Hernandez, Padilla Joust Over New Bid for Job Funds

A heated debate over federal job training funds Wednesday turned into a contest between City Council members from the San Fernando Valley and the central city over who has the poorest constituents.

Councilman Alex Padilla of Pacoima jousted verbally with Councilman Mike Hernandez after Padilla complained that his Valley district was being shortchanged.

Padilla on Wednesday--a month after he objected to a council decision to exclude Pacoima from one jobs grant--complained that his district was not getting its fair share of a separate federal youth employment program.

Padilla said 9.2% of the estimated $18 million in federal funds for the Workforce Investment Act program was going to seven Valley high schools, while 24.8% of the money was going to three central city schools, including Belmont High, which serves Hernandez’s district.

“My district . . . has just as much need as any other district,” he told the council.

Hernandez, who chairs the committee that oversees applications for federal job funds, including the one that left out Pacoima last month, said the new money was distributed based on data indicating where the most students in poverty are located.

Turning to the other council members, Hernandez conceded that “maybe [poverty] is happening in a particular area of Padilla’s district, but it doesn’t compare to what is happening in South-Central, the Eastside and the Westlake district.”

Padilla rebuffed Hernandez.

“If you want to talk about the need for more schools and unemployment and people in poverty, I invite you to come to the northeast Valley,” he replied.

Responded Hernandez: “I think I will end the discussion by simply inviting Mr. Padilla to the inner city.”

Council President John Ferraro stepped in to keep the two from interrupting each other.

Councilwoman Jackie Goldberg said there is not enough money to address the need in every part of the city.

“We can’t focus on the debate we saw here today and get anywhere,” she said after the exchange.

Padilla said afterward that he still has time to try to change the percentage of money going to the Valley.

The Workforce Investment Act program replaces past summer job programs that allowed the city to provide employment for up to 12,000 young people, according to Sue Flores, an assistant general manager of the city’s Community Development Department.

The new program is in flux because the federal budget has yet to be finalized, said Diana Nave, a planning director at the Community Development Department. She said the city expects to receive about $18 million.

The department proposed dividing the money according to the proportion of poor youths in each area, with borders drawn roughly to match the boundaries of school clusters. There are about 113,000 youths living in poverty, according to the criteria used by the city.

Out of 10 areas, the central city cluster--including Manual Arts, Jefferson and Belmont high schools--has the highest proportion of young people living in poverty and so deserves 24.82% of the money, according to department calculations based on 1990 census data.

But other areas include more schools--such as the Valley region Padilla was fighting for, which embodies Chatsworth, Granada Hills, Kennedy, Monroe, Sylmar, Verdugo Hills and San Fernando high schools. Under the department’s formula, that area would be given 9.27% of the funding.

“It’s probably the biggest area in the city and it incorporates the majority of my district,” Padilla told his colleagues.

Padilla said he plans to meet with Flores to see if there can be any “tweaking of lines or criteria” to get more money for the Valley.

McGreevy is a Times staff writer and Fox is a correspondent.