Riordan Officially Backs Padilla for City Council Seat

Celebrating the endorsement of Mayor Richard Riordan, Alex Padilla said Tuesday that if elected to the Los Angeles City Council he will work closely with the Republican mayor.

Flanked by two dozen supporters, including his parents, Padilla, 25, said the endorsement continues an alliance that began when Riordan appointed him to the city Building and Safety Commission two years ago.

“It’s an honor to have his endorsement,” Padilla said at a City Hall news conference. “Through my commission experience, we’ve shown the ability to work together.”

Riordan indicated he would probably help Padilla’s campaign for the special election in April with appearances and fund-raising.

“Alex is a home-grown guy who has spent all of his life in the northeast Valley and knows how to deliver the right stuff to people of his district,” Riordan said.

In endorsing Padilla, a Pacoima resident, for the 7th District City Council seat from the northeast San Fernando Valley, Riordan refused a request from former Councilman Richard Alarcon to support the candidacy of Corinne Sanchez.

Alarcon, whose council seat became vacant when he was elected to the state Senate, said the mayor told him the endorsement was part of commitments made to labor leaders.

“I think there’s some kind of trade,” Alarcon said.

Riordan said he listened to the advice of County Federation of Labor Secretary Miguel Contreras, theater chain owner Bruce Corwin and Ben Reznik, an Encino attorney and board member of the Valley Industry and Commerce Assn.

Contreras denied a trade-off had taken place. The federation, which rejected the mayor’s request to endorse a slate of school board candidates, has been supportive of much of the mayor’s proposal for charter reform.

Reznik, who attended the news conference, said he is lining up other Valley business leaders to help Padilla’s campaign.