Richard Alatorre
The former city councilman handicaps the vote in the 14th District, and explains why Eagle Rock is t
Los Angeles's 14th City Council District, a chunk of East L.A. turf that includes neighborhoods from Highland Park to Boyle Heights to Eagle Rock, is the hothouse of Latino politics in the city. Or is it the fighting pit? Past representatives from the strongly Latino and Democratic district include the late, legendary Congressman Edward Roybal (when it was the 9th District), current L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, returning candidate Nick Pacheco, and another Latino powerbroker, Richard Alatorre.
Alatorre knows only too well how nasty the pit can be, having essentially given up his seat in 1998 after big news stories about how he took money and gifts from a developer and, almost worse, his alleged drug habits. But, after several quiet years, he resurfaced at Villaraigosa's victory celebration this summer and is working again, consulting, moving a bit behind the lines. He laughs when he says, "None of the candidates have come to my house," which is in the heart of Eagle Rock, but the race is once again a Latino showdown testing the coattails of Villaraigosa's high-profile mayoralty.
-Dean Kuipers
CityBeat: Are you supporting anyone in the race for District 14?
Richard Alatorre: Look, I do business, so I try to stay out of contested elections.
What do you think are the defining issues in this race?
It's not going to be decided on one defining issue, as it's going to be decided on who makes the least mistakes, who has the best ability to communicate. You're going to find that they probably see eye-to-eye on most issues. It gets down to ... what percentage of the people in the district go out to vote? And that means: What is organized labor going to do to get their constituents out? This is not fire-and-brimstone campaigning. They've had their debates, and one of the candidates wasn't very familiar with the issues and he stepped on his own feet, initially.
Which one?
José Huizar had a hard time getting off the ground. But after you do a few debates, you figure out what the issues are. He's obviously much better prepared now than he was initially. Probably was the first time he ever debated, because he's never had a real campaign. Nick Pacheco obviously has had a campaign, and so he's more adept in terms of the issues. He could identify and personalize issues depending on the community. Now it's just back and forth. One will talk about "I really have a formula to change education." Okay, fine, you've got a formula, the other one has a different one, and everybody's for jobs, everybody's against the same ballot initiatives, everybody's for neighborhood councils. But those are not the defining issues. It's going to get down to who has the best campaign. Certainly, the resources that José Huizar has are greater than what Nick has.
Does that give him the best campaign?
Did I say that? I said he has the most resources. That doesn't necessarily define that he has a better campaign. I mean, to be honest with you, nobody's come to my house, that's No. 1. I have received probably three mailers more from José Huizar than I have from Nick Pacheco. Were any of them particularly telling? No. He's wrapped himself around the mayor. But I really think it gets down to who can put the bodies out. And certainly, José has a much [better chance] - because of the breadth of his support - to put together more numbers.
Has organized labor been out in force?
No, they haven't. I think they're so worried about their own thing. A lot of those unions have been involved in [fighting] Proposition 75 or 76 or one of those. Eventually it's all going to come together. Come Tuesday, you will have one week left, and that's when the emphasis is going to be put [on street action] in preparation for get out the vote. The hits will start this week. I'm sure that both campaigns will hit one another on things. They've used everything they can on Nick that's humanly possible, so now it's a question of whether they're going to have anything on José Huizar.
Do you think Pacheco is still vulnerable for all the stuff that's come out by now?
It's all kind of old. All you're gonna do is rehash. No, I don't think it's going to work. What's going to be interesting is if they have anything on José Huizar, because that's a new revelation.
Is there anything to attack?
He has four years as a member of the school board. I could come up with great mailers to attack him; all you do is attack him on the lack of success of kids. How many of the schools that have been targeted by the state and are about ready to be taken over are in the 14th? There's enough of them, so you just hammer him on that. I'm sure that Nick is not going to tip his hand early, but if they're going to do it, they're going to do it this week. Negative campaigning, as repulsive as it is, unfortunately has always worked.
Why did so many people abandon Nick for José this time around?
Because of the mayor. And then José is kind of like an elected official, he's young and a new face.
Huizar has done more to identify with Villaraigosa?
Oh, he has to. Antonio's one of the most popular figures there is in Los Angeles, no doubt about it. But I know this district: With identifying, you have your positives, and you have your negatives. Because, remember: People voted for [Villaraigosa] - it was in this district and with Hispanics - because he was who he was. But there are critics that feel betrayed that he was more interested in running for mayor. All in all, I'd rather have his endorsement than not have his endorsement. Now, there is a percentage of people that are going to vote for Nick regardless. They showed it against the most formidable elected official there is [Villaraigosa]. Antonio beat him, of course, but he got a percentage of the vote. There is a hardcore group that are going to stay with him in this election. But any smart better is betting on Huizar. He's got all the endorsements, he's leading in money two to one.
You've got two Latinos up, so will that decide it?
And then you have the other voters, which is really the balance of power. Do you know where the real votes are at? The real votes are where I live, in Eagle Rock.
What's the demographic there?
From the time I represented it, say, five years ago, to today? It's changed drastically. Property values have skyrocketed. It's younger, a lot of behind-the-camera people from Glendale, Burbank, and everything else. Young people that are starting a family. You have a high concentration of Filipinos that have moved in, you have Hispanics that live here, and you have Anglos that live here. Maybe the last three or four years you've seen a greater influx of Anglos moving in. When I represented it, up until maybe the last four years, it was a very stable Anglo community that was marginally Democratic, but conservative on economic issues. Very pro-law enforcement and everything else. Today, that is getting younger and much more sophisticated. So who's going to resonate with them? Nick lives here, so maybe he has the best chance, but José has a perfect image.
José opened up a campaign headquarters close by to my house, and Nick is in Highland Park, so they both recognize it. The real issue is: Is it going to end in a week? [That depends on] who gets the undecided. If they all swing towards José, then José could end it in November. But if it doesn't, then it's wide open again, because then you're going to see everybody covering their rear ends.
Published: 11/02/2005
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