East L.A. Fantasy Parade Takes On Political Luster

They call it the East Los Angeles Christmas Fantasy Parade.

For the politically aware among the crowd who watched the high school bands, floats, drill teams and mariachis tool down Whittier Boulevard on Sunday, the fantasy theme took on a new luster this year.

Just five days before filing will close for the election of a new Los Angeles County supervisor in the 1st District, the four major candidates for the powerful post are all Latinos who grew up not far from the parade route.

“We have gone 115 years without a Hispanic on the Board of Supervisors,” said Benjamin Herrera, one parade spectator elated at the political choice awaiting the community. “This means a lot. It’s about time. We are almost 3 million now in the county. We deserve to be represented.”

Los Angeles City Councilwoman Gloria Molina, state Sen. Art Torres (D-Los Angeles) and Sarah Flores, a former aide to retiring County Supervisor Pete Schabarum, received a warm welcome from a crowd estimated at 150,000.

State Sen. Charles M. Calderon (D-Whittier) was the only prominent politician running to replace Schabarum in a special election Jan. 22 who did not ride in the parade. Gonzalo Molina, a schoolteacher who is a perennial candidate, is also in the race and did not take part in the parade.

Many in the heavily Latino crowd spoke with pride of the opportunity “to vote for one of our own” and elect the first Latino to the board in modern history. While some described old allegiances to one of the candidates, most said they are waiting before they make their choice.

U.S. Rep. Edward R. Roybal (D-Los Angeles), the patriarch of East Los Angeles’ Latino political community, struck the only cautionary note of the day, saying the Latino grip on the 1st District seat is still far from certain.

“The filing is not closed yet,” Roybal said before getting in his car near the head of the parade. “We don’t know what is going to happen yet. I am just waiting for the other shoe to drop.”

Roybal speculated that Schabarum or another candidate could still enter the race and pose a threat to the Latino entrants.

Roybal recalls the 1958 supervisorial election, when he appeared on his way to victory, until 12,000 votes were mysteriously discovered in a recount several days after the election.

“It is too soon to celebrate,” Roybal said. “We will have a lot more answers on Friday.”

Roybal’s 32-year-old loss played a role in the U.S. District Court ruling last June that Latino voting strength had been diluted in the county by unfair boundaries for the five-member board. Judge David V. Kenyon approved boundaries for a new district, stretching from East Los Angeles into the San Gabriel Valley.

For candidates Torres and Molina, Sunday’s parade was part of an annual tradition--a homecoming that gave them a chance to solidify their base of support.

Both had spent the morning walking precincts in Pico Rivera. Molina supporters had covered the parade route with yellow and green “Molina for Supervisor” balloons.

Torres took a more vigorous approach, jumping from his car to work the crowd: pumping hands, greeting friends and shouting the old Chicano-power slogan: “Viva la raza!”

For Flores, who grew up near downtown and now lives in the San Gabriel Valley community of Glendora, the parade was a “coming out party.” She had watched the parade from the curb many times, but this year was her first as a participant, she said.

Flores arrived 2 1/2 hours before the other candidates to meet the business people and community leaders who sponsor the parade. Said one man: “Are you one of our candidates? Good luck to you.”

Dan Arguello, who helped organize East Los Angeles Christmas parades in the mid-1970s, said the event has always measured the spirit of the community.

Sixteen years ago, the first parade was a triumph, because it showed the outside world that a community that had been torn by riots and crime could recover and celebrate itself, Arguello said.

“We didn’t know if we could get the businesses to come out or if the celebrities would participate,” Arguello said. “We didn’t even know if it would be a permanent thing. Now it’s an institution.”

The parade of home-grown politicians Sunday represented another victory, he said.

“For us, we are already excited,” said Arguello, “because today the victory is that we already know we will have one of our own.”