hinge on LaMotte’s support for a union-friendly contract in ongoing negotiations.

“Our endorsement comes with our money,” said UTLA Vice President Joshua Pechthalt; the union will meet next week to make its final endorsements. “

howard.blume@latimes.com

duke.helfand@latimes.com