COUNCIL HOPEFULS SPEAK OUT; SIX RUNNING IN 7TH DISTRICT HOPE FORUM RESULTS IN VOTES FOR THEM.

Byline: Douglas Haberman Daily News Staff Writer

Candidates for the 7th District City Council seat wooed voters Saturday in a two-hour forum before 400 people at San Fernando High School, ending with personal attacks that continued in interviews after the forum.

The six ballot candidates seeking to replace Richard Alarcon, now a state senator, attended. The event was put on by the San Fernando Valley Voter Registration and Education Coalition and a long list of corporate and community sponsors. Two write-in candidates were not invited.

Toward the end of the forum, Ollie McCaulley went after Alex Padilla, an aide to Assemblyman Tony Cardenas who has won endorsements from Mayor Richard Riordan and other officials as well as from the County Federation of Labor and who worked for a year as a representative for U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein.

Asked about the source of his campaign contributions, McCaulley said his money wasn't coming from downtown, but from average folks in the northeast San Fernando Valley. ``You're not going to find the mayor of Los Angeles doing a fund-raiser for me,'' he said. The district's voters, McCaulley said, ``are tired of all the money coming from one source to one person, because then they have a puppet, a yes person'' as their council member.

In an interview after the forum, McCaulley continued the attack. ``When you raise that much money, it's a reflection of you selling your soul,'' he said.

In his closing remarks, Raul Godinez II also took a shot at big fund raising. ``I'm not afraid to stand up to the special interests that want to own this council seat,'' he said.

But Padilla defended his fund raising as well as his ties to important leaders, saying the connections will help him deliver the services the district so desperately needs.

``I'm very proud of the support I have,'' he told the crowd. His connections mean that when he calls, someone will answer, said Padilla. ``Our community deserves that.'' As for McCaulley's charge that he would be a puppet, ``that's nonsense,'' he said after the forum.

For his part, Padilla took a swipe at Corinne Sanchez. During her opening remarks, Sanchez described her educational and career trajectory and recalled asking herself at every stop along the way, ``What's next?''

``I won't ask, `What's next?' in four years,'' Padilla said in his closing statement.

After the forum, Sanchez said she has no aspirations to a higher office and would love to spend 10 years on the City Council - finishing out Alarcon's term then serving two four-year terms.

She added that she hopes voters make experience in the community a deciding factor. ``I think the difference (among candidates) is the depth,'' she said. ``I've delivered already.''

Barbara Perkins stayed above the fray, offering herself as someone with a long history of community involvement who can foster dialogue and unite people. If elected, she promised to hold quarterly town hall meetings with city department heads present to answer residents' questions about undelivered services and she also promised to be in her district office one day a week to meet with constituents.

Tony Lopez stressed the need to create opportunities for young people to ``break the cycle'' of poor education and low-wage jobs.

Most of the forum was tame, with candidates answering questions on charter reform and secession, community relations with the Los Angeles Police Department, attracting new businesses and jobs, race relations and more. Audience members turned in questions and two members of the League of Women Voters screened them. Reading the questions to the candidates were KMEX-TV political reporter Rosa Maria Villalpando and Mary Ballesteros of La Opinion.

Iris Zuniga, 18, of Arleta, the student body president of San Fernando High, said the forum was helpful but that she still wasn't sure which candidate she favored. ``They all want to help the community and be a good representative,'' she said.