Candidate for
Council Member; City of Los Angeles; District 7

MESSAGE FROM RICHARD:

From my days as a teacher through my years as Mayor Bradley's Valley representative, I've worked for the San Fernando Valley.

As your City Councilman in the 1990's, I pushed to create the Northeast Valley Enterprise and Empowerment Zones to give tax incentives to businesses that pay good wages. I spearheaded the creation of 4,000 jobs at the old General Motors plant and restored the Panorama Mall. I will do the same thing at the Price Pfister Plant site and the old Montgomery Wards site to bring new business and to create good paying jobs. We must keep investing in our economy.

Today, public safety is a critical issue in our district. I support the hiring of 1,000 new police officers and I will ensure that the Valley gets its fair share.

As a City Councilmember I started 43 Neighborhood Watch programs and fought for a new police station in the Northeast Valley. As a State Legislator, I introduced a bill to require sex offenders be equally distributed across the state, not just concentrated in areas like Sylmar and Pacoima. I will always fight to protect our families.

Gang violence has risen again in our community. As a City Councilmember in the 90s helped create a program that reduced gang homicides from 24 to less than 5. We can do that again. We should not live in fear. Gang violence must be stopped.

As a former teacher, I know we must all work to improve our education system. That's why in the State Senate I wrote a law that provided $200 million dollars to increase salaries and recruit and train new teachers, and another bill to reduce the drop-out rate. I also recently sponsored the Valley Education Collaborative, 60 organizations working together to bring vital resources to our schools. I will continue to work with parents, students, teachers, the community, the School Board and Mayor Villaraigosa to improve our educational system. We all need to work together to make sure our children have the opportunity to get a quality education.

As your Councilmember I helped build five new libraries, we improved the Hansen Dam Recreation Area and we closed the Lopez Canyon Landfill. But we still need more parks and our city still has open landfills. As a Councilman, I will invest in places where our children can play safely, find alternatives to landfills and make sure that the Children's Museum is finished.

My track record speaks for itself. I've created new jobs, fought for resources to make our community safer, increased educational opportunities and protected our environment. But there is more work to do and, as you City Councilman, I promise to continue these fights.

I hope you will consider me when you vote for City Council District Seven on March 6th. Thank you.

Yours truly, Richard Alarcon