Cardenas a Shoo-In for Seat on Council

For termed-out Assemblyman Tony Cardenas, who lost a Los Angeles City Council election last spring, a new council district in the northeast San Fernando Valley could be his consolation prize.

With the nonpartisan primary election seven months away, Cardenas has raised more than $50,000, his campaign says. And he faces no serious challengers for the open seat, which was created July 1 to give more clout to Valley Latinos and Latino politicians such as Cardenas.

Three other candidates have filed papers with the city Ethics Commission to run for the council’s 6th District seat. As of Thursday, however, two of them said they were pulling out because they live outside the new boundaries. One candidate remains, but has indicated that he plans to raise less than $1,000 this year.

In March, Cardenas lost his bid to represent the 2nd District in the eastern San Fernando Valley. First-time candidate Wendy Greuel, a film studio executive, beat him by 242 votes.

Cardenas, a Democrat who lives in Panorama City, now wants to represent a Valley district that, until July 1, encompassed Los Angeles’ Westside: Venice, Marina del Rey and areas around Los Angeles International Airport.

Because of demographic shifts uncovered by the 2000 census, council members voted to move the 6th District and its term-limited councilwoman, Ruth Galanter, to the predominantly Latino northeast Valley.

The new 6th District includes all or parts of North Hollywood, Van Nuys, Panorama City, Sun Valley and Pacoima.

Candidates for the seven City Council seats on the March 2003 primary ballot and the May 2003 general election have until early November to enter the race, but observers of Valley politics predict that the 6th District will be Cardenas’ for the taking.

“The demography of this district favors the election of a Latino

Cardenas could not be reached Thursday, but his communications director, Josh Pulliam, said the three-term assemblyman’s record in the Valley and Sacramento, along with his name recognition, should fend off challengers.

But, Pulliam added, whether the Valley should become its own city is the dominant political question now. Once that’s answered, he said, next year’s ballot might look different.

“The voters have a lot to think about in November,” Pulliam said. “The next City Council is about the last thing on anybody’s mind right now.”

Cardenas opposes Valley secession.

Finance reports filed this week reveal that many of Cardenas’ early contributors live and do business outside of his district; Beverly Hills, Calabasas, San Jose and Chicago are among the addresses.

Cardenas received $1,000 from former U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Henry Cisneros and his wife, who live in San Antonio. He also received $500 donations--the maximum--from unions representing plumbers and food workers, and $250 from a union of sprinkler fitters.

In separate filings, he reported $244,000 in debts from his campaign against Greuel.

Galanter’s deputy chief of staff, Mike Bonin, and Venice resident Sandra Bernard had planned to run for Galanter’s seat before it was uprooted. Both said Thursday that they are no longer running.

That leaves Jose Bonilla of Arleta as Cardenas’ only challenger.

Anticipating that the San Fernando Valley might become its own city, Bonilla is also a candidate for a council seat in the new city, according to papers he filed with the ethics commission.

For L.A.’s council, Bonilla has filed a form indicating that he does not expect to raise or spend more than $1,000 on his campaign this year.

Bonilla could not be reached Thursday.