Youth Serves Candidate Well as He Mobilizes Under-30 Crowd

As the results of the election to decide the northeast Valley’s next City Council representative began to trickle in, Alex Padilla loyalists were abuzz with youthful excitement.

And that should not have been too surprising--not just because Padilla was trouncing his competition, besting Corinne Sanchez by a nearly 2-to-1 margin en route to a June runoff election.

Like Padilla, a 26-year-old legislative aide, most of the 200 or so people attending the postelection fete were under 30--a far cry from the usual crowd of grizzled political veterans and assorted mercenaries one sees at such events.

In a district where such old-fashioned campaign tactics as door-to-door pitches can still tilt the balance, Padilla’s handlers clearly understood the advantage they had: fresh legs.

His young volunteers understood as well, and they reveled in the knowledge they had probably made a major mark on a key political race. Some came from as far away as Oakland and Orange County to lend a hand on election day, part of a group several hundred strong that hit the pavement for Padilla.

“We saw Alex as giving us a chance to get involved,” said Miriam Maldonado, 18, of Santa Ana, eating Mexican food and listening to mariachi music after a long day of walking in Pacoima.

Padilla, himself a veteran of numerous precinct walks, could not hold back his emotions when addressing the crowd, saying he knew what they had endured for him.

“I’ve been in these people’s shoes, when you’re tired, but you gotta keep walking, when the dogs are chasing you, but you gotta keep walking,” Padilla said to chuckles of recognition from the crowd. “And I am humbled that you would do that for me.

“I’ve been accused of being a little bit too young to run for office,” he added to mock surprise from the audience. “Well, I invite those people to come and see who is behind my campaign. It’s young people, who see a brighter future for the northeast San Fernando Valley.”

Although she didn’t hesitate to slam Padilla for his age during the campaign, Sanchez too understood the importance of youth in politics.

Her handlers also utilized hordes of volunteers on election day, young people such as Daniel Isaiah Medress, a Hampshire College graduate who grew up in New Jersey and considers himself a political junkie.

“This is completely addictive,” he said, sipping a beer at Sanchez’s postelection party. “Everything can change just like that. You just never know what’s going to happen.”

As state Sen. Richard Alarcon (D-Sylmar)--who has endorsed Sanchez in the race to succeed him on the council--watched the returns, he exhorted those who hung out for the later numbers to prepare for a fight in the next eight weeks until the June election.

“We need to commit two times harder, three times harder, to commit to support her,” he told the weary young volunteers.

In Sylmar, Assemblyman Tony Cardenas (D-Sylmar) was doing the same for Padilla, careful to point out to the largely Latino, young audience that their actions represented a sea change in Los Angeles politics.

Discussing the social progress made by new generations of Latinos, Cardenas spoke of his father’s days as a campesino, or farm worker, and noted that the young people in the room had opportunities his parents never had to take their rightful place in society through politics.

“Instead of spending 14 hours a day harvesting fruits and vegetables,” he said, “the young people in this room today spent 14 days harvesting votes in this community.”

Many said they planned to spend much longer than that.

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BRING YOUR OWN: Most politicians have to kiss other people’s babies. State Sen. Adam Schiff brings his own.

At a recent news conference to announce his candidacy for the congressional seat held by Rep. James Rogan (R-Glendale), Schiff, a Burbank Democrat, posed repeatedly with his wife, Eve, and their 9-month-old daughter, Alexa Marion.

Alexa stole the show as she squirmed about on her mother’s lap in her bright red “pooka bear” suit, as Schiff called it.

“I like to have her with me whenever I can,” Schiff said. “She’s 9 months old, and she’s pure angel.”

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THE EARLY BIRDS: City Councilman Mike Feuer could be seen as the political equivalent of the “Star Wars” fans who have already lined up to see the prequel, six weeks before the film is set to open.

Feuer, whose council district includes parts of the south San Fernando Valley, has staked his place in line for the next race for city attorney, even though that election is not until 2001.

Earlier this week, Feuer became the first candidate to file a declaration of intention to raise money for the city attorney’s race.

Why so early?

Feuer and his longtime political consultant Larry Levine are refusing to comment on the filing, which was done quietly with the city Ethics Commission on Monday.

While not willing to discuss specifics, Levine said there are many reasons why any candidate might take the step.

“If a candidate wanted to get out in front of the crowd and start fund-raising, he would have to file,” Levine said.

Feuer has been seeking endorsements for the race for months.

Still, some are shaking their heads.

“It’s way too early. The election is so darn far away,” said one source close to Assemblyman Bob Hertzberg (D-Sherman Oaks), another potential contender for the city attorney’s office.

Feuer isn’t the only one staking out an early place in line for a 2001 election.

City Atty. James Hahn also filed papers Monday to begin fund-raising for the mayor’s race that year.

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WHAT PRICE BREAKUP? Valley secessionists can sleep easy again with the knowledge that their quest to split up Los Angeles won’t wreck them financially.

After expressing fears that individual secessionists could lose their worldly belongings in courtroom tussles stemming from the proposed municipal divorce, the group behind the breakup movement on Wednesday formally filed an application to secede.

But Valley VOTE did so only after the Local Agency Formation Commission, which oversees the breakup process, agreed to change language on the document ensuring that the applicants are not personally liable to defend and indemnify the panel.

Instead of the four people whose names are on the dotted line, it will be a nonprofit entity created by the secession group, Valley Study Foundation Inc., that will be responsible for any such legal repercussions from the process.

Lawyers for Valley VOTE and LAFCO negotiated the change after secession leaders said people were scared to sign the application, a necessary step before a study of the breakup can occur.

Although most LAFCO members agreed that such a legal hurdle was probably unfair to the secessionists, they expressed concerns that Valley Study Foundation could be an empty shell and warned Valley VOTE that a lack of funds by the foundation could stop the secession process cold.

“When the applicant foundation has no money--it’s broke--and we still have work to do, we’re going to stop, do you understand?” asked Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, a LAFCO panelist.

Valley VOTE leaders said they understood. The source of cash to conduct the unprecedented secession study, which is expected to run several million dollars, is still up in the air. But city, county and state politicians are working on a plan to share the burden--with secessionists paying a portion as well.

Valley VOTE President Jeff Brain, who signed the bare-bones application, said the Valley Study Foundation would raise some money for the study but expected the CIVIC Foundation, a sister group headed by Valley businessmen Bert Boeckmann and David Fleming, to do the heavy lifting.

“There’s a problem here,” Brain said. “There’s a gap. They [LAFCO] are bound to do this study, but they don’t have the funding to do it, and we don’t feel we should have to pay all of it ourselves.”

Councilman Hal Bernson, also a LAFCO panelist, believes he knows where the study cost issue is headed, even if individual secessionists are now assured they won’t be paying the legal bills: court.

“A judge will decide this,” he said.