Councilman Alatorre to Retire When Term Ends

Los Angeles City Councilman Richard Alatorre, the veteran state and local lawmaker long a power in Latino politics and currently the target of a federal corruption investigation, announced Friday that he will retire from elected office this year.

Alatorre has been counseled by his closest allies for weeks to end his 14-year council career when his term expires this summer, avoiding a tough reelection campaign in which foes would have brought up the investigation.

But Alatorre told a crowd of nearly 300 gathered in the City Council chamber in which he wielded unchallenged influence for so many years that he made the decision himself and that it was a personal one.

“Together, my wife, Angie, and I have decided to begin a new chapter in our life,” Alatorre told the chamber filled with supporters, elected officials he helped put in office and family and friends. “It is time for me to take care of my family. It is time for me to take care of my health, and it is time for me to take care of myself.

“I am at peace with myself,” the councilman said, looking down, eyes welling with tears. “I am at peace with this decision I have made.”

In a lengthy speech, interrupted numerous times by applause and standing ovations, Alatorre told the crowd that he believed he could win reelection, secure key endorsements and raise money. But he also said he believes he has “a second chance” with his family and that public life requires more sacrifice than he can make.

By all accounts, Alatorre helped pave the way for Latino political candidates at a time when only a few held elected office. He helped get them elected, twice even helping to draw the district lines to secure their positions.

As a result, many political analysts and others say Alatorre leaves a legacy across the state.

Alatorre’s departure clears the way for a new generation of Latino politicians in the city. With Councilman Mike Hernandez serving out the rest of his last term and Richard Alarcon rising to the state Senate, new Latino politicians will take the reins at City Hall at a time when the Latino population is growing in numbers and influence. Alatorre leaves a wide-open field of candidates for his seat, all reflecting the new power and progress of Latinos in the city.

In his 28 years of elected office, he has been no stranger to controversy, facing ethics investigations and fines, and currently FBI and IRS investigations into his financial dealings. He is also undergoing drug rehabilitation after recently testing positive for cocaine.

Alatorre acknowledged his detractors but did not yield to criticism, saying that his personal style may have seemed inappropriate to some but that he was proud to be a voice for the poor, for children, for senior citizens and for the working families of the city. His record, he said, speaks for itself.

“I say to those who question my style that I am a man of my word,” he said. “People count on my word and ability to fight to the end.”

Known for being the city’s ultimate insider politician, Alatorre is also known for being unafraid to take chances whenever necessary.

Supporters Praise His Dedication

Mayor Richard Riordan, Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Los Angeles) and numerous top city and state officials crowded the council chamber, where mariachis played loudly before and after speeches. After Alatorre spoke, the crowd rose and cheered, many with tears in their eyes.

To his supporters, Alatorre said the dedication and devotion of his community and family and friends was more powerful than “any one newspaper,” referring to articles in The Times detailing allegations concerning Alatorre’s financial dealings.

In addition, Alatorre received perhaps the biggest round of applause when he told young Latino politicians to go forward, despite the press’ “sensationalism” and prying into private lives of elected officials.

None of Alatorre’s personal problems appeared to weigh on the minds of his friends and observers Friday as they saluted one of the framers of California’s burgeoning Latino political power.

“It’s a real loss to all the working families of Los Angeles,” said Miguel Contreras, a close friend and executive secretary-treasurer of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor. “When Richard Alatorre was made, they broke the mold. There isn’t anybody like him.”

“Symbolically, Richard Alatorre was very important,” said Fernando Guerra, a Loyola Marymount University professor and director of the Study of Los Angeles. “He was one of two or three faces that people associated with Latino politics. . . . Richard Alatorre can retire now knowing that Latino empowerment will continue and that it’s not all dependent on him anymore.”

Alatorre, who forged relationships with labor, business and even the Republican mayor, Riordan, always preferred working the back room. (Riordan spoke at Alatorre’s news conference Friday, saying the councilman “knows how to get things done.”)

In council chambers, Alatorre either reads the newspaper hunched over at his desk while eating Oreos or Fritos or he’s on the sidelines, chatting with lobbyists or, more often, on the telephone.

“He’s accomplished a hell of a lot for a poor boy from East L.A.,” said political consultant Joe Cerrell. “He made a hell of a mark. . . . Personally, I’m very upset about this.”

Alatorre, who once served as Garfield High School student body president, became the first chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and once weighed runs for mayor and county supervisor.

Alatorre began his rough-and-tumble political career in the Assembly, where he served from 1972 to 1985, working on such issues as prison reform, farm workers’ rights, and perhaps more important, learning to play political hardball and winning allies with Sacramento heavyweights Willie Brown and Mike Roos.

As a result, when he was elected in 1985 to the City Council, the only Latino on the 15-member body, he arrived with a leg up to most freshmen council members: He already knew how to strategize, work the system, get results.

He took over the 14th District, which includes such Eastside communities as Boyle Heights and City Terrace, and set to work on redistricting, as well as numerous development projects for his district.

Meanwhile, Latino politicians began to win key elected offices and Eastside politics grew increasingly more tangled and complicated. Two camps now exist, with county Supervisor Gloria Molina in one and Alatorre in the other.

Custody Battle and Allegations

Molina issued a statement Friday saying that although she has not always agreed with the councilman, he was an ally and “a groundbreaker in the history of Latino politics in the city of Los Angeles.”

Although friends and others say Alatorre drives a hard bargain, they say he is fiercely loyal, particularly to those who have stuck by him.

Hernandez, who once ran for the Assembly against Richard G. Polanco, a former Alatorre aide who was being pushed by Alatorre, says their relationship rises and falls on the issues--rather than on past differences.

“He told me upfront that he was going to make sure his candidate [Polanco] won,” Hernandez said. “When that campaign was over, he extended an olive branch.”

Victor Griego, who worked for Hernandez on that race and now plans to run for the seat being vacated by Alatorre, said: “There’s an old adage in labor: There are no permanent enemies, no permanent allies, only permanent interests in public life.”

And Polanco, now a state senator, still recalls a statement Alatorre made during the divisive reapportionment debates.

“He said, ‘Then was then, now is now,’ ” Polanco said. “That phrase echoed. . . . It says a lot about Richard, his style and his mannerisms.”

Over the years, Alatorre has become a key player in the MTA, strongly pushing for rail and becoming increasingly involved in transportation contracts and issues. He also heads the council’s budget and finance committee, enabling him to dominate budget sessions and to influence those decisions. As a strong and early supporter of Los Angeles Police Chief Bernard C. Parks, Alatorre also helped clear the way for Parks to take over the top job from his predecessor, Willie L. Williams.

With all of this influence, however, Alatorre only narrowly won his last election. Forced into a runoff by a relatively unknown community activist, Alvin Parra, whom Alatorre outspent 10 to 1, the lawmaker just squeaked back into office.

His detractors say Alatorre is an old-style politician who pushes far too hard, demands too much and then pushes some more.

But by most accounts, Alatorre’s attention was seriously diverted last summer when a bitter guardianship case took much of his time and energy. The fight began when an Alatorre political foe, Henry Lozano, tried to gain custody of his daughter, Alatorre’s niece, who had lived with the councilman and his wife.

During the course of that case, Alatorre faced charges of drug use and improper financial dealings. At one point, the judge ordered a drug test and Alatorre failed.

Although the Alatorres have since regained custody of the girl, friends and observers say the case made a huge impression on the veteran councilman.

“This has been a truly emotional experience for Richard and Angie,” said one friend who declined to be identified. “Here is a man who basically put his entire career on the line for a little girl. I give him huge credit for that.”

But most friends and associates say Alatorre’s political life is far from over. Some say he could receive a state position; others say he will be influential in other ways.

“Don’t expect Richard to ride off into the sunset,” Contreras said.