Candidates Say Choice Is Clear

Divided over hot-button issues involving San Fernando Valley independence, Los Angeles City Council candidates Corinne Sanchez and Alex Padilla say voters in the northeast Valley’s 7th District have some very clear choices.

Both candidates say the working-class district has not received its fair share of basic city services--from police protection to tree trimming.

But they disagree over the best way to improve city services and who is more qualified by virtue of experience to effectively serve the 230,000 district residents.

Voters will decide between Sanchez and Padilla in the election Tuesday.

The campaign has evolved since April, when Padilla drew twice the votes that Sanchez got in the primary. Since then, Sanchez has sought to make up ground by hitting harder on her support for Valley autonomy.

She has embraced the concept of creating a Valley city, Valley school district and Valley transportation authority, while Padilla has backed city charter reform, widely seen as the political alternative to secession.

“I’m focused on making things work, not breaking things up,” said Padilla, a 26-year-old legislative aide.

Sanchez, who runs a social-service agency, said voters in the district are looking for dramatic change that will give them a bigger say in government and result in meaningful improvements to the services they receive.

“The big issue is secession,” Sanchez said. “Voters are bringing it up to me all the time. They are saying this area is not getting its fair share.”

Sanchez received an “A” grade from the secession group Valley VOTE after she said she would support Valley cityhood if a pending study finds it would not harm the Valley or the rest of Los Angeles.

If breaking up the city won’t hurt either side, it can improve conditions in the Valley tremendously, Sanchez said.

“What could be better than to have more local control, more local say, not only on the problems but the priorities and the resolutions to address those problems?” Sanchez said.

Padilla received a “C” grade from Valley VOTE after he said he supports the study of secession but cannot commit one way or the other until the analysis is completed.

“Whether it’s my engineering background or the common-sense way in which I was raised, I want to know what we’re getting into,” Padilla said. Another reason for the lower grade is that Padilla is backed by some of the leading anti-secessionists, including Mayor Richard Riordan.

Other debating points are more familiar.

Sanchez, 52, said she is prepared for office by more than two decades of service as executive director of El Proyecto del Barrio, which provides health care, drug rehabilitation and job placement for Valley residents.

Under her management, El Proyecto has grown from a small charity with a $500,000 annual budget to a large social service agency with offices throughout the Valley and an annual budget of $10 million.

Sanchez has criticized Padilla, 26, as lacking in hands-on experience and owing too much to downtown political interests who are backing his candidacy, including Riordan, Councilman Richard Alatorre and the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor.

“I am an independent voice for the Valley,” Sanchez said. “My main interest is making a better Valley and a better 7th District. I have spent my life to make it a better place, independent of special interests.”

Padilla said his only allegiance is to the residents of the 7th District, and says his work in three levels of government has given him the knowledge to be an effective council member.

Currently on leave as a legislative aide to state Assemblyman Tony Cardenas (D-Sylmar), Padilla has also worked as a Valley representative of U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein and as the mayor’s appointee to the city Building and Safety Commission.

Padilla has emphasized his ties to the district, pointing out that he was born in the Valley, raised in the 7th District, went to MIT and earned an engineering degree, and returned to the northeast Valley where he has lived ever since.

Sanchez was born and raised in San Bernardino, and although she has lived in the Valley for 27 years, had to move a short distance into the district to run for council.

“I am running in the district that I call home,” Padilla said. “The northeast Valley is the community where I was born and raised, where I went to school. I believe it’s an absolutely necessary perspective to have to make the best decisions possible for public policy.”

That message helped Padilla nearly win the April primary outright, receiving 48% of the vote to 25% for Sanchez in the six-candidate field.

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Not only has Padilla raised and spent twice as much money as Sanchez, paying out $200,000 so far, but he has also received help from the Democratic Party and the County Federation of Labor, which has put $100,000 into an independent expenditure campaign that has targeted the district’s 13,000 union members with mail and phone banks.

The unions have also supplied dozens of campaign volunteers to supplement Padilla’s field operation.

Sanchez has also tried to strengthen her field operation. She has won the backing of state Sen. Richard Alarcon (D-Sylmar), all five members of the county Board of Supervisors, and council members Laura Chick, Cindy Miscikowski and Mike Feuer.

The Valley autonomy issue, although not on the ballot, is present in the form of a proposal to revise the city’s 70-year-old charter.

For Padilla, many of the issues of local control can be addressed by approving the new City Charter.

In particular, Padilla said he is encouraged that the new charter will create a network of advisory neighborhood councils and regional planning commissions.

“The regional planning commissions being proposed give local people a chance to make decisions on local issues,” Padilla said.

Sanchez is opposed to the change, believing that it fails to go far enough in giving the Valley control of local issues and it gives the mayor too much power, including greater authority to remove department managers, Sanchez said.

The money proposed for a larger City Council could be better spent improving basic city services, she said.

There is a similar disagreement over a proposal to break up the Los Angeles Unified School District to create a new Valley district.

Sanchez supports the breakup.

“The school district is too big. It’s unmanageable,” Sanchez said. “It’s not accountable to students or parents. A Valley school district would be closer to the residents.”

But Padilla said many problems of the schools can be addressed by providing more classroom resources and better coordination between teachers and parents.

“To me, breaking up the school district is not by itself going to solve the problems,” Padilla said.

Sanchez has also endorsed creating a separate Valley Transportation Authority, to take over transit tax revenue and decisions now handled by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

Padilla said he would not be able to support a separate authority if it hindered regional transportation planning efforts.