7th District Candidates Face Off During Forum

While agreeing the San Fernando Valley has been neglected by Los Angeles City Hall, candidates vying for the 7th Council District seat differed, during a forum Wednesday, over how to get improved services.

The six candidates present also staked out positions on noise controls for Van Nuys Airport, tax reform and the need for the Los Angeles Police Department to improve its relations with residents of the northeast Valley.

The sharpest clashes were over who could claim to be the most experienced, skilled and capable of helping the northeast Valley overcome its economic and social problems. Topics which have dominated the news, secession and reform of the Los Angeles City charter, were not mentioned.

Health agency director Corinne Sanchez and housing administrator Ollie McCaulley both took digs that were clearly aimed at the youth of fellow candidate Alex Padilla.

Padilla turns 26 later this month, but has become a front-runner by securing key endorsements from Mayor Richard Riordan, the County Federation of Labor and Assemblyman Tony Cardenas (D-Sylmar).

Sanchez is also considered a leading candidate, having snagged endorsements from county Supervisor Gloria Molina and state Sen. Richard Alarcon, whose departure from the City Council created the vacancy resulting in the April 13 election.

“I’ve been here [in the Valley] for 27 years,” said Sanchez, 51, a San Bernardino native who heads the Valley health agency El Proyecto del Barrio. “I’ve been working in our community . . . longer than some of the people have been born, that are on this panel.”

Addressing the 130 business and civic leaders at the Odyssey restaurant, Padilla countered by saying he grew up in the 7th District, started working with an uncle at age 8 and has worked for U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein and Assemblyman Cardenas since he graduated with an engineering degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

“Although I’ve only been living here 26 years, it’s one thing to be aware of issues . . . but it’s a completely different thing to have lived through issues.”

Other candidates include former San Fernando Mayor Raul Godinez II, youth director Tony Lopez--a no-show Wednesday--former Mission College consultant Barbara Perkins, and write-in candidate Connie Acebo Rodriguez, a teacher.

Candidates agreed that the northeast Valley has not received its fair share of services from Los Angeles City Hall.

“I don’t think we get any share,” McCaulley said, promising to use his skills as a government affairs director for a housing agency to tap City Hall, Sacramento and Washington for more resources and better services.

None of the candidates mentioned secession as a possible answer during the forum, which was hosted by the Mid-Valley Chamber of Commerce, the Valley Industry and Commerce Assn. and the Greater San Fernando Chamber of Commerce.

Godinez, an engineer who moved into the 7th District recently, said city services can be made to work effectively, and he said he showed that as mayor of San Fernando, a city that he said enjoys well-maintained streets, sidewalks and parks, as well as an effective Police Department.

“The same kinds of things can happen in the 7th District and I have the experience and leadership to carry them out,” Godinez said.

Perkins said the West Valley is getting better city services than the East Valley.

“We need to do better in dispersing what we do have,” she said.

The candidates said they would work aggressively to get more resources from City Hall.

“You have to fight for it,” Sanchez said. “You have to lobby people.”

Padilla said the city can also use existing resources more efficiently. He cited one neighborhood in the 7th District where streets are swept the day before trash is collected, instead of the day after.

“That doesn’t make sense,” he said, asserting the answer is for the council member to communicate better with departments serving the Valley.

On public safety, Padilla said he would seek to reverse Police Chief Bernard Parks’ decision to redeploy senior lead officers to patrol duties, saying it is important for the officers to provide a full-time liaison with the community.

“I know what a difference it made when people knew who to call in the LAPD,” Padilla said. Godinez also said the senior lead officers were valuable.

Perkins, who serves on a community forum with Parks, said she likes the chief’s approach of having all police officers, not just a group designated as senior lead officers, doing a better job of interacting with the community.

“Right now we don’t have good relationships between our police department and residents of the northeast San Fernando Valley; there is no trust,” Perkins said, calling for more community advisory groups to work with the LAPD.

Sanchez said the city needs to do more to prevent crime, by providing alternatives such as sports programs and jobs.

“It’s a bigger project then just having more police,” she said.

All of the candidates said they support some type of tax reform, although Godinez and Perkins said changes should provide incentives for key industries, while Sanchez called for immediate cuts for all businesses with the long-term goal of providing deeper cuts for small firms.

McCaulley, a former peace officer, said the tax cuts should help firms that provide high-paying jobs, while Padilla said the tax reform should help existing businesses, not just provide a break to attract new firms.

“The city of Los Angeles is notorious for not being business friendly,” Padilla said.

Candidates mostly agreed on the issue of whether to phase out older jets from Van Nuys Airport--a proposal backed by some neighbors of the airfield but opposed by business.

Padilla, Godinez and McCaulley said they oppose a proposal to mandate the elimination of older, noisier jets from the airport, because of the economic benefit of the operations, and said a better solution is to insulate surrounding homes.

“I do not support in any way curtailing the activities at Van Nuys Airport,” Godinez said. “Most of the [homeowners] bought there knowing the airport was there.”

Sanchez said more study is needed before restrictions are imposed, while Perkins, a former flight attendant, said neighbors of the airport have been taken for granted and need to be provided a stronger voice in talks about how the airport is operated. She said there is a need for “more mitigation” of noise.