CITY COUNCIL ELECTIONS / 1ST DISTRICT : 6 Seeking to Succeed Molina Fight to Stir Voters’ Interest in Contest

It was the last forum for six candidates to win favor with voters who on June 4 will select a replacement for the popular Gloria Molina on the Los Angeles City Council.

Sharon Mee Yung Lowe drew loud applause when she reiterated a call for elected neighborhood advisory councils to help solve community issues.

So did Frank Juarez Foster when he endorsed more affordable housing. Maria Elizabeth Munoz was cheered when she called for the immediate ouster of Police Chief Daryl F. Gates.

But Mike Hernandez got an unfriendly reaction when, in anger over the format, he briefly stalked out of the forum at a church hall in Lincoln Heights. He had to apologize before he was allowed to return.

The 1st Council District’s aspirants, who include Sandra Figueroa and Caesar Aguirre, have taken advantage of 15 candidates’ forums in May as a primary means of reaching voters and pumping up interest in the special election to fill the last two years of Molina’s council term.

Molina, the first Latina ever to serve on the council, became the county’s first Latino supervisor this century when she defeated Democratic state Sen. Art Torres of Los Angeles last November.

But in this inner-city district plagued by crime and overcrowded housing conditions, voters have shown little interest in the council race. Sparse crowds attended most of the joint appearances by candidates. At one event, held near MacArthur Park where much of the predominantly immigrant population is ineligible to vote, there were almost as many candidates as spectators.

Few issues appeared to have captured the attention of voters. Although the Rodney G. King beating incident has caused considerable discussion, some candidates doubt that it will boost voter turnout.

That, however, has not stopped Munoz, a bilingual schoolteacher who has run twice for governor and once for U.S. senator, from making Gates’ removal a central theme of her low-budget campaign.

The lack of voter enthusiasm, according to some candidates, may stem from the fact that Molina has endorsed Hernandez, 38, a Cypress Park bail bondsman, to succeed her. They said that may keep many voters away from the polls on election day, believing that Hernandez has the race won.

“The race isn’t over, no matter what Molina says,” said Foster, 36, an affordable-housing advocate. “But the endorsement has made campaign contributions harder to come by.”

Figueroa, the longtime executive director of an Echo Park social services agency, criticized Molina’s endorsement for another reason. “She should have endorsed a woman,” said Figueroa, 37.

In recent mailings, Figueroa has accused Molina of machine politics for trying to get her favorite candidate elected.

Money has been no problem for Hernandez so far. He has raised almost $100,000--twice what his opponents combined have raised for this race. “But this is a people campaign,” he has said on numerous occasions.

At the final forum, organized by the United Neighborhoods Organization, a powerful force in Eastside community affairs, the candidates addressed the 150 people in the meeting hall at Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church. It was the largest crowd to attend any of the 15 forums.

The UNO crowd applauded loudly when Lowe, a Chinatown attorney, vowed that when it came to controversial projects, “the communities will decide and we will build affordable, quality housing in a good environment conducive for our families to grow and flourish.”

Lowe has praised Molina’s grass-roots approach to residents’ needs during her four years on the City Council. But Lowe, 36, has opposed the plan that Molina helped negotiate for Central City West, an “urban village” of affordable housing and office space.

Lowe said the plan does not allow for enough low-income housing units and does not adequately address concerns about traffic congestion and the relocation of residents displaced by the project.

Munoz reiterated her call for Gates’ removal. And she told the largely Catholic audience of her brother’s death due to AIDS and called for a war on the disease.

Foster, who has criticized proposals to turn the once-lavish Ambassador Hotel into a major commercial development, got approving nods when it was announced that he, along with Figueroa, had answered correctly, in UNO’s view, all of its questions.

At the forum, UNO insisted on a tightly run format. The candidates were told that they could only respond to UNO-selected questions with a one-word answer, “yes” or “no,” with a one-minute explanation.

Foster echoed the feelings of most candidates when he said: “You know going in that they’re going to be tough. That’s just the way it is with UNO.”

The 26-year-old Aguirre, who sees his age as an advantage over the older candidates, answered “no” when asked if he would support the setting aside of an undeveloped parcel near Chinatown for UNO-backed affordable housing. UNO wants part of the land for a project similar to the Nehemiah West development it has helped create near Compton.

Aguirre, recognizing that other areas also need affordable housing, explained in his one-minute answer:

“I would not want to choose between communities, between organizations. We’re not here to just say ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to certain questions.”

After he finished, UNO forum moderator Oscar Garcia told Aguirre that UNO “represents all of the community.”

That sparked a heated exchange between Garcia and Hernandez, whose turn it was to explain his “no” answer.

“We need schools to educate our children,” Hernandez said angrily. “We need jobs to change things. But more importantly, we need to learn to respect each other. You don’t give respect. . . . I’m sorry I’m mad but that’s the way you’ve been treating me.”

With that, he walked out of the church hall.

But outside, Hernandez thought better of it and returned. UNO officials would have none of it. “If he doesn’t apologize, tell him to get out!” they shouted.

Eventually, he gave in, saying, “I apologize.”

1st Council District Here are the candidates in Tuesday’s election to fill 1st Council District seat vacated by Gloria Molina, who was elected to the Board of Supervisors.