In 14th District, It’s All About Pothole Politics

The contest between City Councilman Nick Pacheco and former mayoral candidate Antonio Villaraigosa for the 14th District seat got off to a noisy and negative start last fall, when residents received two mailers from a Pacheco friend attacking Villaraigosa’s character.

Since then, however, the closely watched campaign has largely settled into a debate on the traditional themes of local politics: potholes, public safety and blight.

The race is still marked by occasional outbursts of heated rhetoric and charges of inappropriate behavior, including an accusation last week that the councilman funneled public money into a campaign on his behalf.

But for many residents of the Eastside district, which stretches from the hills of Eagle Rock north of downtown to the flatlands of Boyle Heights, the March 4 election has come down to one question: Who will prove the most adept at delivering for the community?

“It’s difficult, because we have someone ... who we all like and who’s helped us on issues before,” Denise Weinstock, a stockbroker who lives in Mount Washington, said of Villaraigosa. “We also now have a council member who seems to be willing to help with local issues. It makes it not quite so easy.”

The showdown has attracted the involvement of some of the city’s political heavyweights, who are anxiously awaiting the results of the race. Mayor James K. Hahn and Council President Alex Padilla have been out knocking on doors for Pacheco, while most of organized labor has thrown its support behind Villaraigosa, pouring more than $158,000 in independent expenditures into the race.

Villaraigosa, the former Assembly speaker who lost to Hahn in the 2001 mayoral race, said he will bring a new energy and breadth to the job. A third candidate, former Olympian and boxer Paul Gonzales, who is financially outmatched by his opponents, argues that he is most rooted in the community.

The incumbent councilman, meanwhile, said that he has been doing the job well and does not need to be replaced.

“They can promise voters whatever they feel they need to promise to get elected,” Pacheco said Sunday afternoon as he knocked on doors in Boyle Heights. “But I have a proven record.”

He points to a $44-million federal grant he secured for youth programs in Los Angeles, half of which will go to Boyle Heights, where the city is building a new education and technology center. He cites his efforts to fund the city attorney’s new neighborhood prosecutor program during a time of tight municipal finances. Streets have been paved and parks have been upgraded during his tenure, Pacheco said.

“Slowly, but surely, we’ve actually made some differences,” he said.

On a recent evening, he visited with a dozen Cypress Park neighbors and promised to put in a new street light to illuminate their dark hillside road. John Edwards, a resident who publishes a local community newspaper, said that since the neighborhood became part of the 14th District in last year’s redistricting, he has seen a marked improvement.

“It’s about basic services,” said Edwards, who is backing Pacheco. “Villaraigosa has a big name, and I’ve always liked him, but the one thing I’ve noticed is ... if I phone the councilman, I get a phone call back the same day. I’ve never had that. That matters a lot.”

Still, a lot of needs remain. As some of Los Angeles’ oldest communities, the neighborhoods of the 14th District are plagued with broken sidewalks and run-down buildings. Residents complain that they have to go to Pasadena and Glendale to shop because of the dearth of stores along commercial corridors. Gangs prowl the streets of Highland Park, Cypress Park and Boyle Heights in the southern part of the district.

In Ramona Gardens, one of the five housing projects in the 14th, the peach-colored block buildings are scarred with graffiti. Roosters peck at the dirt, while feral cats dart beneath cars. When the trash cans overflow, residents say teenagers light the garbage on fire. Some call it “el lugar de los olvidados” -- the place of the forgotten.

When Villaraigosa knocked on doors there on a recent afternoon, wary residents stood in the shadow of their doorways and whispered their fears of the local gang members.

Yeset Felix, 21, broke into sobs.

“I just hate living here,” she said as tears rolled down her face. Her younger brothers get robbed on their way home from school, Felix said, and she’s scared to go outside.

“I’m sorry,” Villaraigosa said quietly. “It’s tough, isn’t it?

“Look, I’m not going to tell you, if people vote for me, we’re going to change poverty overnight,” he added. “But I’ll tell you something: This community is going to get respect, and you’re going to see somebody who is going to fight for this community and say, ‘They deserve to have a clean neighborhood and a safe neighborhood.’ ”

Villaraigosa said he will expand the neighborhood prosecutor program by bringing in county and federal agencies to suppress gang crime, and reform the current deployment of Los Angeles police officers to get more patrols in the neighborhood. The former assemblyman wants to create a zero-tolerance graffiti program, generate economic development along the district’s commercial corridors and embark on a campaign to preserve and reuse the area’s historic buildings.

Villaraigosa, who helped pass major school and parks bonds and expand health insurance for the working poor during his stint in the state Legislature, said he also wants to tackle citywide issues like economic development and blight.

“While you’ll see a focus on the micro issues, you’ll also see a focus on the macro challenges as well, and an ability to build consensus around finding solutions,” Villaraigosa said.

Joanne Turner, president of the Eagle Rock Assn. (TERA), said she is backing the former Assembly speaker because she believes he has a more ambitious vision of what can be done as a councilman.

“I just think we really need somebody in there who can bring consensus and who is willing to sit down and head off problems before they become huge,” she said.

The race got off to a bitter start in November, when Pacheco friend Ricardo Torres sent residents mailers accusing Villaraigosa of marital infidelities and turning his back on Latinos. The councilman denied any involvement with the tactic.

Last week, Villaraigosa’s campaign accused Pacheco of channeling public money through a prominent nonprofit group into a campaign on his behalf. The councilman and the organizations denied the charges, which sparked an inquiry by the district attorney’s office.

Most analysts predict that the race will go to a May runoff because of the presence of Gonzales, a former boxer who won a gold medal in the 1984 Olympics. He runs a program at the Hollenbeck Youth Center and served as a commissioner on a city youth panel.

Gonzales contends that his lack of elected experience makes him most connected to the needs of the district. He said he would focus on bringing new businesses and recreational activities to the area.

“My two opponents are good politicians,” Gonzales said at a forum in Highland Park on Friday night. “They speak really good. And that’s great. The thing is, I’m about the community.”