Campaign to Fill Snyder’s Seat : Family, School Ties Bind Latino Council Candidates

It is a political race that is a tempered, more genial version of “Family Feud,” with a cast of candidates whose families have known each other for decades, who used to run around together as student activists, whose major supporters used to be in-laws.

The Los Angeles City Council race in the Eastside 14th District is on again. This is the district’s third election in little more than two years, following the 1983 regular election and an unsuccessful recall election last year.

This time it is missing the long-embattled former Councilman Arthur K. Snyder. After several years of political, legal and personal controversies, Snyder resigned last month after 18 years in office in order to practice law full time. A Dec. 10 special election will be held to fill Snyder’s seat. If none of the seven candidates receives at least 50% plus one vote, a runoff election will be held between the top two vote-getters, probably in February.

After 18 years of Snyder, the special election will constitute “a changing of the guard,” the former councilman said. “How different the direction will be, or if it will be different at all, depends on who’s elected.”

Unlike many elections in which the candidates are virtual strangers, some of the hopefuls in this race are longtime acquaintances. They don’t usually bring it up in the course of the campaign, for example, but Assemblyman Richard Alatorre (D-Los Angeles) and Antonio Rodriguez have known each other since college days when they were student activists together. Both Alatorre and Rodriguez also were friendly with older brothers of candidate Steve Rodriguez (no relation to Antonio). One of Steve Rodriguez’s main fund-raisers, Rudy Estrada, used to be an in-law of Alatorre. Antonio Rodriguez was the best man at the wedding of Al Juarez, one of Steve Rodriguez’s top campaign officials.

The intertwining relationships, when combined with the more important issue of who will become Los Angeles’ first Latino council member in more than 20 years, make for what could be an especially dynamic race in the district that includes Boyle Heights, Lincoln Heights, El Sereno, Highland Park and Eagle Rock. Because the district is more than 75% Latino in population, the new council representative is expected to wield heavy influence in Latino politics in particular and wide influence in the city overall.

Following are brief profiles of the seven candidates:

Richard Alatorre

41 years old.

State assemblyman since 1972.

Endorsed by Snyder and many prominent Democrats, including Mayor Tom Bradley, and is seen by many as the front-runner in the race.

Says his leadership and mainstream political experience makes him the best for the job.

Alatorre quickly strikes most people he meets with his street-wise, hip attitude--or affectation, as some call it. Those who know him in Sacramento comment on gestures that convey that image--the way he talks in casual conversation (“Hey, man, lookit . . .”), the way he tugs at the shirt cuffs under his designer suits.

Alatorre, by accounts of friends and foes alike, knows how to use a street-tough attitude to his political advantage, but he also knows when to suppress it in favor of the smart politician. Alternately warm and engaging, abrupt and rude, he was considered almost always effective in Sacramento.

“I do what needs to be done to get a job done,” he said. “I know what it takes to reach consensus, and I have the temperament to work with people I don’t necessarily like. I fight hard for what I believe in . . . (but) I also think I’m pragmatic.”

It was political pragmatism and a need to keep all his Assembly colleagues happy, he said, that led him as chairman of the reapportionment committee in 1981 to cut out a large portion of the mainly Anglo, conservative Eagle Rock region from his 55th Assembly District to give it to a neighboring Republican. In the council seat race, Eagle Rock, with a strong history of high voter turnout, is likely to be a major battleground. It is also the location of Alatorre’s campaign headquarters.

Familiar Name

He is banking on a high-budget mail, phone and door-to-door campaign and his familiar name to win. Most voters had never heard of the other candidates, he said, “including the one endorsed by the governor, old what’s-his-face,” he quipped, referring to Gilbert Avila.

Alatorre, who is close to Assembly Speaker Willie Brown (D-San Francisco), rose to a position of power in the Assembly, most recently in charge of the Governmental Organization Committee, a so-called “juice” committee that attracts heavy campaign contributions because it regulates the race track and liquor industries. Alatorre has been criticized by rivals for receiving a $100,000 loan from Brown and receiving heavy contributions from the liquor and race track industries. He sponsored a 1983 bill that would have legalized betting on horse races at off-track locations. He also carried an anti-rent control bill, which eventually was stalled, that would have undercut local rent control laws and raised the ire of rent control advocates. Since then, however, he has supported rent control legislation.

Union Backing

Alatorre has been praised by the unions, who point to his record of voting 90% of the time for workers’ interests. He was a leading author of the landmark 1975 Agricultural Labor Relations Act, which gave migrant workers collective bargaining rights for the first time. He recently received the endorsement of the political arm of the AFL-CIO, as well as that of Mayor Tom Bradley and other prominent Democrats. He also received the much-sought endorsement of Snyder, after a failed attempt led by Snyder to have the council appoint Alatorre to the job. Snyder called Alatorre “the only candidate with the experience and the ability” necessary. Last year, Alatorre was named to a high committee chairmanship at the Democratic National Convention.

As for the jibes of opponents that he is using the council seat as a steppingstone to the mayor’s office or Congress, Alatorre says: “There’s nothing wrong with ambition. I’m only seeking one office, (to) the City Council. What happens after that . . . I can’t begin to speculate.”

Dorothy Andromidas

36 years old.

Housewife in Highland Park, member of Lyndon LaRouche’s National Democratic Policy Committee.

Says her campaign is supported by “family-oriented Hispanic community.”

Calls for an all-out fight against AIDS by isolating victims from the rest of the population, but her campaign is confined mostly to press releases and occasional personal appearances.

Andromidas is a Highland Park housewife who is a member of Lyndon LaRouche’s National Democratic Committee, which traditionally runs candidates in local races.

Although several attempts to reach Andromidas failed, she has issued a press release that her husband, Ted, said “pretty much explains her position.”

In her press release, Andromidas said, “AIDS (acquired immune deficiency syndrome) is undoubtedly the worst disaster facing Los Angeles in recent memory.” She opposes the new city law that prohibits discrimination against AIDS victims. Instead, she said, “we must screen, isolate and quarantine. . . . Sanitariums, like those established to bring tuberculosis under control, should be re-established to care for AIDS victims in an environment where they are given maximum treatment and health personnel are provided with maximum protection.” She says the Kremlin is behind a “disinformation” campaign about AIDS.

Gilbert Avila

49 years old.

A business consultant and former special assistant to Gov. George Deukmejian.

Has the endorsement of the governor, along with other Republican Party leaders.

Stresses more law enforcement and lower taxes, “would have the same philosophy as the previous councilman.”

In reciting his political experience, it is clear that Avila, a former special assistant to the governor, is a Latino who is most proud of his six-year association with Deukmejian. It is also what he is most sensitive about.

When asked whether he left his job last July under a cloud of allegations, he responded sharply: “If you say that, it’s slander. If you print it, it’s libel!”

When Deukmejian came to town two weeks ago to endorse him, he said Avila had left his Administration “under no cloud whatsoever.”

However, that does not stop Avila’s political foes from pointing out that unnamed Deukmejian aides said in press reports that Avila had to leave because two subordinates recommended by Avila had turned out to be political embarrassments to the governor. One was fired by Deukmejian after he was fined for violations that included keeping Deukmejian campaign funds; the other resigned amid allegations of playing favorites with state grant money.

Targeting Conservative Areas

Avila is undaunted in his attempt to make the most of his endorsement by the governor, who does not often lend his name to local races. Avila is concentrating on the more conservative areas of the district, mostly Eagle Rock and Highland Park, for support.

His presence in the race was considered crucial by other Alatorre rivals because of the additional turnout he could generate by virtue of his conservative and Republican credentials. Avila switched his party affiliation from Democrat to Republican in 1981 because “my philosophy became more in tune with the Republican Party,” he said. The following year, he managed the “Viva Duke” campaign aimed at attracting votes for Deukmejian when he ran for governor.

“An awful lot of people in the Hispanic community have a mental block about the GOP,” he said. “It used to be thought of only for the rich. I think that’s completely changed now.”

Avila was criticized for his views about Latinos and the GOP by some who attended a local college forum last year. “As Hispanics move up that economic ladder, they lose some of that brownness,” he said at the time. He also said that in helping with political campaigns, he concentrates on the “educated voters” and “does not waste a lot of time sending information” to voters at the bottom of the economic ladder.

Founded Jaycees Chapter

Before his six years with Deukmejian, Avila founded the East Los Angeles Jaycees and co-founded NOSOTROS, an organization formed to help promote Latinos in the entertainment industry. He ran for office before, in a state Senate primary race against then-incumbent Alex Garcia and received 10% of the vote.

In this election Alatorre has “big advantages coming in,” Avila said, but it’s “a David and Goliath race. And this time David has a computer.”

Antonio Rodriguez

43 years old.

An attorney and executive director of the Center for Law and Justice, a Boyle Heights agency that represents the poor and immigrants.

Claims support at “grass-roots” community level.

Advocates a city program of “corporate responsibility” to compel major companies to hire the unemployed.

When a major national magazine in the late 1960s wrote an article about East Los Angeles with phrases about the smell of taco grease, the article enraged many Latinos and a plan was devised to picket the magazine’s Westside office. As Antonio Rodriguez remembers it, he was the only one to show up.

The memory of that and other bigger struggles seems to drive Rodriguez, who says his politics derive from “protest and community grass roots, for tenants rights, for rights against police abuse and fair and just immigration policies.” He specifically seeks more city involvement in establishing child-care centers and in compelling downtown businesses to hire more of the area’s unemployed.

He characterizes the race in the 14th District as “a family fight between candidates and the political sectors of the community, extreme conservatives, establishment and community grass roots, fighting it out for the hope of the community.”

Born in Mexico and raised from age 15 in Boyle Heights, Rodriguez said he got “my first taste of segregation” when his father was a janitor at an exclusive men’s club. “I grew up with a great class consciousness.”

Attracted to Liberal Causes

After he became a lawyer, he was quickly drawn to liberal causes, especially in fights for immigrants’ rights. He was coordinator of the Coalition against Simpson-Mazzoli, a proposed federal law that would have tightened immigration laws and was criticized as discriminatory by opponents.

“I came from the school of the ‘60s, which said, ‘Don’t trust politicians,’ ” he said. “But maturity led me to understand what the press and people listen to.”

He became more involved in electoral politics last year as state chairman of the Latinos for Jesse Jackson campaign and in the Jobs With Peace initiative and Viva Mondale campaigns.

But Rodriguez, the self-described “idealist,” appears sometimes naive about political realities. When Rep. Edward R. Roybal (D-Los Angeles), the last Latino to have served on the Los Angeles City Council, endorsed Alatorre, Rodriguez seemed genuinely stunned that the elder Democrat backed the younger party man Alatorre. “Oh, no,” Rodriguez said when told that Roybal had endorsed Alatorre. “I can’t believe it. . . . I guess we’ll just have to keep with the people.”

Steve Rodriguez

37 years old.

A city planner currently on leave, ran twice before against Snyder.

Support comes largely from under-40, college-educated professionals.

Espouses “a new vision at City Hall,” free of “power brokers.”

Steve Rodriguez, running for the third time in two years, has paid a price for his political ambition. He sold his Porsche and is in deep debt. His wife has taken a leave from her teaching job to be campaign manager and he from his city planning job.

“I’ve learned a lot in the last few years,” Rodriguez said. “We’ve had to give up some things, but it will be worth it the day I walk into City Hall as councilman.” The closest he has come so far was his first campaign, when he came within four votes of forcing Snyder into a runoff. Last year, he pursued an unsuccessful recall of Snyder.

Rodriguez is pushing an upbeat, family oriented campaign. When he ran against Snyder last year, he was criticized for waging a “negative” campaign, complete with radio commercials that, among other things, repeated divorce-court allegations that Snyder had beaten his former wife and mentioned a drunk-driving charge against Snyder that went to trial and ended in a hung jury. After the attempted recall, many voters said they had been “turned off” by Rodriguez’s campaign tactics.

‘New Vision ‘Theme

This time, Rodriguez has focused on a “new vision” theme. “I’ve learned that people would rather hear about what you plan to do rather than bringing up old skeletons from the past,” he said. “I am from a family that is indigenous to the district, and I think voters are looking for that continuity, that role model.”

In his speeches, Rodriguez speaks in broad strokes.

“We are going to be the authors of a new chapter that will deal with new opportunities, new ideas and new priorities,” he said. Like the other candidates, he expresses disdain for Alatorre’s “alliance with the king makers and the power brokers,” a theme that has hit home with some of his doctor, lawyer and architect supporters who know him from college.

Rodriguez, while more polished than he was as a political novice nearly three years ago, is still sometimes caught off guard by questions or issues that he has not anticipated. When asked during a debate whether he believes the city should participate in giving sanctuary to immigrants who may be sought by federal authorities, he looked uncomfortable, beginning his response with, “That’s a tough question . . . one of the few questions I hadn’t been prepared for. . . .” He finally said his “feelings” are with immigrants but he would have to study it further.

John Silva

53 years old.

Lincoln Heights barber in family-owned shop.

Claims blue-collar support, ran unsuccessfully as a write-in candidate against Snyder in 1979.

Wants to bring back businesses that have left the city’s Eastside district.

John Silva calls himself “a long shot” but he’s running anyway.

“A lot of people say, ‘Why run against Alatorre when he’s got all that money?’ ” Silva said. “And I said, ‘Does that mean I shouldn’t even try?’ Because if that’s the case, why have an election? Let’s just give it to him.”

Silva ran for council once before, in 1979 as a write-in candidate against Snyder. He ran then for the same reasons as now, he said.

“We need to get the people out to vote. If we don’t use the vote, we’ll lose it.” His campaign is supported by blue-collar workers and people he has known in the community for many years, he said. A lifelong volunteer with several organizations, he also was president of an advocacy group for the handicapped. Silva said he wants to work to bring big and small businesses back to the community.

Ross Valencia

58 years old.

A consultant and an aide to Snyder for 11 years, says he was de facto councilman during Snyder’s absences, “which was quite a few times, by the way.”

Biggest support expected from Boyle Heights, the area in which he worked while with Snyder.

Speaks of resisting controls by big money and established political power brokers.

Valencia’s campaign headquarters in Boyle Heights is catty-corner from the district office he often occupied for former Councilman Snyder. He finds the proximity appropriate.

Over the 11 years he worked for Snyder as chief deputy, Valencia said, he “caught a lot of flak” for Snyder at community meetings and other gatherings where he represented the councilman. Valencia said he would stand in for Snyder whenever he was unavailable, “which was quite a few times, by the way.”

But Snyder endorsed Alatorre to replace him, not Valencia, the man many thought would receive Snyder’s blessing once he left office. Valencia believes that Snyder endorsed Alatorre because the assemblyman “can open more doors” for the former councilman-turned-lawyer and lobbyist.

A moderate Democrat, Valencia said he decided to run even without Snyder’s endorsement “because I’m tired of big money coming in, the community being bought and sold by outsiders, and the people don’t even know about it.” Other former Snyder staffers, burned by what one calls the former councilman’s “lack of loyalty” to Valencia, have joined his campaign.

‘Degree of Anger’

“There is a degree of anger here,” said Wally Longshore, former longtime chief of staff to Snyder and now a Valencia campaign aide. “A lot of people in the community feel they were just handed Alatorre and told he’s it. That’s outrageous.”

A longtime community volunteer, Valencia has received the endorsement of the Mexican-American Labor Council. After working for Snyder and for former Democratic state Sen. Alex Garcia, Valencia said, “I know this community, and I have hands-on experience in handling its problems.”