Candidate for
State Senator; District 20

Born and raised in the San Fernando Valley, Alex Padilla was elected to the Los Angeles City Council in June 1999 and has worked effectively to make the Valley a stronger and safer community. He has expanded after school programs, created quality jobs, and made our neighborhoods safer with increased police and fire resources.

A proud graduate of the Los Angeles Unified School District, Alex Padilla has a first-hand understanding of the value of a quality public education. His education priorities include providing students with up-to-date text books and ensuring that every student can read at grade level by third grade, providing teachers with the support and resources they need to do their job, and providing parents with the information they need to help their children succeed academically.

Under Alex's leadership, the nationally-recognized LA's BEST after school program expanded to serve 16 schools in his council district. He worked with the LAUSD School Construction Team to site and construct new schools for the Valley, relieving overcrowded schools and reducing class sizes in the process. He fought to build new, state of the art libraries in his council district. The Lake View Terrace Branch was a first for that community and was recently honored by the U.S. Green Building Council with the Platinum Level LEED Award. He also led the effort to site the new Children's Museum of Los Angeles in the Valley which will also be built in an environmentally sustainable manner and emphasize environmental awareness and education for children and families.

Alex Padilla has worked to recruit and retain jobs in the Valley and to fund job training programs. He played a key role in bringing much needed housing and retail developments to his district, including a Wells Fargo Bank Branch to Pacoima, only the second bank branch to serve that community. Alex worked with the North Hills community to develop the Paseo Sepulveda shopping center, which has revitalized that neighborhood with new jobs, businesses, and retail services. He strongly supports community based organizations that provide job skills training, including the Valley Family Technology Project, Youth Opportunity (YO!) Valley, and the Valley Economic Development Center.

To keep our neighborhoods safe, Alex Padilla has pushed to hire more firefighters and police officers and expanded community based policing efforts. He led the effort to build the LAPD Mission Area Police Station, the department's first new division in 27 years, to better serve the Valley with more police resources and quicker response times. Alex negotiated the construction of a fire station and regional firefighter training facility at the site of the former General Motors plant in Van Nuys, as well as an additional full service fire station in Sylmar to help reduce response times to emergency calls and provide better services to that neighborhood.

Alex's commitment to a clean and healthy environment began when he stood with neighbors in front of the Lopez Canyon Landfill and was an early part of the fight to shut it down. At the time, he was just 15 years old. As a Los Angeles City Councilmember, Alex continues to be a champion for our environment. He voted against extending the city's contract with the Sunshine Canyon landfill's operator and strongly opposes the expansion of Bradley Landfill. He has worked to bring more parks and open space to the Valley, including new, smaller neighborhood parks and soccer fields. He also led the effort to transform Hansen Dam into an outdoor recreational center that families in the Northeast Valley are proud to call their own. To help clean our air, Alex pushed to adopt a renewable portfolio standard so that by the year 2017, the city's Department of Water and Power produces 20 percent of the city's power supply from renewable energy sources. In 2004, Alex helped craft and pass Proposition O, the $500 million general bond measure to clean up the polluted storm water that flows to our rivers, lakes, and beaches.

Alex Padilla's leadership has been recognized locally and nationally. In 2001, his colleagues elected him to serve as Council President. In 2005, he was elected to serve as President of the League of California Cities. He currently serves as Chair of the Los Angeles Leadership Council of the American Diabetes Association, as a Board Member of the Children's Museum of Los Angeles, and as an Advisory Board Member of Meet Each Need with Dignity (MEND).

Prior to his election to the City Council, he served as staff to U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein and then-Assemblymember Tony Cardenas. He successfully managed the campaign for State Senator Richard Alarcon in 1998 and served as the Southern California Field Director for the Coordinated Campaign of the California Democratic Party.

Alex Padilla holds a Bachelor's Degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and is a graduate of the Coro Fellowship Program in Leadership and Public Affairs. He grew up in Pacoima and now owns a home in the same neighborhood.