8 Candidates Qualify in Eastside Council Race

The crowded race for the Los Angeles City Council’s Eastside seat could soon get a little narrower: Eight candidates have so far qualified for the spring ballot, leaving 11 others to wait up to 10 days to find out if they filed enough valid signatures to make the ballot.

The race for the 14th District seat, which is being vacated by veteran Councilman Richard Alatorre, has become one of the most watched elections this spring, as it represents one of two open seats on the 15-member City Council. The other, in the northeast San Fernando Valley, has drawn 10 candidates.

In the 14th District, council hopefuls had been jockeying the past 10 days to gather enough signatures to meet Monday’s deadline for submitting petitions to qualify for the ballot. Candidates and their signature-gatherers rubbed elbows outside of supermarkets in Boyle Heights, El Sereno and the Eagle Rock Trader Joe’s. They met face-to-face on doorsteps in Highland Park, and they traded glances outside strip malls and small businesses.

To make the ballot, candidates must produce at least 500 valid signatures from residents of the district.

In the scramble to break away from the pack, the candidates also are running into each other as they seek endorsements, in the community as well as from state and local elected officials. A Boyle Heights homeowners meeting over the weekend, for example, drew several hopefuls seeking support.

The race includes mostly political newcomers but a few with strong organizing backgrounds and one who previously ran for the seat.

Alatorre has decided not to seek reelection; he faces a federal and state investigation into his finances and he is undergoing drug rehabilitation after testing positive for cocaine use.

The eight who have qualified for the ballot are: Luis Cetina, a Metropolitan Water District engineer; Victor Griego, a veteran political community organizer; Juan Jose Gutierrez, who runs One Stop Immigration; Armando L. Hernandez, a former Alatorre field deputy; Cathy T. Molina, a community activist; Ramiro Moseley, a constituent service advocate; Nick Pacheco, a deputy district attorney and charter reform commissioner; and Alvin D. Parra, a Los Angeles community activist and former 14th District candidate.

Some other candidates, including union director Jorge Mancillas and Sylvia Robledo, a hospital administrator and community activist, are expected to qualify for the ballot over the next 10 days as their signature petitions are verified.

One hopeful, Paul Konrad Melero, an engineer, submitted petitions but did not qualify for the ballot after his signatures were deemed insufficient.