FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

KEY CALIFORNIA AND NEW YORK POLTICAL INFLUENCERS TACKLE ISSUES CREATED BY DEMOGRAPHIC TRANSFORMATION OF URBAN AMERICA
Center for The Study of Los Angeles at LMU Hosts Conference Identifying Key Lessons Drawn From The Recent Political Histories Of Los Angeles, New York, And Other Large Cities

April 15, 2004 - Key California and New York political influencers gathered at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles today to discuss the findings of a report produced by the Drum Major Institute for Public Policy on "People and Politics in America's Big Cities."

The results of the study, presented at the beginning of the "People and Politics in Los Angeles" conference hosted by LMU's Center for the Study of Los Angeles, indicated an unprecedented emerging demographic transformation in both New York City and Los Angeles. The report, which found that immigration is helping to produce a new racial and ethnic composition in metropolitan America, also analyzed the 2001 mayoral and city council elections in both urban cities, highlighting the troubling gaps in representation between the populations and elected officials. The results of the study sparked discussions about next steps on several different panels throughout the day.

Exploring how to create coalitions in a multi-cultural city, a panel including California Senator Richard Alarc�n, Calif. State Assembly Speaker Emeritus Robert Hertzberg, publisher and President of La Opinion Monica Lozano, and former LA city council member Michael Woo tackled some tough issues including communication, transportation, and racial politics.

Said Woo, "With 80 separate municipalities, Los Angeles is not very effective in dealing with regional issues. As one example - the future of LAX. In the absence of a regional vision, there is a breakdown in the system." Woo also went on to discuss other key issues such as transportation.

Alarc�n, one of the few that already has filed papers to run for Los Angeles mayor in 2005, said that he's running because he believes he can bring together all of the different constituencies in Los Angeles. "The City has missed the opportunity to engage all of the people in the community. Politicians alone can't make the community better. People have to make the community better."

Lozano, who told the crowd "all of us have a responsibility to help people come together," also was the first of the panel to discuss the 2001 mayoral race in terms of race. "The 2001 mayoral race had racist undertones," she stated. "It happened. Our obligation is to ensure it is not repeated in 2005."

The closing roundtable included L.A. city council member and former mayoral candidate Antonio Villaraigosa, president of the Drum Major Institute and former Bronx Borough President Fernando Ferrer, California Lt. Governor Cruz Bustamante, and Center for the Study of Los Angeles director Fernando Guerra as moderator.

Ferrer opened the panel by comparing the similarities and differences between his unsuccessful bid for mayor of New York City with Villaraigosa's run in Los Angeles.

"People do dumb things when they feel threatened," said Ferrer. "They do pull out the race card and the fear card. In my case, they played the fear card. The point of this conference is to examine the viability of multiracial, multiethnic coalitions, and to underscore the real need to create these coalitions in order to have successful cities in the future."

Villaraigosa opened his remarks by commenting, "First let me say that I don't believe I lost [the mayoral bid] because I was Latino. I'm not here to argue that race was the overriding issue in my case. I do believe, however, that right from the beginning that I was singled out as the Latino candidate for mayor. Steve Soberoff was the first Jewish candidate - why wasn't that put that in front of his name? Kathleen Connell was the first woman - why didn't they put that in front of her name? What putting "Latino" in front of my name did was say that I'm different."

Bustamante discussed the California recall, saying, "The recall was not reality."

The conference - which sought to facilitate a dialogue between elected, activist, academic and media leaders on urban issues - also identified key lessons drawn from the recent political histories of Los Angeles, New York, and other large cities.

Sponsored by The Center for The Study of Los Angeles at LMU, The Drum Major Institute, and Dr. John Mollenkopf of the Center for Urban Research at the City University of New York, the Los Angeles conference mirrored a successful New York conference exploring the same urban issues. Both conferences were based on a study commissioned by the Drum Major Institute entitled "People and Politics in America's Big Cities: Challenges to Urban Democracy," written by Mollenkopf in conjunction with John Logan of the Lewis Mumford Center for Comparative Urban and Regional Research.

"Cities that did not recognize and ameliorate the widening gap created by demographic change in the 1960s and 1970s paid a serious price. The urban riots of the 1960s and the subsequent racial polarization, white flight, and economic disinvestment took a heavy toll on cities like Detroit and Newark. Cities that collaborated to bridge this political gulf fared far better," said study author Mollenkopf. "Today's conference has been a critical investigation into the impact of the profound demographic transformation under way in New York and Los Angeles."

For a complete list of the day's events, a copy of the study, or other information, contact The Center for The Study of Los Angeles at Loyola Marymount University at 310.338.4565. Media may contact LMU's media relations office at 310.338.2389.

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