Riordan to Endorse Padilla for Council

Mayor Richard Riordan will endorse Alex Padilla for the Los Angeles City Council today, giving the 25-year-old candidate a major leg up in the heated campaign to represent the northeast San Fernando Valley’s 7th District, sources said.

Riordan has scheduled a City Hall news conference, where he will, according to a Riordan aide, endorse Padilla, an MIT graduate and aide to state Assemblyman Tony Cardenas (D-Sylmar).

Late Monday, Padilla’s campaign organization claimed Riordan’s endorsement in comments attributed to Riordan. “Alex Padilla will be a great asset to the L.A. City Council,” according to the release. “His energy, education and excellence in representing his community will serve L.A. admirably.”

The Riordan endorsement comes less than a month after Padilla won the coveted backing of the county Federation of Labor. Padilla, a Pacoima resident, also has the backing of his boss, Cardenas.

Although Padilla declined to comment Monday, Rick Taylor, a high-level official in his campaign, said Riordan’s backing is important, both politically and in aiding fund-raising efforts.

“It’s a huge boost to the campaign, and coming right after the endorsements by organized labor, this continues to give the campaign further momentum,” Taylor said.

The special election is being held in April to fill a vacancy caused by Councilman Richard Alarcon’s election to the state Senate.

Alarcon has endorsed attorney and social service agency head Corinne Sanchez in the race, and the senator personally interceded with Riordan on Sanchez’s behalf in trying to win the mayor’s endorsement.

Still, Sanchez said Riordan will not make or break her campaign.

“I think it’s an important endorsement, but I don’t think it’s the most important,” Sanchez said. “The past has shown that candidates he endorses haven’t always won. I don’t think it’s a guarantee.”

In the past, Riordan endorsed Barbara Yaroslavsky for City Council and Ted Stein for city attorney but both lost, as did many of the candidates in the mayor’s slate for the elected charter reform commission.

Riordan previously endorsed Corina Alarcon, the senator’s wife, in the 7th District race, but she backed out.

Padilla was until recently part of the Riordan administration, serving as one of the mayor’s appointments to the city Building and Safety Commission.

Political consultant Joe Cerrell, who is not involved in the race, said Riordan’s endorsement is important because none of the candidates is a household name.

“The lower the office, the more a big-name endorsement helps,” Cerrell said. “It also should mean money. The ability of Richard Riordan to directly raise money or just the use of his name, should mean more money.”

Meanwhile, the field of candidates for the 7th District appeared to narrow Monday, which was the deadline for filing nominating petitions to qualify for the April 13 ballot.

Of the 10 declared candidates, it appeared three may not make the ballot, including carpenter David Silva, who said he had only 350 of the 500 signatures needed to qualify.

Nominating petitions were filed Monday by former San Fernando Mayor Raul Godinez II, government relations expert Ollie McCaulley, pastor Dudley Chatman and Sanchez. Teacher Connie Acebo Rodriguez filed petitions on Saturday.

The city clerk has 10 days to determine whether there are sufficient signatures to qualify for the ballot. The clerk has already qualified the candidacies of Padilla, college administrator Barbara Perkins and youth services director Tony Lopez. Two other candidates could not be reached for comment Monday, and there was no record late in the day that they had turned in petitions.

In the 12th Council District in the northwest Valley, incumbent Hal Bernson qualified for the ballot, while signatures were turned in Monday by challengers by attorney Charles Rubel, David Guzman Sr., Howard Nussbaum and Marilyn Stout.

Council members Joel Wachs and John Ferraro have also qualified for a reelection bid. Those qualifying to challenge Wachs are John Bunte and John Spishak.

The crowded race for the City Council’s Eastside seat being vacated by Councilman Richard Alatorre also narrowed Monday as eight candidates qualified for the spring ballot, leaving 11 others to either make the ballot over the next 10 days or drop out.

Alatorre has decided not to seek reelection; he faces a federal and state investigation into his finances and he is undergoing drug rehabilitation after testing positive for cocaine use.

The eight who already qualified for the ballot are: Luis Cetina, a Metropolitan Water District engineer; Victor Griego, a veteran political community organizer; Juan Jose Gutierrez, who runs One Stop Immigration; Armando L. Hernandez, a former Alatorre field deputy; Cathy T. Molina, a community activist; Ramiro Moseley, a constituent service advocate; Nick Pacheco, a deputy district attorney and charter reform commissioner, and Alvin D. Parra, a county commissioner and former 14th District candidate.

Most other candidates, including Jorge Mancillas, a union director, and Sylvia Robledo, a hospital administrator and community activist, probably will qualify for the ballot over the next 10 days as their signature petitions are verified.

So far, one hopeful, Paul Konrad Melero, an engineer, did not qualify for the ballot after his signatures were deemed insufficient.