Padilla, Miscikowski for Council

Los Angeles residents will vote to fill eight seats on the City Council next month. Because of a new term-limits law, there are incumbent candidates in only two of those races. Alex Padilla in the 7th District and Cindy Miscikowski in the 11th represent very different parts of town. But both are effective public officials who deserve to be reelected.

Padilla was first elected less than two years ago in a special vote to fill a vacant seat on the council. Padilla, who is running unopposed, represents a part of town that has many needs. His district sprawls along the eastern San Fernando Valley, from Sylmar to Sun Valley. Pockets of abysmal poverty are found amid the neat homes of working-class families struggling to make ends meet.

Padilla has shown the common sense to focus mostly on bread-and-butter issues that matter to his constituents, like fixing sidewalks, installing new street lights, repairing roads. He also was central in winning approval for the city Children’s Museum to place one of its two new facilities in Hansen Dam Park, the chief recreational area in the 7th District.

Cindy Miscikowski should easily win a second term in the 11th District, and, given the turnover on the council this year, she is expected to emerge as one of its leaders.

The 11th District spreads from Mar Vista northward along the ocean over the Santa Monica Mountains and into the San Fernando Valley, taking in some of the city’s wealthiest and most beautiful communities.

Miscikowski, who is facing only token opposition this time around, has her ear to local concerns. She shows up at community meetings, and her low-key style has helped her mediate contentious disputes over renovation of the Getty Villa in Malibu, promote park improvement in less pricey neighborhoods and push to reduce visual blight along commercial strips.

Miscikowski has also moved beyond the rarefied concerns of her district to a leadership role in City Hall. As chair of the Public Safety Committee, she has supported the Rampart consent decree and been a reliable vote for gun control. As chair of the Ad Hoc Committee on Special Reorganization, she has shepherded the massive data collection and analysis that are required before city residents can vote on Valley secession.

During her first term, Miscikowski has demonstrated that she can build consensus among the polarized personalities of the council.

On a City Council that will have plenty of novices, we have high leadership expectations for Miscikowski and Padilla. The Times endorses them for City Council.