3 Mayoral Candidates Make Similar Pitches

State Sen. Richard Alarcon and Councilmen Bernard C. Parks and Antonio Villaraigosa tackled healthcare, economic development and crime Saturday as the mayoral candidates went to South Los Angeles for the first debate there.

The three men, who are vying to unseat incumbent James K. Hahn on March 8, rarely disagreed while committing to expanding access to healthcare, improving the local business climate and tackling gang violence and overcrowded jails.

But as in many of the recent debates, Saturday’s forum offered as much insight into the candidates’ philosophies and styles as it did about their specific platforms.

Alarcon (D-Sun Valley) continued to press his campaign to mobilize government to combat poverty, stressing his support for universal health insurance, more investment in gang-intervention programs and more government support for small businesses.

“I think if we can work through the problems in South-Central, we can do anything,” Alarcon told about 50 people at the First AME Church.

Parks, the former police chief whose council district stretches across South Los Angeles, reiterated his distrust of too much government intervention, stressing that jobs generated by the private sector and education are the best way to reduce crime and poverty.

“Cut all these anti-business rules and regulations,” said Parks, who has fought limits on retail development in Los Angeles during his two years on the council.

Parks also has advocated liquor licenses for corner markets in the area to further economic development.

Villaraigosa was upbeat after the release Saturday of a Times poll showing that just 50% in the sampling approved of Hahn’s job performance.

Villaraigosa offered fewer specific prescriptions than his opponents, but stepped up his pitch for more energized leadership at City Hall.

“It’s about passion, baby,” the former Assembly speaker and Eastside councilman said after one particularly high-decibel answer.

Hahn, who defeated Villaraigosa in the mayoral race four years ago, and former Assembly Speaker Bob Hertzberg, Hahn’s other major challenger, did not attend the forum, which was presented by Charles R. Drew University and the Drew Center for AIDS Research, Education and Services.

African American voters concentrated in South Los Angeles were vital to Hahn’s 2001 victory, but the mayor alienated many with his opposition to Parks’ reappointment as chief three years ago. And all three candidates won cheers Saturday with criticism that Hahn was only visible in South Los Angeles at election time.

A Hahn spokesman said that, because of time constraints, the mayor had committed to a limited number of debates. Hertzberg had previously scheduled meetings, his campaign said.

Alarcon, Parks and Villaraigosa said they opposed closure of the trauma center at troubled Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center, although Parks pointedly told the audience that the community deserved better care than the hospital was delivering.

And all three declined to second-guess the decision last week by the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office to not file charges against a police officer who was videotaped hitting a car thief with a metal flashlight.