Pacoima Voters’ Questions Are Different : Council Candidates Confront Concerns of Crime, Jobs, Discrimination

After delivering a lively speech about the dangers of development along the Tujunga Wash, Noel Horwin was not prepared for the first question from the audience.

“Why does your English campaign literature have a union label on it and your flyer in Spanish doesn’t?” someone asked Horwin, a candidate for the East San Fernando Valley district seat on the City Council.

“I guess that one wasn’t printed in a union shop,” Horwin replied, looking somewhat embarrassed.

The questions at the candidates’ forum in Pacoima, held Tuesday evening by the Mexican-American Political Assn., were different from others Horwin has encountered in the council campaign.

Earlier forums have been before overwhelmingly white, conservative homeowners groups interested in such issues as disposal of toxic waste and the preservation of rural horse-keeping neighborhoods.

Two Forums

Tuesday night, however, the candidates made their first collective appearances of the campaign before minority-group audiences. Two of the four candidates attended both the MAPA forum and one conducted by the NAACP, also in Pacoima.

The audiences were small at both meetings, but those attending did not ask about zoning to allow horses. Their questions were about crime, minority employment opportunities and youth recreation programs.

Appearing at both forums, 1st District incumbent Councilman Howard Finn spoke of recent efforts to fight crime and provide jobs, especially in Pacoima.

He cited the Police Department’s establishment, at his urging, of a foot patrol at two Pacoima housing projects. He also reminded the audiences of his introduction of legislation to establish guidelines for use of the controversial police battering ram, which was unveiled during a drug raid at a Pacoima home. The proposal is under study by the council’s Police, Fire and Civil Defense Committee.

Shopping Center

Finn also said he helped obtain city financing for the recently completed Pacoima Plaza shopping center, where, he said, “Not less than 48% of its 300 employees will be minorities.”

But, at the end of Finn’s statement before the group of 15 MAPA members, Irene Tovar of Pacoima told the councilman: “I’ve lived here all my life and have seen programs come and go. Our youth here don’t have options; there is a lack of housing. What are you going to do to deal with the poverty in Pacoima?”

Finn agreed that there is “nothing for children to do” in the area, especially for those who live in Pacoima’s two public housing projects. He said he would ask the city Department of Recreation and Parks for additional funding for parks in the area.

In response to questions from the NAACP audience, Finn declined to take positions on proposed ballot measures to raise property taxes to hire 1,000 additional police officers and to expand the City Council from 15 to 17 members. The council expansion is designed to increase minority representation.

Candidate Defends Ram

Challengers Elton (Skip) Michael and Louis Cichelli did not attend the MAPA forum. Michael, however, did attend the NAACP meeting. Michael, a Los Angeles police detective, defended police use of the battering ram. “The chief wanted to give a message to the dope dealers,” he said. “He would not have done it unless it could have been used safely.”

Horwin, as he has at other candidates’ forums, alleged that Finn had proposed building a toxic-waste storage facility in the district, which Finn has denied. Horwin also criticized Finn for not taking a stand on a developer’s proposal to build an industrial and residential project along the Tujunga Wash.

Horwin, a Shadow Hills public relations consultant and past president of the Shadow Hills Property Owners Assn., told the MAPA group that “the future of our district is at stake; the integrity of our community plans and the integrity of land use is at stake if we do not protect Tujunga Wash. . . .”

Crime, Job Concerns

“Excuse me,” a man from MAPA interrupted, telling Horwin that the audience wanted instead to hear his comments on crime, discrimination and jobs in Pacoima.

Horwin then said that crime can be reduced by establishing recreation programs for youth. On providing jobs, he said, “In my opinion, the way we create jobs is not by the destruction of our environment, like the Tujunga Wash.”

At the NAACP forum, Horwin asked the audience of about 20 to take into account his background. “I had the privilege of being a participant in the march on Washington in 1963 with Martin Luther King,” he said.

Horwin said he opposes the police tax but is leaning toward the council expansion.

After the MAPA meeting, Horwin said he had not yet campaigned on the streets of Pacoima. “Pacoima, specifically, I haven’t gotten to yet. But I have spent time in Sylmar, Tujunga, Sunland,” he said.