Candidates Back Ideas in VOICE Plan : Campaign: At a grass-roots forum, council contenders support more police and programs to fight gangs and graffiti.

A grass-roots San Fernando Valley organization extracted promises from Los Angeles City Council candidates Sunday that the Valley would get its “fair share” of new police officers and that programs to combat gangs and graffiti would receive the funding necessary to stay alive.

Three of the four candidates running for a pair of Valley council seats also pledged to continue working with leaders of Valley Organized in Community Efforts, the coalition of churches and synagogues that sponsored Sunday’s forum at Cal State Northridge.

Hundreds of people packed the student union for the event, which featured candidates Laura Chick, Richard Alarcon and Lyle Hall, as well as mayoral hopefuls Richard Riordan and Mike Woo.

Councilwoman Joy Picus, locked in a fierce battle with ex-aide Chick for the 3rd District seat, did not attend.

VOICE officials asked the candidates whether they would support a six-point platform the organization developed through meetings with thousands of Valley residents. Included in the program are calls to increase the number of police officers to 9,500 in four years, establish a graffiti-abatement pilot project in the West Valley and fund a VOICE anti-gang program.

“We’re here to present a vision for our city,” said moderator the Rev. Tom Rush of Mary Immaculate Church in Pacoima. “We’re here to be the voice of the Valley.”

Each of the three City Council candidates present pledged support for the entire platform and joined with Riordan when he promised to secure more than the $2.5 million that VOICE wants to be set aside annually for its Hope in Youth anti-gang program, targeting gang members who are not entrenched in gang life as well as potential members.

Alarcon said he would support the one-year West Valley graffiti-abatement project proposed by VOICE, which carries a price tag of nearly $1 million, so long as similar efforts in the northeast Valley are not adversely affected. Hall agreed with Alarcon that anti-graffiti efforts must continue in the northeast Valley, where the two are battling to succeed Ernani Bernardi as the 7th District representative.

The audience loudly cheered the promises of support by the council candidates, who were limited to speaking for 90 seconds before being asked to declare their positions on each point of the platform. VOICE officials said the event was not intended to be a debate but was designed to put candidates on the record on important Valley issues.

Bill Moran, 54, of Northridge complained that the format did not allow for meaningful dialogue. But he nonetheless said the event served its purpose.

“The important part of this will be the impact if they veer off the platform,” Moran said.