SUPERVISORIAL ELECTION THE DEBATE : 4 Latino Candidates Battle It Out on Radio

The four major Latino candidates battling to become a Los Angeles County supervisor met for the first time Thursday--at least telephonically--over the radio with the liveliest exchange occurring over who is toughest on crime.

As state Sen. Charles M. Calderon, Sarah Flores and Los Angeles City Councilwoman Gloria Molina sat in the KFI studio in the Wilshire District, state Sen. Art Torres took part in the two-hour debate by telephone from an office in El Monte. Torres said he was conducting a meeting on state business.

“That’s a good one,” Molina cracked without elaborating.

Torres and Flores engaged in a rapid-fire exchange over who is toughest on crime.

“I have been endorsed by Sheriff Sherman Block and other law enforcement organizations,” Flores said.

“What law enforcement organizations endorsed you?” Torres asked.

“Latino Police Officers Assn. of the San Gabriel Valley,” Flores shot back.

“That was in the last election,” Torres said, referring to the now-invalidated June primary in the old 1st District.

Flores responded, “I was endorsed yesterday by (Los Angeles Police Chief Daryl) Gates.”

“He told me last night he doesn’t endorse in these races,” Torres said. “You’d better check with him, Sarah.”

Calderon chimed in that he was recognized as legislator of the year by the Peace Officers Research Assn. of California.

To which Torres added, “The California Organization of Police (and Sheriffs) named me the legislator of the year.”

The four are among nine candidates running in a special Jan. 22 election in a new court-drawn 1st District. The new district was carved by a federal judge who had found that the old lines discriminated against Latinos.

During the debate, Torres and Flores disagreed over who is best qualified to cut waste from county government.

Flores, a former aide to retiring Supervisor Pete Schabarum, said she is best qualified because of her 33 years of county service.

Said Torres: “You’ve been there all those years. . . . Why hasn’t that been done?”

Flores, the lone Republican among the major candidates in the nonpartisan race, in turn attacked Torres for failing to help the county obtain more state funds to prevent health cuts.

“We tried to do that, Sarah,” Torres responded, “and Gov. Deukmejian vetoed it.”

Asked to identify the major issues in the 1st District, Calderon cited problems with garbage dumps that have polluted the ground water. “Seventy percent of the trash from Los Angeles is dumped in the San Gabriel Valley,” he said. He said he opposes expansion of the Puente Hills dump.

Molina pledged that if she is elected she will seek to shake up county government. “As I’ve been out walking door to door, people tell me they don’t know who their supervisor is.”

A few listeners called to complain that a supervisor should not be elected based on ethnicity.

Torres responded, “The federal court decided that supervisors met in a back room and decided not to give someone who has our kind of last name an opportunity to run.”

Flores, calling herself the only non-politician among the major contenders, said voters are “tired of politicians. . . . That’s why (Proposition) 140 passed.” She was referring to the term limitation initiative on the November ballot.