Activist Irene Tovar Announces Run for Bernardi Council Seat : Politics: Longtime Valley resident faces a large field of contenders, including three other politically connected Latinos.

Longtime northeast Valley activist Irene Tovar announced Monday that she will join the crowded field of candidates seeking to succeed veteran Los Angeles City Councilman Ernani Bernardi.

Tovar, who has been involved in community groups, the Democratic Party and Latino political organizations since the 1960s, had been widely expected to join the race for the heavily Latino 7th Council District which includes Sun Valley, Mission Hills and Pacoima.

After finishing fourth in a 1989 attempt to unseat Bernardi, she then endorsed the veteran councilman in a runoff, saying it would be easier for a Latino to succeed him in 1993 if he won the election and left office at the end of the term.

Now that Bernardi is giving up the post after 31 years, Tovar’s new bid will be complicated by the large field of contenders, including three other politically connected Latinos. They are Rose Castaneda, chief aide to Rep. Howard L. Berman (D-Panorama City), Richard Alarcon, Mayor Tom Bradley’s San Fernando Valley liaison and Raymond J. Magna, former field deputy for Bernardi.

At a press conference on the City Hall steps, Tovar, 53, said she is counting on a “rainbow coalition” of community supporters to carry her to victory this time.

“Irrespective of ethnicity . . . I’ve been involved consistently as a volunteer for the past 30 years, with youth, issues of crime, jobs for people,” she said in an interview.

Born in Boyle Heights, Tovar has lived in the San Fernando Valley for 50 years, graduating from San Fernando High School and Cal State Northridge. She now lives in Mission Hills.

Her community activism dates back to 1965 when she founded San Fernando Valley Neighborhood Legal Services. She is currently a member of the Pacoima Enterprise Zone, vice chairwoman of the Pacoima Coordinating Council and the Mission Hills and Pacoima Chamber of Commerce.

Tovar held a position in the administration of former Gov. Edmund G. (Jerry) Brown Jr., serving from 1978-81 as a special assistant to expedite government services. She was president of the State Personnel Board from 1975 to 1981, then served a four-year term on the Public Employment Relations Board, overseeing union negotiations at the state’s colleges, universities and public school systems.

Since her unsuccessful council bid, Tovar has maintained a high profile in the northeast Valley.

As one of two San Fernando Valley residents on the board of directors of Rebuild L.A., Tovar said, she tries to raise awareness of the Valley’s needs.

“Being concerned that we’ve neglected the poor of the Valley and the needs of the Valley, I wanted to sensitize the committee that . . . this Valley feels very alienated, very separated from downtown L.A. We feel that we’re not treated equally and fairly like other parts.”

Tovar said she worked with the Los Angeles Police Department’s Foothill Division in helping defuse tensions after the Rodney G. King beating and the Los Angeles riots.

After residents near Orcas Park in Lake View Terrace complained of abuse by people leaving diapers and empty beer cans, Tovar personally patrolled the park to educate park users.

“I was there,” Tovar said. “That’s how I separate myself from the rest of the candidates, in that I’m always there when the issues come. I don’t test the political waters. I just look at the issues and move on them.”

Tovar has taken a leave from her current employment as a community resource specialist with San Fernando Valley Partnership, a federally funded program to educate parents in how to prevent teen-age abuse of drugs, alcohol and tobacco.

She said she plans to hold a fund-raiser Feb. 13, at which she expects to raise $30,000.