PACOIMA : Councilman Plans Return to Jazz

Retiring Los Angeles City Council dean Ernani Bernardi said Thursday he plans to return his attention to the passion that consumed him before he was elected to his northeast Valley post 32 years ago: jazz music.

“I’m going to take everything one day at a time,” the 81-year-old Bernardi said at a Pacoima Coordinating Council luncheon. “I’m going to fool around with music--go back to my first love.”

Bernardi, who came to California in the 1950s as an alto saxophonist, was honored at the event for his public service to the area. But, a politician to the end, he quickly turned the praise back to the volunteers assembled at the Boys & Girls Club of the San Fernando Valley.

“Without the kind of dedication and service that you have given to this community, there wouldn’t be all the positive things that happen in Pacoima,” said the councilman, who ran a low-budget campaign for mayor this year. “Thank you for being of help to my office . . . and thank you for letting me serve you.”

And he urged the members, who help coordinate local efforts of organizations such as the American Red Cross and Habitat for Humanity, to keep in close touch with his successor, Richard Alarcon, the Valley’s first Latino representative.

“You have a bright, energetic, young man to work with in Pacoima, which is the fastest-growing area of the city,” Bernardi said.