State Delegation Sees Post-Prop. 187 Optimism in Mexico

It did not take long for Assemblyman Tony Cardenas to realize this week that Proposition 187 had set California-Mexico relations back a long way.

It also did not take Cardenas (D-Sylmar), part of a delegation of top California leaders visiting Mexico this week, too much time to see there was tremendous optimism on those relations now that the controversial state measure has been bottled up by Gov. Gray Davis.

Many Mexican leaders told Cardenas they could not fathom close ties with California politicians while Proposition 187, a voter-approved measure to deny public schooling and government services to illegal immigrants, still had a possibility of being implemented.

Now that Proposition 187 is off the table, Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo and other top officials are ready to talk business, Cardenas said. But they are still dumbfounded that California voters pursued what those officials considered to be a deeply mean-spirited law.

“The thing is, the 187 situation created this ambience of unfriendliness, and they didn’t think they could talk about improving trade relations with us when something like that was in the air,” said Cardenas, who returned from the trip early Wednesday to attend an international soccer event with Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante at the Rose Bowl. “You better believe that every person wanted to talk about it.

“It’s like a whole new world now,” he added. “People who had been on other delegations said this was unlike any they had ever experienced. It’s a different ambience, a different attitude.”

The sessions with Mexican officials were extremely busy--and long, lasting from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 p.m., Cardenas said. But they were productive and cheerful, and provided ample opportunities for the California delegation, led by Assembly Speaker Antonio Villaraigosa (D-Los Angeles), to showcase and improve their Spanish skills.

Now if only the state legislators could sharpen up on the diplomatic etiquette they never learned during Gov. Pete Wilson’s regime, Cardenas quipped, then they could really make things happen.

“They’re a lot more used to dealing with international diplomacy, greeting foreign dignitaries and such,” Cardenas said of his more polished Mexican counterparts. “I think you are going to see the Legislature being involved in more of that in the future, which is good, because we need the practice.”

TV GHOSTWRITERS: Not since the call for San Fernando Valley secession have such prominent Valley leaders joined together in a spontaneous call to arms on such a contentious political issue.

Or so it seemed this week when four heads of Valley homeowner associations signed a letter sent to 400 Valley community leaders urging them to join “the final battle in the war” over open Internet access for cable television systems.

Cable companies want to have sole authority to offer subscribers the high-speed Internet access allowed over their cable systems, but other Internet service providers, including America Online, want open access so they can compete with the cable firms. Nationally, billions of dollars are at stake on an issue, which the Los Angeles City Council is expected to decide in the next few weeks.

The letter was signed by Sherman Oaks Homeowners Assn. President Richard Close, Van Nuys Homeowners Assn. President Don Schultz, Homeowners of Encino President Gerald Silver, and Walter Prince, founding director of the Northridge-area homeowner group PRIDE. The letter unequivocally supports “open and universal access.”

Those who receive it might be interested to know the letter wasn’t written by Close, Schultz, Silver or Prince. The author is Studio City attorney David Fleming, whose law firm, Latham and Watkins, represents America Online.

Fleming, a city fire commissioner, said he was asked by his law firm to enlist community leaders in the cause. The only other signer was Kerman Maddox, listed as president of a group called the Open Access Alliance, but there is no mention that AOL or its attorneys are behind the letter.

The alliance, which paid for the mass mailing, has received major financial backing from firms interested in open access, including Pacific Bell.

All of the homeowner leaders who signed the letter have been calling for open access for months, Fleming said.

“The issue is going to the City Council soon, and obviously we’ve got some members of the City Council from the Valley,” he said. “We want them to know the feelings of the Valley homeowner leaders.”

Fleming and the others have more in common than a desire to see open cable access. Fleming heads a group that’s raising money for the study of Valley secession, and Close is chairman of the secession group Valley VOTE. Silver and Schultz are Valley VOTE board members.

CRYSTAL-BALL GAZING: The race to succeed James Hahn as Los Angeles city attorney may be 20 months away, but Councilman Mike Feuer isn’t twiddling his thumbs waiting for the competition to emerge before establishing himself as a top contender.

Feuer, who represents Sherman Oaks and other portions of the Valley, last week secured the endorsement of the Los Angeles City Attorneys Assn., the group representing deputy and assistant city attorneys.

The endorsement is significant not only because it comes from the lawyers Feuer would lead if elected in 2001, but because one of his potential opponents, Assemblyman Bob Hertzberg (D-Sherman Oaks), had been urging the group to hold off until he decides whether to enter the race.

“I’m delighted,” Feuer said. “The city attorneys are placing real confidence in me, and I am real honored by that. It’s extremely significant to me that they gave me this endorsement now, with so much time left before the election.”

Hertzberg is considered a leading candidate to succeed Assemblyman Antonio Villaraigosa (D-Los Angeles) as Assembly speaker, but he continues to leave open the possibility he will enter the race for city attorney.

“I know Mike Feuer is making a lot of noise, but I don’t let other people dictate what I do,” Hertzberg said in a recent interview. “I feel very strongly that you do not let others determine your political future.”

KICKING IT AROUND: Los Angeles leaders aren’t exactly offering up the city coffers to lure the National Football League back to town, but Councilwoman Laura Chick doesn’t want to take any chances--she wants to put it in writing.

Chick introduced a resolution this week formally asking her council colleagues to “stand firm against the commitment of any city funds to the purchase, relocation or expansion of an NFL team to the city of Los Angeles.” The council is expected to take up the resolution next week.

Chick, who represents much of the West Valley, emphasized that she supports the NFL’s return to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum--as long as it is privately funded. If any local money is proposed to entice a team to the city, Chick believes the plan should be put to a public vote.

NFL officials have demanded that significant public financing be part of the deal before committing to place a new pro team in town instead of in Houston, the rival suitor.

“It’s time for the NFL to stop playing games with Los Angeles,” Chick said, “and get the games back.”

Whatever the case, a fellow politico who requested anonymity said it was Chick who is now playing games by introducing a motion to oppose something “no one is proposing” in order to notch political extra points.

NEVER LOOKED BACK: Having come in a distant second to Alex Padilla in the April primary election for the 7th Council District race, Corinne Sanchez was unable to match Padilla in fund-raising on his way to a victory in the June 8 runoff.

That is the picture painted Wednesday by the final campaign finance statements filed with the Los Angeles Ethics Commission.

Sanchez spent $294,000 in campaign contributions and city matching funds for the primary, just short of the $333,172 spent by Padilla.

But things were different after Padilla captured double the vote of Sanchez in the primary. Padilla reported spending $271,732 in the runoff--more than twice the $126,574 spent by Sanchez.

Padilla easily won election to the council seat representing the northeast Valley.

Sanchez said her poor primary showing hurt badly when it came to raising funds for the runoff. She said that became a major factor in her defeat.

“When you have the machines against you--the Democratic machine, the Latino machine and the union machine--the odds are against the small people,” Sanchez said.

“He was able to raise more,” she said.

To outspend Sanchez, Padilla went deep into debt, still owing $79,720 from his runoff campaign fund and $55,000 from his primary campaign fund as of June 30.

But even setting aside the debt, Padilla raised more than Sanchez. He raised $124,922 in private contributions for the runoff, contrasted with $71,770 raised by Sanchez.

Labor unions, including Local 347 of the Service Employees International Union, the largest city employee union, helped bankroll much of Padilla’s runoff campaign. Cardenas also helped Padilla top the $600,000 mark in total fund-raising.

Cardenas’ $250 contribution is no surprise. Until Padilla’s victory, he was a field deputy for the assemblyman.