POLITICS - This next week could bring a number of announcements regarding future political ambitions of a number of Valley officials.
First among these is Assemblyman Felipe Fuentes, D-Van Nuys, who quietly filed papers last Friday to begin fundraising for the seat now held by Councilman Richard Alarcón, who is termed out in 2013. Fuentes was a deputy to former Councilman Alex Padilla before winning his Assembly seat.
In the meantime Padilla, now a state senator, is said to be looking at the Board of Supervisors seat being vacated by Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky due to term limits.
Also expected soon is the announcement that Andrea Alarcón, the daughter of the councilman and a public works commissioner, will run for City Council.
Neighborhood council leaders are up in arms over plans to delay formal elections for at least two years.
"No one signed up for all these years of service," said Jill Barad, co-founder of the Valley Alliance of Neighborhood Councils. "People agreed to contribute a couple of years, but this is asking a lot."
The City Council, in a budget-saving action, decided against providing any funding for neighborhood council elections this year. City Clerk June Lagmay said her staff will be too busy with city elections in 2013 to conduct any neighborhood council elections that year.
B.H. Kim, general manager of the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment, said he is trying to resolve the issue.
"There is a lot of discontent out there," Kim said. "What we are trying to promote is a town hall concept where they hold their elections.
Lagmay's office is holding meetings around the city with neighborhood councils to figure out a solution.
The Studio City Residents Association is the first out of the block for 2013.
The organization held its first meeting with a 2013 mayoral candidate last week when its members grilled Councilwoman Jan Perry on why she wants the job.
"It was a good meeting," Perry said. "They are very focused and organized and let you know when they are upset."
Perry said the top issues were the proposed AEG football stadium and the Department of Water and Power.
SCRA President Alan Dymond said they hope to interview all the candidates who qualify for the ballot over the next year to deal with issues of importance to them, including development of the Los Angeles River and the Universal City expansion.
"There are so many candidates out there, we wanted to get an early start," Dymond said. (The rest of Rick Orlov here)
(Rick Orlov covers City Hall for the dailynews.com. His Tipoff column appears Mondays. For a daily political fix, go to the Sausage Factory at insidesocal.com/politics. You can contact him at [email protected] ) –cw
Tags: politics, Valley, Felipe Fuentes, Richard Alarcon, Alex Padilla, Zev Yaroslavsky, Andrea Alarcon, City Council, neighborhood councils, Jill Barad, Valley Alliance, BANC, June Lagmay, City Clerk, BH Kim, Department of Neighborhood Empowerment, Studio City, Jan Perry
CityWatch
Vol 9 Issue 75
Pub: Sept 16, 2011
