Jose Huizar

The acrimonious race between Los Angeles City Councilman Jose Huizar and onetime friend Rudy Martinez took an unusual turn Monday when the challenger said federal agents had questioned him about some of Huizar's private business dealings. Martinez said FBI agents interviewed him roughly six months ago about various issues, including repairs that he arranged for Huizar in 2006 and 2007 at a rental house owned by the councilman and his wife. FOR THE RECORD: An earlier version of this article incorrectly said former Los Angeles City Councilman Richard Alatorre resigned in 1999 after prosecutors conducted an investigation into roof repairs at his home.

A plan to redraw Los Angeles City Council districts has won approval from a special redistricting commission, with panel members disparaging the five-month public process as ugly, dysfunctional and sad. Even some who serve on the Los Angeles Redistricting Commission and backed the changes sounded ashamed of the final product, which passed on a 16 to 5 vote after an eight-hour hearing that ended minutes before midnight Wednesday. Commissioner Jose Cornejo, who may run for City Council in one of the districts he helped create, called the proposed district lines — and the process used to create them — "ugly.

Los Angeles City Councilman Jose Huizar sent an e-mail to his reelection supporters Tuesday defending his office's use of lists that graded civic leaders numerically on their level of support for him. One day after The Times reported on the lists, which assessed police officers, church pastors, high school cheer squad advisors and others within his district, Huizar said the practice was done by a "former staff member" and simply helped him...

A month ago, attorney Roberto Saldaña looked like a shoo-in to run the Historic Downtown Los Angeles Business Improvement District, a little-known group of property owners that pays extra taxes for such services as having sidewalks cleaned and litter picked up. The group's board of directors voted unanimously to make Saldaña, 34, its executive director. Its chairman, Boris Mayzels, described Saldaña as "by far the most qualified" for the job. Not long after they made their decision, however, Councilman Jose Huizar got involved, board members and business leaders said.

With three days to go before election day, the two leading candidates for the Los Angeles City Council's 14th District sprinted across the Eastside on Saturday trying to shore up their bases of support. Jose Huizar and Nick Pacheco, both attorneys, have emerged as the leading contenders among the 10 candidates vying to represent the district, which stretches from Boyle Heights to Eagle Rock.

Los Angeles Board of Education President Jose Huizar has raised more than $330,000 for his reelection, much of it from construction-related companies and individuals involved in the school district's massive school building program. Huizar, who spent about $194,000 on his first election in 2001, is running unopposed next month, as are two other school board members.

The Eagle Rock businessman seeking to unseat Los Angeles City Councilman Jose Huizar abruptly quit his post as a reserve police officer five years ago after investigators found he had a police badge ? one issued to an officer who died in the line of duty. Rudy Martinez, then serving as a volunteer at the Los Angeles Police Department, "refused to cooperate" with investigators and quickly resigned after he was asked about the badge, which was found by the employee of a towing company in 2004, according to a police report.

Jose Huizar has received the endorsement of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor in his bid to win the 14th District seat on the Los Angeles City Council. A member of the board of the Los Angeles Unified School District, Huizar has backed dozens of school-construction projects. He also has been endorsed by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.

Nick Pacheco and Jose Huizar are among the contenders for the 14th Council District seat who plan to attend a candidates' forum in Boyle Heights this evening, organizer Ralph Carmona said. The Eastside council district was vacated by Antonio Villaraigosa, who took office as mayor July 1. Voters will choose a successor Nov. 8. The forum takes place at 5:30 p.m. at Roosevelt High School.

Jose Huizar and Herb Wesson were sworn in Tuesday as members of the City Council. The council is now back to its full 15 members for the first time since July 1, when Antonio Villaraigosa became mayor and Martin Ludlow resigned to head the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor. Huizar, a former member of the L.A. Board of Education, represents the city's 14th District, which includes Boyle Heights, El Sereno, Mount Washington, Highland Park and Eagle Rock.

Los Angeles City Councilman Jose Huizar came out Thursday against a $2-billion proposal to raze nearly 1,200 apartments in Boyle Heights and replace them with shops, offices and new homes — some of them in high-rises as tall as 24 stories. Appearing with tenant activists and historic preservationists, Huizar said he would fight efforts by Miami-based Fifteen Group to demolish the Wyvernwood apartments, which house an estimated 6,000 residents in 153 buildings. Fifteen Group is preparing an environmental impact report on its project, which would cover the 70-acre campus with 4,400 apartments and condominiums.

Los Angeles City Council members have two interrelated but separate jobs: They are supposed to take care of their districts, improving their constituents' quality of life by marshaling city services, attracting jobs and business, and keeping everyone in the loop; and they are supposed to look out for the entire city by making the policy and budget decisions to keep Los Angeles working. On Tuesday, voters elected at least five incumbents and a virtual incumbent ? Mitch Englander was departing Councilman Greig Smith's chief of staff ?

Six members of the Los Angeles City Council were pulling ahead of their challengers in Tuesday's election, despite a year in which council members struggled to get a handle on a sweeping budget crisis. Nine of 10 ballot measures were sailing to victory, including one to trim pension benefits for newly hired police and firefighters and another that would allocate more money for libraries that were cut back in the wake of fiscal woes. Voters approved a tax on medical marijuana.

The nastiest race in the March 8 Los Angeles election boils down to one question, and it has nothing to do with the budget crisis, tax hikes or who is the better candidate. Even those who have closely watched the negative campaign between City Councilman Jose Huizar and his opponent, businessman Rudy Martinez, want to know: What made two friends become such mortal enemies? Martinez and Huizar have spent three months attacking each other in an Eastside district that takes in Boyle Heights, El Sereno and Eagle Rock, bringing up inquiries by the LAPD, the Los Angeles County district attorney and the FBI as they attempt to demolish each other's reputations.

When The Times endorsed Rudy Martinez in the contentious 14th Council District election and I followed up with a column about Martinez a few days later, a consultant for incumbent Councilman Jose Huizar chewed on my ear. It was only fair, he argued, that if I spent a day with Martinez, I should do the same with Huizar. Given that the 14th is one of L.A.'s most interesting districts and the race there has been the most heated in the spring council election, I agreed. Then something ominous happened: The two candidates, appearing at a forum on Feb. 8, promised to lay off negative campaigning.

Ray Regalado has watched the bitter political contest between Los Angeles City Councilman Jose Huizar and businessman Rudy Martinez with disappointment, but not surprise. "It's a dirty race," said Regalado, 58, a physical therapist from El Sereno. "But it's what you come to expect in the 14th District. " The district straddles a diverse swath of the Eastside that includes the bustling streets of Boyle Heights, the laid-back cafes of Eagle Rock and the pricey hillside homes of Mount Washington.

Re "Schools violate junk food ban," May 9 I can almost bet that out of the 70 schools that were tracked down selling junk food by illegal vendors, most were in Boyle Heights. Residents of Boyle Heights have been fighting this issue since the mayor was a councilman and also with our current councilman, Jose Huizar. Check out any school in Boyle Heights and you will find vendors selling all around these schools. How do we get fix this issue if people keep buying from them? Our complaints have fallen on deaf ears at City Council for a long time.

LOS ANGELES Members of the Los Angeles school board reelected Jose Huizar as board president Thursday at their annual meeting. Huizar, an attorney, represents District 2, which includes downtown Los Angeles, Boyle Heights, Lincoln Heights, Pico-Union and Chinatown. He is in his fourth year as a board member. Before the unanimous vote, board member Julie Korenstein told Huizar that he had held the board together "through an extraordinarily difficult school year."

The Los Angeles City Council's 14th District takes in Eagle Rock, Highland Park, Mount Washington, El Sereno and a chunk of central Los Angeles, and it historically has featured some of the city's most fervid politics. It's where Richard Alatorre once held office, where Antonio Villaraigosa knocked off Nick Pacheco in 2003 and where Jose Huizar thwarted Pacheco's attempted comeback when Villaraigosa went on to be mayor. This year, for the second time in recent memory, it is supplying that great rarity: a credible challenge to a council incumbent.

The Eagle Rock businessman seeking to unseat Los Angeles City Councilman Jose Huizar abruptly quit his post as a reserve police officer five years ago after investigators found he had a police badge ? one issued to an officer who died in the line of duty. Rudy Martinez, then serving as a volunteer at the Los Angeles Police Department, "refused to cooperate" with investigators and quickly resigned after he was asked about the badge, which was found by the employee of a towing company in 2004, according to a police report.