The Focus Narrows

Last week’s elections whittled a strong field of six candidates for the 7th District City Council seat to two--Corinne Sanchez and Alex Padilla. The winnowing allows voters to narrow their focus before the June 3 runoff.

Padilla nearly obtained the 50%-plus-one mark needed to win outright and garnered substantially more votes than Sanchez. That’s no guarantee he’ll do as well in June, of course.

At stake is the seat formerly held by Richard Alarcon, who was elected to the state Senate. The district includes the northeast San Fernando Valley communities of Arleta, Pacoima, Panorama City, Sun Valley and Sylmar, a swath of working-class areas that deserve more attention and services than they have received in recent years.

Sanchez and Padilla each spent more than $200,000 in their campaigns, record outlays that reflect the unfortunate cost of running for office in Los Angeles. Other good candidates in the race, such as former San Fernando Mayor Raul Godinez, simply could not match the deep pockets of the front-runners.

Padilla also benefited from nearly $60,000 spent by the county Federation of Labor and its political action committee on mailers and telephone banks. That expenditure, separate from Padilla’s campaign fund, exceeded what three of the candidates were able to spend on their own races.

The runoff undoubtedly will be expensive. But the candidates should not opt for mailers and phone calls instead of face-to-face debates. Properly staged and moderated, debates force those bidding for the public trust to face tough questions, instead of leveling unanswered attacks on foes and uttering platitudes.

Both Sanchez and Padilla need to be able to present their cases to voters clearly.

Sanchez, 52, is an attorney with decades of experience running a health clinic for the poor, El Proyecto del Barrio. She also knows her way through the political maze, which can be seen in her lengthy list of endorsements by politicians including Alarcon, Los Angeles County Supervisors Gloria Molina and Zev Yaroslavsky and City Councilwomen Laura Chick and Cindy Miscikowski.

Sanchez knows why 7th District voters often are fed up with City Hall--the basics just don’t get taken care of. Everything from tree trimming to catching wild dogs takes forever, if it gets done at all. Those fundamental services are owed to residents; it’s why they pay taxes.

Padilla, only 26 years old, obviously has less experience. He has been exposed to politics, though, working for U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and state Assemblyman Tony Cardenas (D-Sylmar). He has endorsements from Mayor Richard Riordan and City Councilman Richard Alatorre. Unfortunately, his entourage of high-priced political consultants gave his campaign the look of machine politics.

Whoever wins June 3 will have to work the levers of city government to deliver to 7th District residents the services they deserve, while working with colleagues on broader citywide issues. The Valley secession movement is a clear indicator that residents are fed up and want attention and assistance.