Padilla Fights to Include Pacoima in Job Program : Poverty: He asks City Council to revise the application for a $12-million youth work grant after clearing up eligibility issues.

City Councilman Alex Padilla moved Tuesday to force city officials to include Pacoima in an application for a $12-million federal youth job program.

Padilla and several other San Fernando Valley political leaders were angered when Pacoima was left out of plans to apply for the U.S. Department of Labor grant. Watts and East Los Angeles were proposed for the program.

Padilla, whose district includes Pacoima, asked the City Council on Tuesday to instruct the Community Development Department to submit an application to Pacoima.

“I’m not going down without a fight in my commitment for the kids in my community,” Padilla said. “The needs of youth in the northeast Valley must be met.

“There are limited resources and limited positive alternatives for kids,” Padilla said of the area. “If you want them to stay out of gangs, and out of trouble, you need this kind of program.”

The flap arose while the grant application was being prepared by the city Community Development Department.

Applicants must be from federal empowerment zones, such as Pacoima, Padilla said. It is also desirable, but not required, for the community to be a recipient of a separate federal grant program.

Padilla said there was misinformation conveyed to his office about Pacoima’s eligibility. His office was initially told Pacoima must receive the federal grant in order to apply for the youth job program. Pacoima, he said, cannot currently apply for the grant, because it is not in the service area.

Those issues were clarified after a meeting last week with Community Development officials, Padilla said.

Padilla said he has talked with the department about other federal funds that would help Pacoima teens.

The Youth Opportunities Grants are targeted to youths ages 14 to 21 and provide job training and placement, education, mentoring and other skills.

Nationwide, about 25 grants will be awarded. Los Angeles is competing with several other California cities that also have high youth poverty rates, including Long Beach, Santa Ana and Oakland.

The Youth Opportunity grant is $12 million for the first year, but up to $48 million is available over five years.

President Bill Clinton introduced the new youth program when he visited Watts in July.

*

Staff writer Irene Garcia contributed to this story.