Padilla Confronts Chief Problem in Staff, Critics Say

As a 26-year-old newcomer to Los Angeles City Hall, City Councilman Alex Padilla has had some trouble finding his way through the bureaucratic maze.

But Padilla, who represents a northeast San Fernando Valley district, may find it will get even tougher.

Six months after he hired Juliette Martinez as his chief of staff, she has quit to pursue political fund-raising for Democratic Party candidates and causes.

Martinez, 37, had joined Padilla’s staff after serving as a fund-raiser for his campaign last summer. Like Padilla, Martinez had no direct experience working at City Hall.

Several knowledgeable insiders described Padilla’s office as one in disarray, and said Martinez’s lack of previous City Hall experience appears to have contributed to problems.

A few months ago Padilla was politically outmaneuvered and failed to get a federal jobs grant for Pacoima. The aid went to other areas of the city.

Then there was the embarrassing incident in October when lobbyist Ben Reznik, who had raised funds for Padilla’s campaign, stood up during a council meeting and shouted to Padilla that he had voted the wrong way on a planning project, after which Padilla changed his vote.

Padilla said Martinez did “a fine job” and has nobody in mind yet to replace her.

In an unusual arrangement, Padilla received council approval Tuesday to have Martinez serve as a contracting consultant to him for the next three months at a cost of $45,000.

By paying her as a consultant, Padilla hopes to get some help from Martinez while still allowing her to devote time to political fund-raising for other clients.

“He’s [Padilla] my priority,” Martinez said Wednesday, acknowledging she has not yet signed any other clients but hopes to do some work around the Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles next year.

“It’s an exciting thing professionally,” she said of the convention. “The councilman has been very supportive of this. I agreed to help him through the transition period while he looks for a new full-time person.”

Padilla said he has not ruled out the possibility that he may not replace Martinez.

But others said if there is one member of the City Council who needs a full-time chief of staff, it’s Padilla.

Padilla shrugs off those who suggest he may have more problems without a full-time chief of staff.

“I’m not concerned at all,” he said.

Others said Martinez’s departure gives Padilla a chance to bring in someone more knowledgeable about City Hall.

“He could really use someone who is more experienced with what happens here,” said the chief of staff for another council member.

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ALL ABOARD, OR LAST EXIT?: Every municipality in and around the San Fernando Valley has signed up to promote a new regional bureaucracy that would take over bus service from the Metropolitan Transit Authority--everyone, that is, except Los Angeles, the area’s 800-pound government gorilla.

Now Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky is badgering the big holdout to join the unified chorus for a Valley-only transit zone, saying its absence is “the only thing holding up progress” in the fight to dismantle the MTA.

Many local politicians, activists and business leaders believe the MTA is an out-of-control bureaucracy that is simply incapable of providing efficient, inexpensive bus service to the Valley. So in a campaign mirroring the city and school breakup drives, they are seeking to break away and form a new government of their own.

Burbank, Glendale, Calabasas, San Fernando and four other cities surrounding the Valley, along with the county, have agreed to form an interim joint powers authority for the plan. Joining the authority does not require the agencies to back the final plans for a transit zone, but does allow them all to speak together on a need for one. That could be critical as the group negotiates with the MTA over dividing money, buses and other details.

Yet despite its strong early involvement in the breakup issue, Los Angeles has been strangely reluctant to formally sign up with its neighbors, Yaroslavsky wrote in a letter to Mayor Richard Riordan and the seven council members who represent the Valley.

“Unfortunately, the only entity that has not yet joined the interim [joint powers authority] is the city of Los Angeles,” Yaroslavsky wrote. “It has been several months.”

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THE SPOILS: Padilla might be having trouble in the council, but his alliance with Mayor Richard Riordan continues to pay off. Riordan has appointed yet another Padilla friend, political consultant James Acevedo, to a city commission.

Acevedo, who worked on Padilla’s campaign, was named Wednesday to the city Fire Commission, the latest in a string of mayoral appointments of Padilla supporters to city panels. Riordan backed Padilla for election this year and has counted on the young councilman as an ally.

The new commissioner headed the group Neighborhood Empowerment and Economic Development (NEED) Inc. when it came under criticism a few years ago for delays in rehabilitating some apartment buildings on a city contract. At the time, some questioned whether NEED was getting city work without experience because of Acevedo’s political connections.

Padilla said he was glad to learn Wednesday that his recommendation of Acevedo’s appointment was taken to heart.

“I spoke well of him,” Padilla said. “I congratulate both Mr. Acevedo and the mayor on a good appointment.”

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PROMOTING WHAT?: When does public service cross the line from informing the public to self-promotion?

That is a question being asked about Councilman Joel Wachs’ decision to mail a glossy directory of city services to senior citizens--not only in his district, but throughout Los Angeles.

The booklet, titled “Putting People First,” prominently features Wachs’ name next to a city seal on the cover.

What has people talking at City Hall is that the booklet was mailed just a few months after Wachs announced his candidacy for mayor in the 2001 election.

Could one be related to the other?

Wachs insists not, saying he has a tradition going back years of sending out guidebooks for senior citizens.

“We do this about every four years,” said Greg Nelson, a spokesman for Wachs.

Nelson said the booklet was vetted by City Atty. James Hahn’s office to make sure it complied with rules limiting mailers to only one reference to the sponsoring city official.

Nearly 200,000 of the booklets were mailed at a cost to the city of about $50,000, Nelson said.

The practice of elected officials using city funds to send out mailers seen as self-promoting is not new.

But Bill Carrick, a political consultant for Hahn, another mayoral candidate, said the practice may backfire.

“It just raises more questions,” Carrick said. “People who know who is running for mayor will say, ‘Why is he sending this out at taxpayers’ expense?’ ” Carrick predicted. “They won’t like it.”