Hernandez Becomes an Issue in Race for Caldera’s Assembly Seat

Although his name is not on the ballot, Los Angeles City Councilman Mike Hernandez is on the minds of the candidates and voters in the Nov. 18 special election to succeed former Assemblyman Louis Caldera in the largely Latino 46th District.

The “Mike” question is being increasingly asked of candidates, they say, in part because the western portion of the district lies within Hernandez’s council district and in part because it is the No. 1 topic of political discussion throughout Los Angeles these days. Also, they say, there is a growing feeling among Latinos that the councilman’s problems stemming from his August drug arrest reflect badly on Latino politicians in general.

At a forum Wednesday night in which the Eastside Democratic Club endorsed Los Angeles school board member Vickie Castro, the question put to the four Democratic candidates present did not mention Hernandez specifically. It didn’t have to.

“Should elected officials,” the candidates were asked, “be held to a higher moral standard?”

“Absolutely,” said Castro, who stopped short of saying Hernandez should resign.

Attorney Ricardo Torres, the next to answer, said, “The reality is, Mike Hernandez has done a tremendous amount of good. But Mike Hernandez ought to resign.”

Lawyer Manuel Diaz agreed that elected officials should be held to a higher standard. But he bemoaned the fact that the Latino community “faces the loss of Mike Hernandez’s influence” on key issues if he should resign.

“Elected officials should be held to a higher standard,” said union organizer Gil Cedillo, who said that Hernandez should be subject to a recall election. “The community has a right to expect the kind of leadership that it has confidence in.”

After the forum ended, Eastside Democratic Club members were buzzing about the question and the answers because Hernandez’s fate, for some, has become a litmus test for Latino candidates. Fail to address the issue and some voters may dismiss one’s candidacy.

That was of some importance to the 50-member Eastside Democratic Club, mostly made up of young Chicano professionals from East L.A., because many of them believe that Hernandez should resign.

“That was an interesting point in the evening,” said club President Alvin Parra. “If you commit a felony, then there should be some sort of consequence. Mike Hernandez’s consequence should be to resign. We need to start holding people responsible.”

Several others agreed, explaining that a recall election could be divisive, pitting some Latinos, who support Hernandez because of his strong support of immigrants’ rights, against others who have supported him in the past but now think his continued presence on the council hurts Latinos.

Some in the audience, who voted in the club’s endorsement of Castro, wanted to know more about each candidate’s personal background than what was included in campaign material, concluding that such information was of value in selecting a candidate.

None of the other issues discussed at the forum--a continuation of bilingual education, support for the construction of the Eastside subway or the creation of jobs and apprenticeship programs for area youths--drew as much attention because the four Democrats’ positions differed very little.

Diaz drew some of the loudest applause as he attacked others in the race, without specifically naming Castro and Cedillo, who have collected big-name endorsements for their candidacies. To others who said they were active in the 46th Assembly District, which includes East Los Angeles, downtown, Chinatown, Little Tokyo, West Adams and Koreatown, Diaz had a ready reply.

“I’m too busy in the classroom,” the high school teacher and lawyer thundered. “I’m too busy coaching! I’m too busy in the 46th Assembly District!”

A fifth Democrat on the Nov. 18 ballot, family health educator Marijane Jackson, was not present at the forum. If no candidate gets a majority of the votes cast, the top Democrat vote-getter will face the top Republican and Libertarian in a runoff election Jan. 13.

In one interesting twist, Los Angeles City Councilman Richard Alatorre has endorsed both Castro and Cedillo. Cedillo, former general manager of Service Employees International Union Local 660, initially claimed to have the councilman’s support, but a spokeswoman for the councilman said Alatorre had complained to Cedillo and later issued the dual endorsement.