Vacancy In Last Race Drew Wide Field
The Daily News of Los Angeles
April 26, 2004
At this point in the race for Los Angeles mayor four years ago, there already were nearly a dozen announced candidates and the first in a dizzying series of candidate forums had been held.
"I think I was in 55 candidate forums - and that was just for the primary election," City Councilman Antonio Villaraigosa recalled last week. "And, I didn't make all of them. I'm not sure anyone did."
The election of 2001 stands in stark contrast to the current race, in which incumbent James Hahn is so far facing challenges from only three serious candidates: Councilman Bernard Parks, state Sen. Richard Alarcon, D-Van Nuys, and former Assembly Speaker Bob Hertzberg.
Four years ago, the field included Villaraigosa, Councilman Joel Wachs, state Controller Kathleen Connell, Rep. Xavier Becerra and businessman Steve Soboroff, who were vying to succeed Mayor Richard Riordan, who was forced from office because of term limits.
There were strong political forces at work at the time.
"It was more than just having an open seat," Villaraigosa said. "The debate going on was intense. The whole idea of secession and neighborhood councils. There was this sense of optimism that the next mayor would be changing things."
Fernando Guerra of the Center for the Study of Los Angeles at Loyola Marymount said he also believes a lot of energy was used in that election as well as the recent politics of the gubernatorial recall.
"On the heels of secession and the recall and the presidential election going on now, it has kind of sucked the air out of local political interest," Guerra said.
"That will change after November, when the presidential election is over. But I don't know how much energy voters will have left."
Richard Close of the Sherman Oaks Homeowners Association and a leader of the San Fernando Valley secession movement, agreed that the open mayor's seat in 2001 helped spur the political debate.
"Anytime you have a vacancy, there's going to be a lot of public attention," Close said. "We don't have a vacancy in this year's election, but all the controversy is starting to draw more candidates."
The controversy surrounds federal and county grand juries that are investigating contracting procedures at the city departments of Airports, Harbor and Water and Power.
Triggered by an audit from Controller Laura Chick, the inquiries are into whether there is a "pay-to-play" system where firms seeking city business must make political contributions.
"I think you will start to see a real campaign get under way now that we have more candidates," Close said.