Reyes for the Council’s 1st District

Los Angeles’ 1st Council District has some of the city’s oldest housing and meanest streets. It is also the focal point of some tough political problems, including the Rampart Division police scandal and the battle over completion of the Belmont Learning Complex.

Unfortunately for its quarter-million people, the 13-square-mile 1st District, which runs north and west of downtown, has also seen a void of effective political leadership for three years, since incumbent Councilman Mike Hernandez acknowledged he was addicted to cocaine and alcohol and entered a drug rehabilitation program.

Hernandez is wisely retiring from public office, so the race to take his council seat is wide open. Among the candidates seeking to replace him, The Times believes Ed P. Reyes would be the most effective.

Reyes is a city planner who has worked for eight years in Hernandez’s council office and served as a consultant to other council members before that. The other candidates in the race, including businessman Joseph Lucey, college professor David Sanchez and attorney Robert Nakahiro, clearly care about the district. Nakahiro, particularly, brings an enthusiasm to his campaigning that reflects his many years as a community activist in the area.

However, none of Reyes’ opponents can match his time in city government or his education and experience in city planning. Given the near-desperate need of the 1st District for a council representative who will not have to learn his way around City Hall, Reyes is the logical choice.