Power Base at City Hall Could Shift

Neither Mayor James K. Hahn nor City Council President Alex Padilla appears on Tuesday’s ballot, but their tenuous grip on the City Hall agenda and, to a lesser extent, their long-term political prospects are at stake in this mid-term election.

With seven of the council’s 15 positions at stake, including four open seats, the makeup of the panel and coalitions that have emerged over the last two years will change, whatever the outcome.

But given that the contests involve one candidate who blames Hahn for the loss of his job, another he defeated to become mayor, two who were leading backers of San Fernando Valley secession and one former aide to a political opponent, it’s conceivable that much of the new Los Angeles City Council may come to work without deep affection for the mayor.

Hahn and Padilla, who are friends and close allies, are campaigning hard to build on the delicate base of support they enjoy on the council, or at least to avoid erosion.

The support has helped Hahn win passage of priority legislation and allowed Padilla to retain the presidency.

“This election is incredibly important for both of them, although much more for Padilla,” said Fernando Guerra, director of the Center for the Study of Los Angeles, a research group at Loyola Marymount University. “The power of the mayor allows him to survive a council election. The election results at the council level define Padilla’s future.”

Among the high-profile races are those in the 8th District, where former Police Chief Bernard C. Parks is seen as a heavy favorite over four other candidates for an open seat, and the 14th District, where former Assembly Speaker Antonio Villaraigosa is challenging Councilman Nick Pacheco.

Parks was removed from his job as chief after Hahn did not back him for another term and Villaraigosa lost the 2001 mayor’s race to Hahn.

In other contests, Martin Ludlow, a former top aide to Villaraigosa, is one of six candidates vying to succeed retiring Councilman Nate Holden in the 10th District, and former Assemblywoman Paula Boland and businessman Walter Prince, leaders of last year’s secession movement, are among six running for the open 12th District seat.

If no candidate receives more than 50% of the vote in any contest, the top two vote-getters will have a runoff election May 20.

In the remaining races, Councilwoman Wendy Greuel is running unopposed in the 2nd District, Councilman Tom LaBonge is defending his seat against film producer Derek Milosavljevic in the 4th District and Assemblyman Tony Cardenas and businessman Jose Roy Garcia are competing for an open seat in the 6th District.

Hahn and Padilla are closely watching the races and actively campaigning in some.

“Hahn doesn’t have an overwhelming majority on the council,” said Jaime Regalado, executive director of the Pat Brown Institute of Public Affairs at Cal State L.A., who compared Hahn’s coalition with the support for a former mayor: “It’s not close to what Tom Bradley had back in the days when people referred to it as the ‘Bradley rubber stamp.’ ”

In fact, Hahn often has won battles in council by just one or two votes and has not even been able to count on the support of his sister, Councilwoman Janice Hahn. An anti-Hahn bloc could make it more difficult in the coming months for the mayor to push through his 2003-04 budget, which includes his plan to make police and fire services a high priority for spending. It could also hinder Hahn’s plans for business tax reform and reorganization of city services.

Hahn and Padilla so far have been able to fend off proposals to create a borough system of government, but that idea is expected to resurface and a new council could be less in tune with the mayor’s view.

Although some city officials have criticized Hahn and Padilla for not doing much with the power they have, the two have built an effective alliance that has allowed them to win some closely contested votes. That was illustrated last month, when they rallied enough votes to push through a policy under which police would no longer respond to unverified burglar alarms.

Last year, they led the campaign to defeat secession. And when Hahn decided not to back Parks for another term as police chief, Padilla protected Hahn’s back in the council. Afterward, Hahn allowed Padilla to sit in on interviews with the candidates for the chief’s job. The mayor also took Padilla with him on a trade mission to Asia after the council president helped push through Hahn’s first budget.

Padilla has said, “I do want to stay as president after July 1.” And Hahn has reportedly made it clear to other council members that he stands behind Padilla’s presidency.

When Padilla was up for reelection in 2001 he was supported as president by Council members Eric Garcetti, Janice Hahn, Cindy Miscikowski, Ed Reyes, Jack Weiss and Dennis Zine. Of those who opposed Padilla, only Councilwoman Jan Perry will remain after Tuesday’s winners take office.

But the base of support for Hahn and Padilla is threatened in several races. Parks, for instance, was furious when Hahn refused to back him for another term as chief and is expected to actively oppose the mayor on some council votes if he wins.

With Parks facing little opposition, Hahn and Padilla are focusing elsewhere, including the campaign to reelect Pacheco, an ally, over Villaraigosa. Padilla broke with other Latino leaders to back Hahn over Villaraigosa in the mayor’s race, and the former speaker hasn’t forgotten.

“Obviously you’d create another center of power on the council if Antonio Villaraigosa is elected,” Guerra said. “Because of his previous citywide run and his role as speaker, Antonio Villaraigosa becomes a council leader. The same goes for Parks.”

Villaraigosa already has close ties to many other council members, and his role would be further bolstered if his former chief field deputy, Ludlow, wins in the 10th District.

With the stakes high, Padilla has also gone out on a limb and endorsed Greig Smith in the 12th District, the northwest San Fernando Valley. Smith, who was the chief deputy to retiring Councilman Hal Bernson, is expected to have a better relationship with Padilla than did his former boss, who had clashed with the council president.

But Padilla’s fortunes could be set back if Smith is defeated by other leading contenders in the race, including Boland or Los Angeles school board member Julie Korenstein, neither of whom could be expected to appreciate that Padilla worked on Smith’s behalf.

Such hard feelings were apparent when Padilla endorsed Cardenas last year in a bitter campaign against Greuel. Padilla lost that gamble. Greuel won, sparking some internal talks in the council about seeking to unseat Padilla.

Rick Taylor, a political consultant for Parks who worked on Padilla’s first council campaign, said Padilla’s decision to get involved in some hotly contested council races is a sign that he realizes his future may be tied to the outcomes.

“Alex has tried to make some assumptions about who is likely to win and he has made endorsements, which is not traditional for the office of the council president,” Taylor said.

Padilla has sought to mend fences. He endorsed Greuel for reelection -- although she is unopposed -- and Taylor said Padilla has had several conversations with Parks in which he pledged to work with the former chief if Parks is elected.