Youth, Experience Face Off in Race for 7th District

As a high school pitcher traveling to baseball games across Los Angeles, Alex Padilla said he first had his eyes opened to the disparity between how government treated his working class Pacoima neighborhood and more affluent areas.

“We walked onto campuses and baseball fields where the grass was greener, the lockers were cleaner, the books were newer, the grounds were kept better,” Padilla said. “And that’s when I started asking myself, ‘Well, why isn’t it this way where I live, where I go to school?’ ”

Padilla, 25, is still asking that question nearly a decade later, but now as a candidate for the northeast San Fernando Valley’s 7th District seat on the Los Angeles City Council.

Despite his youth, Padilla is seen by some very powerful leaders of the city’s Latino-labor alliance as a potential member of the new Latino leadership club at City Hall.

With Councilman Richard Alatorre retiring, Richard Alarcon gone to the state Senate and Councilman Mike Hernandez hurt by charges of drug use, some coalition power brokers are betting that Padilla will help fill the vacuum.

Running in a council district where about 45% of the voters are Latino, Padilla’s candidacy has been boosted into front-runner status by backing from the County Federation of Labor, influential city employee unions and Alatorre’s Eastside political machine.

Padilla, formerly a city building and safety commissioner, has also been endorsed by Mayor Richard Riordan, who has a close alliance with Alatorre and construction trade unions.

“Certainly he is a formidable candidate,” said Arnoldo Casillas, president of the Mexican-American Bar Assn., which has not taken a position in the race.

Casillas said social agency director Corinne Sanchez should also be considered a front-runner, because of her strong support in the Valley and her endorsement by former 7th District Councilman Alarcon, county Supervisor Gloria Molina and three Valley council members.

It is very unlikely one candidate will get a majority of the vote April 13. Without anyone capturing a simple majority, a runoff election would be required in June between the top two vote-getters.

Padilla has kept close to Sanchez in fund-raising, bringing in about $100,000 in a race where he plans to spend the maximum $330,000 allowed for candidates who accept city matching funds.

Organized labor, which is making a major push to keep its strong influence on the City Council, has already weighed in, with 12 unions contributing $5,000 to Padilla’s campaign in the past two months. Much more is expected.

Alatorre’s Eastside political organization is also helping to bankroll Padilla, who has received big contributions from Alatorre allies including The East Los Angeles Community Union (TELACU), businessman Ernest Camacho, Cordoba Corp. and Catalyst Communications, a firm headed by former Alatorre chief of staff Al Avila.

Padilla is also cashing in on his endorsement from the multimillionaire mayor, taking in contributions from several of Riordan’s former business associates and commissioners, including Police Commission President Edith Perez and redevelopment Commissioner Christine Robert.

The backing of so many special interests from outside the district for a candidate just years out of college has already attracted attention, and some criticism.

“There are the people outside of this district who would tell us where our leadership should come from,” said Barbara Perkins, another candidate in the race.

Padilla said if he is elected he will work with labor, the mayor and other key supporters.

“The only people I’ll be beholden to,” Padilla said, “are the people in my district.”

Son of Immigrants Grew Up in Pacoima

The son of immigrant, working-class parents, Padilla grew up in the Pacoima barrio and went from San Fernando High School to the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he earned an engineering degree.

“When I graduated from MIT, I didn’t go to Wall Street. I came back to Mercer Street. Because there’s a lot of hope in the area. And home is where my commitment is,” Padilla said.

He is the second of three children born to Santos and Lupe Padilla, immigrants from Mexico, who lived in an apartment in North Hollywood at the time of their son’s birth.

Padilla’s father worked as a cook. His mother cleaned houses, traveling every day into the hills of Studio City, where she has had some of the same clients for 30 years.

“They are hard-working people,” Padilla said. “I learned that from them. I started working at 8 years old. I worked with an uncle of mine who had a business selling food and drink at public parks.”

In addition to a strong work ethic, Padilla said his family taught him the values of public service. When he wasn’t playing baseball, he was helping them and other members of their Roman Catholic parish put together food baskets for the needy, he said.

Padilla’s parents eventually were able to buy a house on Mercer Street in Pacoima, but the neighborhood was plagued by gangs, drug dealers and prostitution.

One of Padilla’s earliest memories was of joining his parents and other neighbors in facing down the drug dealers and buyers who came into their neighborhood.

Padilla’s parents always emphasized education, so when an older classmate from San Fernando High encouraged him to apply to MIT, he jumped at the chance.

“My parents are immigrants,” said Padilla, who is single, “and growing up it was clear they came to this country for one reason and one reason only, and that was to provide opportunity, not for themselves, but for their children.”

He graduated with a bachelor of science degree in mechanical engineering in 1994.

Padilla returned home and landed a job with Hughes Aircraft in Canoga Park but quickly realized he did not want to spend his life as an engineer.

He took a fellowship with the Coro Foundation, a leadership development program, which assigned him to work on Art Torres’ unsuccessful bid for insurance commissioner. Torres, now state Democratic Party chairman, asked Padilla to organize supporters in the San Fernando Valley and referred him to a Realtor named Tony Cardenas, who was willing to provide phone banks for the campaign.

Padilla and Cardenas struck up a close friendship, and when Cardenas decided to run for the Assembly in 1996, he asked Padilla to be his campaign manager. Padilla was 22 years old. “That was my baptism into government and politics,” Padilla said. He was hooked.

After Cardenas was elected, Padilla continued to work for Cardenas, then for U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, and finally last year he ran Alarcon’s successful campaign.

It was that bitter fight last year that has led some to question Padilla’s motives.

In an unprecedented move, Cardinal Roger M. Mahony demanded an apology for the unauthorized use of his picture, a tactic he said made Alarcon’s campaign literature falsely appear to carry the prelate’s endorsement. And the campaign was accused of more dirty tricks, including a racist mailer. Padilla said he was unaware of both controversial mailers until the day they hit the streets.

Alarcon said Padilla was not responsible for either. Alarcon is not sure whether Padilla is ready to become the elected representative for a district with 230,000 residents.

“I think Alex has a lot of potential, but he has a lack of hands-on experience in community service,” said Alarcon, who has endorsed Sanchez.

Emphasizes Need for Valley Job Creation

The lanky, 6-foot-4 man with a preference for dark business suits exudes idealism, and supporters say he has a knack for sharing it.

“He has the ability to relate to people on a very human level, regardless of their station in life,” said Torres, the state Democratic Party head who helped Padilla get his start in politics.

It seemed inevitable that Padilla would run for office himself.

“It was a sense that, if we get involved, and we get educated about the process, we can make government work,” he said.

Like the campaigns he engineered for Cardenas and Alarcon, Padilla’s campaign is focusing on the basics.

But to get to the City Council, Padilla still has to overcome questions about his age and experience.

“I’ve been working for 17 years,” Padilla responds. “I have work experience behind me that some people don’t get until later in life. My experience, I think, more than holds its own.”