New 1st District Goes to Polls : Early Turnout Totals 13% in 4-Way City Council Election

Voters went to the polls Tuesday in the Los Angeles City Council’s new 1st District in percentages slightly higher than usual for special elections, according to the city clerk.

About 13% of registered voters in the Northeast-Eastside district had voted by 4 p.m., compared to 12% who had voted at that same time in the city’s last special election in another council district in 1985.

The new 1st District, however, has the lowest number of registered voters out of the 15 council districts, “so to have a slightly higher turnout percentage still means far fewer people are going to the polls overall,” said City Clerk Elias Martinez.

Martinez said the early trend of slightly higher turnout percentage may be because competition was running high among the four candidates: Assemblywoman Gloria Molina, school board member Larry Gonzalez, businessman Paul D.Y. Moore and community planner Leland Wong.

The new district was created by the council under the pressure of a federal lawsuit, which charged that the city’s old council boundaries had diluted the Latino vote. The district includes parts of Highland Park, Mt. Washington, Lincoln Heights, Echo Park, Chinatown, and Pico Union.

The race started quietly, but by last week, voters were barraged with campaign mail from Molina and Gonzalez, paid for from contribution totals that by Tuesday had reached $205,000 for Molina and $212,000 for Gonzalez. Gonzalez mailers blasted Molina for having “one of the worst attendance records in the Assembly” in the 1985-86 session and for her support of former California Chief Justice Rose Elizabeth Bird, who was ousted in the election last November.

Molina, appearing at press conference with Gonzalez’ school board colleague Jackie Goldberg, denounced Gonzalez mailers as “deceptive,” then fired off mailers of her own, headlined: “Let’s be Honest, Larry.” In them she said that she disagreed with Bird and stressed her support of the death penalty; she said her attendance record in the Assembly over a four year period is 90%.

A strong theme in Molina’s recent mailings was the accusation that Gonzalez was not running his own campaign. Instead, she said, it was Councilman Richard Alatorre, currently the only Latino on the City Council and a major Gonzalez supporter, who was the “chief architect” of the Gonzalez campaign. Alatorre denied any major role in the Gonzalez campaign and said Molina was making him a “scapegoat.” The feud between Molina and Alatorre, which began before this council race, at times seemed to overshadow the council race between Molina and Gonzalez.

On the issues, the differences between the four candidates were minor. All agreed that the new district, described by some as a “Frankenstein” district made of spare parts from other districts, was in need of increased police protection, better planning, more housing for low and moderate income residents and protection from overdevelopment in hillside areas.

Personality and style separated the candidates more. Molina, 38, sought to portray herself as a feisty legislator who “isn’t afraid of the tough issues.” She cited her so far successful fight against a proposed state prison near the largely Latino Eastside as an example. Molina was an early opponent of the prison, which is still being strongly pushed by Gov. George Deukmejian. Community residents rallied together to fight the prison and helped provide a local base for Molina when she announced she was going to run for the council, just days after she was elected to a third term in the assembly.

Molina received the endorsement of Rep. Ed Roybal, the most senior among local Latino legislators. She drew campaign contributions heavily from women’s groups, and according to feminist organizers, hled a “priority” position among candidates they were supporting for local office.

Gonzalez, 31, emphasized his longtime roots in the community and his experience in local government as a school board member since 1983. His ability “to get things done, accomplishments, not rhetoric,” was his theme throughout the campaign.

Gonzalez’ supporters included many real estate developers, unions, and school board administrators. Besides Alatorre, Sen. Art Torres, Assemblyman Richard Polanco, community college Trustee Leticia Quezada, and former Councilman Arthur K. Snyder were among his backers.

In fund-raising, Gonzalez attracted more of the maximum allowable $500 contributions while Molina received more contributions under $100.

Gonzalez, who would have been up for reelection to the school board this year, gave up his seat on the board to run for the council.

Tragedy forced candidate Moore to give up campaiging in the final days before the election. Moore’s 2-year-old son Timothy died Saturday, apparently of sudden infant death syndrome according to preliminary reports.

Previously, Moore, 35, had been an active campaigner, one who called himself the only true “grassroots” candidate. He unsuccessfully urged a $50,000 campaign spending limit for all candidates. “I believe that the (political) process belongs to the citizen and when large campaign contributions are made through developers and special interests, the process and democracy suffers,” he said.

Candidate Wong also critized “political machines” that he said supported Gonzalez and Molina. He called himself the most conservative of the candidates and worked to attract Asian and conservative voters. He failed, however, to attract the major Chinatown financial backing he had predicted he would get.

Wong, 29, stressed his work as a community planner and as an anti-gang organizer and said that the 1st district “needs be properly planned so that it becomes an area that functions and gets its fair share of city services.”