When voters in Los Angeles loosened term limits for the City Council last November, many political observers wondered how long it would take for a former municipal officeholder to try for his or her old job.
The answer came less than a week later when Richard Alarcon announced that he intended to return to his former post representing the 7th Council District in the northeast San Fernando Valley.
Never mind that Alarcon, after two terms in the state Senate, had just been elected to the Assembly.
Alarcon and three other candidates are vying for the seat vacated by Alex Padilla, who was elected to the state Senate last year, replacing the termed-out Alarcon.
Attempting to keep now-Assemblyman Alarcon from returning to City Hall are Monica Rodriguez, a housing opportunity manager for the California Assn. of Realtors; Oscar Mendoza, the owner of a roofing firm; and Margie Carranza, a retired administrative assistant.
The winner of the special election will fill the rest of Padilla's term, which expires in mid-2009. If Rodriguez, Mendoza and Carranza can prevent Alarcon, widely seen as the favorite, from getting a majority in the March 6 election, the outcome will be decided in a May runoff.
Alarcon has built a big fundraising lead and has name recognition from his 14 years in public office.
He also has the support of Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. But Rodriguez and Mendoza have raised enough money to mount substantial campaigns.
Rodriguez, for example, recently sent campaign mailers to voters with an image of Alarcon's head pasted on a photo of a frog. The accompanying headline reads: "Don't be Alarconned," a pointed reference to Alarcon's leapfrogging from job to job over the years.
The 7th District includes the communities of Lake View Terrace, Mission Hills, North Hills and Sylmar, as well as parts of Pacoima and Panorama City. It is home to Hansen Dam, sprawling industrial tracts along San Fernando Road and horse country in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains.
Alarcon said he's running because he interpreted the term-limit vote in Los Angeles to mean that voters wanted more experienced elected officials.
"I think it would be wrong not to offer them that opportunity," Alarcon said. "It's clear that my opponents are using the classic buzzwords" about being a career politician "but that's because they don't have anything else to offer in terms of substantive service."
