Quezada Asks Rivals to Work With Her on School Issues

Los Angeles Unified School District board President Leticia Quezada assured Valley business leaders Tuesday that she hopes to set aside differences and work with them to solve problems facing education.

Quezada was addressing the Valley Industry and Commerce Assn., which strongly opposed the recent remapping of school districts that resulted in the extension of Quezada’s district into the San Fernando Valley. The redistricting, approved by the Los Angeles City Council, reduced to one the number of seats based wholly in the Valley.

“I know many of you disagree vehemently with the decision and have engaged in debate about seceding,” she told 60 members of the association during a luncheon in the Universal City Hilton. “I would hope to disagree on one issue and have room to agree on others.”

Some members said they were impressed with Quezada and praised her for speaking forthrightly about the controversial redistricting. Others remained unconvinced, describing the meeting as confrontational.

The organization’s board invited Quezada to present her view on redistricting before it votes on whether to support a proposed ballot initiative to redraw the districts again.

The recently approved remapping gave Los Angeles’ Latino community more clout but eliminated one of two Valley-based seats on the school board. It ignited a wave of protests among Valley residents, who worry that they will have less say on educational issues.

The Coalition Against Unfair School Elections proposes to put an initiative on the April or June, 1993, ballot that would retain the greater Latino representation but restore two seats to the Valley, said Nick Brestoff, the coalition’s co-chairman and a member of VICA. The coalition also is considering supporting an independent San Fernando Valley school district, he said.

Quezada, who vowed to do her best to be “an advocate for the area,” said Tuesday that she opposes the initiative to redraw the districts and any effort by the Valley to secede.

She said that Latinos look upon the remapping as a victory and would be insulted by efforts to change it. If the Valley separated from the LAUSD, it would significantly reduce the number of Anglo students left in the district, Quezada said.

She stressed, however, that her major concern is the school district’s financial crisis. She said she worries about children sweltering in classes without air conditioning and teachers working for substandard wages.

“If we can get through this crisis, then we’ll debate five school districts or four or three,” she said.

Brestoff challenged the statement, saying, “Many of us feel that finances can’t be addressed until we have fair representation.”

He was joined by other VICA members who peppered Quezada with questions about the Valley’s representation. Some lingered after the meeting to express their discontent.

“She was articulate, but I thought it was very one-sided,” said Linda Jones, co-chairwoman of the coalition backing the redistricting initiative and president of the San Fernando Valley chapter of the Black American Political Assn. of California.

“The African-American community is not happy with the way the lines are drawn,” Jones said. “We feel it limits our representation in terms of the policies that impact our community.”

Robert Scott, president of the United Chambers of Commerce, was also critical of some of Quezada’s ideas. “If it’s not someone from the Valley, we don’t think they could do a good job of representing the Valley,” he said.

But VICA Chairman Ben Reznik said Quezada had raised interesting points that he would consider in making a decision about the initiative, adding that he was “quite impressed with her as an individual.”

Christine Reed, the Republican nominee for the 41st Assembly District, was also impressed with the way Quezada explained her position. “I was especially taken by the way she kind of politely and directly confronted the fact that she was in front of an audience that didn’t agree with her,” she said.