Candidates Focus on Local and Citywide Issues

1st District

This densely populated district is facing some of the toughest problems in the city. The area is patrolled by the scandal-plagued Rampart police division and is home to the controversial Belmont Learning Complex. Many of the neighborhoods in the Pico-Union district are overcrowded and plagued by crime.

But the area is also enjoying a resurgence. With real estate prices skyrocketing in Silver Lake and elsewhere, home buyers have found affordable housing on the hillsides of Highland Park. Hoping that the rest of the community will follow, they have renovated their 1920s homes--turning their neighborhoods into smaller versions of Pasadena’s Bungalow Heaven.

Not surprisingly, the four candidates seeking to replace Councilman Mike Hernandez agree that housing, police and education are among the most important issues facing the district.

The candidates include Hernandez’s chief of staff, Ed Reyes, 41. A longtime City Hall insider, Reyes has helped launch several community cleanups and housing developments in the area.

Though Reyes is often subdued, contender Robert Nakahiro, 39, a lawyer and community activist, bursts with enthusiasm. The son of Mexican and Japanese American parents, he casts himself as a grass-roots fighter.

The other candidates include businessman Joseph Lucey, 43, who has called for more police and for youth counseling, and David Sanchez, 50, the founder of the Brown Berets civil rights group and a Mexican American studies professor.

- TINA DAUNT

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3rd District

The contest to represent the southwest San Fernando Valley has drawn a field of City Hall veterans who have focused on reducing crime, reforming the Los Angeles Police Department and improving mass transit.

Although many voters are eager for the Valley to break away from Los Angeles, none of the candidates has voiced unqualified support for secession. Two, Frank Bush and Judith Hirshberg, are openly opposed to secession, and one, Jason Dominguez, said he may support it if studies show it would benefit the city.

Francine Oschin, an aide to Councilman Hal Bernson and leading fund-raiser in the race, says she would address secessionists’ concerns by improving basic city services. She also supports breaking up the Los Angeles Unified School District.

Dennis Zine, a police sergeant and police union leader from West Hills, promises to increase police protection in the West Valley.

Hirshberg, a longtime aide to former Councilman Marvin Braude, also contends that improving police, fire and other city services is the answer to those who want to break away.

Similarly, Tsilah Burman, a Woodland Hills businesswoman who has worked for various local politicians, says she would work to increase the number of police, firefighters and paramedics in the district.

Deputy City Atty. Jason Dominguez, a candidate from Van Nuys, says he will use his experience to fight crime and blight in Valley neighborhoods. Finally, Bush, a senior building inspector from Reseda, contends that increased enforcement of building codes can help make neighborhoods more attractive.

- PATRICK McGREEVY

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5th District

In the crowded race to represent a politically active and mostly affluent area that extends from Westwood to Van Nuys, the 11 candidates largely agree on the need for police reform and better mass transit. Where they differ is on who has the experience to be most effective at City Hall.

Former state Sen. Tom Hayden, who moved to Westwood last year to run for the seat, emphasized his 18-year record in the Legislature, pointing out that he pressed for reform of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and protections for neighbors of Van Nuys Airport.

Jack Weiss, who lives in West Los Angeles and is the leading fund-raiser in the race, argues that his experience as a former federal prosecutor who handled government corruption cases would give him the skills to deal with police misconduct.

Laura Lake is a former UCLA professor of urban planning who founded Friends of Westwood as part of an effort to protect the area from overdevelopment. Her proposals include providing free mass transit to reduce traffic congestion.

Sherman Oaks businessman Ken Gerston is campaigning on the promise to provide the San Fernando Valley with its fair share of city services.

Steve Saltzman, a Westside entertainment executive, says his work for Mayor Tom Bradley and current job of running an entertainment firm give him broad experience. Robyn Ritter Simon, a Beverlywood resident, makes the same claim about her work as a businesswoman and former television journalist.

Other candidates are political consultant Jill Barad, certified public accountant Victor Viereck, gun control activist Constantina Milonopoulos, consumer protection attorney Nate Bernstein and wholesale carpet salesman Joe Connolly.

- PATRICK McGREEVY

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7th District

Councilman Alex Padilla is running unopposed in the 7th Council District, a working-class area stretching from Sylmar to Sun Valley.

After less than two years in office, he has emerged as a popular leader in an area hobbled by poverty, violence, slum housing conditions and substandard health care. Raised by Mexican-born parents in Pacoima, the 28-year-old councilman won his seat by a landslide in a 1999 special election by promising to fight for basic services he said the district had long been denied.

So far, Padilla has helped win a $40-million Children’s Museum for Lake View Terrace and jump-started long-delayed street paving, lighting and sidewalk repair projects. But he angered some residents and merchants by pushing for a giant Northeast Valley redevelopment plan that critics said would control too much land while squandering tax dollars.

Padilla later dropped his support for the Community Redevelopment Agency’s proposal, deciding instead to focus on smaller projects such as creating business plans for local chambers of commerce.

- SUE FOX

9th District

Six candidates are vying to replace Councilwoman Rita Walters in a district that historically has endured the city’s highest poverty rate, the lowest percentage of high school graduates and the second-highest percentage of overcrowded households.

The top contenders appear to be Assemblyman Carl Washington (D-Paramount), 36, Public Works Commissioner Woody Fleming, 54, and former Walters aide and census outreach manager Jan Perry, 45.

Washington, who must leave the Assembly next year because of term limits, says his top priority is removing guns from city streets to reduce crime.

The assemblyman promises to support proactive law enforcement and create gun exchange programs and other efforts with the help of business owners and religious organizations.

Perry promises to improve city services such as street paving, tree trimming and trash cleanup.

She also vows to create more affordable housing by working to restore abandoned homes and building mixed-use projects that include commercial space on the ground floor and low-income housing on the upper floors.

Fleming, also a former Walters aide, says crime is the district’s biggest issue. He promises to attack the problem, in part, by promoting job training programs for adults and child care centers and after-school programs to keep children off the streets.

He also says he will be a vocal advocate for community-based policing, and will promote better city services for senior citizens.

Also on the ballot are Ted Hayes Jr., 50, a homeless activist; Alexander Gomez, 55, a retired Los Angeles Police Department sergeant; and Pauline Clay, 55, a public relations specialist.

- HUGO MARTIN

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11th District

In this sprawling district, incumbent Councilwoman Cindy Miscikowski and challenger Arthur Mortell have found that many voters are more interested in neighborhood issues than in citywide problems.

Citywide issues such as police reform (each supports it) and expansion of the Sunshine Canyon landfill into Granada Hills (she’s for it, he isn’t) have been raised.

But plenty of residents in the district that includes Brentwood, Pacific Palisades and parts of Woodland Hills, Tarzana, Encino, Sherman Oaks and Van Nuys point to more personal quality-of-life issues as primary concerns.

Miscikowski, 52, of Brentwood previously worked as an aide to longtime 11th District Councilman Marvin Braude. She says she deserves reelection because she has worked to protect homeowners by creating neighborhood councils, acquiring open space in the Santa Monica Mountains and aggressively seeking things such as stop signs for residential intersections.

Mortell, 37, is a Pacific Palisades sales and management training consultant. He says the first-term councilwoman is out of touch with voters and too closely aligned with development interests.

Mortell--who plans to spend about $35,000 on his first-time campaign--points to her controversial support of the installation of speed bumps in Mandeville Canyon and the expansion of the Getty Villa museum in Pacific Palisades as examples of Miscikowski’s missteps.

Miscikowski scoffs at suggestions that she’s too cozy with developers and their lobbyists--many of whom have contributed to her well-financed ($186,765) reelection effort.

“He can’t point to a single project” where she has been influenced by campaign contributors or lobbyists, Miscikowski says of Mortell.

- BOB POOL

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13th District

This district, which includes parts of Hollywood, Echo Park and Silver Lake, is considered the most liberal in Los Angeles.

As a result, an eclectic group of people have joined the race, vowing to tackle such issues as affordable housing and police reform. The winner will succeed Jackie Goldberg, who was elected to the state Assembly in November.

The candidates include Mike Woo, an urban planner who represented most of the district during a stint on the City Council in the 1980s and early 1990s. Another recognizable name in the race is that of Eric Garcetti. The son of former Dist. Atty. Gil Garcetti, Eric Garcetti, 30, pledges to overhaul the Los Angeles Police Department and fight for more affordable housing.

Also urging police reform is Art Goldberg, the older brother of Jackie Goldberg. He is pushing for more after-school programs. Former Assemblyman Scott Wildman has vowed to secure more state money for the city, while Conrado Terrazas--Jackie Goldberg’s former district representative--is pushing to open the Belmont Learning Complex.

Other candidates include Bennett Kayser, a neighborhood activist who served on the city’s elected charter commission, city building department liaison Sandra Farrington-Domingue, and city librarian Wendy McPherson, who describes herself as “socialist feminist, lesbian activist.”

- TINA DAUNT

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15th District

Shaping this election is a secession drive in the waterfront communities of San Pedro and Wilmington. The effort has prompted the candidates to address the problems that have led to widespread dissatisfaction with City Hall.

The field includes Hector Cepeda, 33, of San Pedro, a former legislative aide and part-time dockworker. He says he wants to see the results of an ongoing study before making up his mind about secession. Meanwhile, Cepeda wants to reduce tensions between the Port of Los Angeles and neighboring waterfront communities.

Cepeda is up against Janice K. Hahn, 49, of San Pedro, the daughter of the late Supervisor Kenneth Hahn, whose career in municipal and county government spanned 45 years.

Hahn says she would support secession if the voters want it and studies show that it is feasible. She would also like to improve city planning and provide more city services to the district.

Reducing crime is the No. 1 issue for candidate Ken Hillman, 47, of San Pedro, a Los Angeles police lieutenant and police union leader. He also says he would support secession if voters want it.

Robert W. Nizich, 45, a San Pedro maritime attorney and restaurant owner, is endorsed by Mayor Richard Riordan. If the problems of the harbor area are solved, Nizich says, San Pedro and Wilmington won’t secede.

The last candidate is Frank O’Brien, 43, a San Pedro businessman who has led community organizations, local conservation groups and neighborhood associations. He is the strongest supporter of secession. He also wants to reduce the adverse impacts the port has had on surrounding neighborhoods.

- DAN WEIKEL