Cost Blamed for Council Expansion Loss

Fear of increased costs of local government, combined with weak support from Latino politicians helped defeat a ballot measure intended to boost minority representation on the Los Angeles City Council, backers of the proposal said Wednesday.

However, leaders of the low-budget, campaign for Charter Amendment 2, which would have increased the council from 15 to 17 members, said they will not abandon their push for Latino and Asian representation on the city’s governing body.

The measure was defeated by a 2-1 margin.

The council, which has not expanded in 60 years, has never had an Asian member and has been without a Latino for more than 20 years.

Latinos and Asians are the two fastest-growing ethnic groups in the city, together making up more than a third of the population.

Opponents of the measure, in cluding the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce and the Los Angeles Taxpayers Assn., claimed that the expansion would have increased the cost and size of government with little benefit to taxpayers. They noted that each council office now costs taxpayers $675,000 a year to operate.

One of the leading proponents, Ron Baca, co-chairman of the Los Angeles Coalition for Fair Representation, said backers of the measure, including several Latino, Asian and labor union organizations, will now reassess their strategy and consider launching a legal challenge to council district lines drawn in 1982.

The council redistricting plan is also the target of a U.S. Department of Justice investigation looking into whether the voting rights of Latinos and Asians were violated by the manner in which district boundaries were drawn.

On Wednesday, a department spokesman would say only that that probe, begun in February, is continuing, and that investigators were aware of Tuesday’s election results.

“My view is the City Council is going to be expanded one way or another,” Baca said. “The demand for democracy in the city is undeniable.”

Other leaders of Baca’s coalition, which was formed to promote the measure, said they will concentrate efforts on trying to mount political pressure on Eastside Councilman Arthur K. Snyder. They said they want to make sure that Snyder, who has said he will resign this year, does indeed step down. Snyder’s resignation would open up his heavily Latino district to minority candidates.

Reaffirms Intention

Snyder, who has withstood challenges and recall attempts by Latino candidates before, reaffirmed Wednesday that he does intend to leave office, probably in July or August.

Several backers of the Charter amendment said they believe that it would have done better--it lost even in heavily Latino areas--if some key elected officials had not remained on the sidelines during the campaign.

“We did not receive any significant support from any Latino elected officials,” Baca said.

Martha Hetzler, a spokeswoman for the coalition, said that those who “could have lent more support” included Assemblyman Richard Alatorre, state Sen. Art Torres and Assemblywoman Gloria Molina, all Democratic representatives from East Los Angeles who had indicated that they favored the measure.

Help Was Sought

Hetzler said unsuccessful efforts were made to get the legislators to contribute to the campaign, help raise funds and play visible roles.

But Alatorre said no one asked for him to work actively for the measure. “I don’t know what they’re talking about,” he said. “I was never contacted.”

Responding to Alatorre’s comment, Virginia Reade, regional director of the Mexican-American Political Assn., said: “My God, this is the largest concentration of Hispanics outside of Mexico City. (The Latino elected officials) should have been in the forefront of the (amendment campaign). They are the leaders. They’re supposed to lead.”

Noting that Alatorre has announced plans to run for Snyder’s seat, Reade suggested that the assemblyman was inactive because he had nothing to gain personally if the amendment passed.

‘The Big Banana’

As the strongest in a potential field of Latino candidates expected to vie to succeed Snyder, Alatorre stands to become “the big banana if he gets on (the council),” she said. His power might be diluted if other Latinos were elected, she added.

However, Alatorre dismissed Reade’s charge and said he has “always been committed to the idea of increasing political opportunities for racial and ethnic minorities.”

In terms of campaign fund raising, Torres said little money was available to back the measure, because funds were being siphoned off into citywide races for mayor, city attorney and city controller. “People were tapped out,” he said.

While most of the political push for council expansion came from the Eastside, Charter Amendment 2 did not muster support there. It was defeated easily in every council district in the city, including Snyder’s.

UNO Took No Stand

Notably, the Eastside’s politically powerful United Neighborhood Organization took no position on the measure. “There was no guarantee it would accomplish its stated purpose,” UNO Vice President Rosalinda Lugo said.

In the end, Tom Houston, a top political adviser to Mayor Tom Bradley--a supporter of the measure--said it was primarily a pocketbook issue from the start.

“All the surveys we did showed clearly the fear of increased cost was dominant. That’s what doomed it,” he said.