New leader coming out of the valley.

On the front of Richard Alarcon's desk at Los Angeles City Hall are two dispensers for business cards.

One card says Alarcon is a city councilman; the other - which is a tiny bit larger and more dramatic - says he is an alternate member of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's Board of Directors.

Most people who are somehow connected with the troubled MTA don't brag about it, but Alarcon has plunged into his new assignment with the same enthusiasm he brings to every job.

"If you ask, 'Who is the leader who is coming out of the (San Fernando) Valley? Who is hot?,' the first name that would jump out and grab me is Richard Alarcon," says Burbank City Manager Bud Ovrom. "He has the vision and commitment to turning around the East Valley."

Although everyone may not agree with Alarcon's methods, no one can quarrel with his commitment to the seventh council district.

Alarcon grew up in the northeast San Fernando Valley and, after a brief stint as a teacher at a Catholic grade school, he embarked on a career in public/social service. He worked for such organizations as the East Valley Community Service Center, as administrative director of the L.A. County Community Youth Gang Services Program, and in former Mayor Tom Bradley's administration as an analyst and as San Fernando Valley Area Coordinator. He also has done volunteer work for more than 40 service organizations.

He says he is "very much grounded in the principle of social justice," as advocated by the Catholic Church in which he was raised.

"I think that was present there from way back, that whole kind of orientation," comments the Rev. Tom Rush, pastor at Mary Immaculate Catholic Church in Pacoima. "He has a lot of experience in the community, a real commitment to the community and a social justice sort of bent.... I have found him to have a real interest in trying to make the community work."

Since his election to the City Council in 1993, where he replaced the retiring Ernani Bernardi, Alarcon's term has been marked by a focus on economic and community development.

While Bernardi battled against the city's Community Redevelopment Agency, Alarcon battled to get redevelopment money to rebuild quake-damaged neighborhoods.

"You can't represent the seventh district and not see that there's poverty," says Alarcon. "I think the CRA can be a useful tool if it's controlled.... I believe I am challenged to make sure they behave in a responsible way."

Alarcon also believes it's his job to make sure developers who get city help behave responsibly, including in hiring local contractors - a policy that has proven to be somewhat controversial, with critics alleging the councilman is a little too cozy with the development partners he foists on developers.

"They (developers) don't have to come into my district," Alarcon says in defense of his policy. "I do have certain standards. I ask them (developers) to guarantee they'll work with a local contractor.... I have to be concerned about local jobs."

Possibly the crowning achievement of his first term was the February 1996 announcement of a development agreement for a $100 million, mixed-use project at the long-vacant, 68-acre General Motors Corp. factory site in Panorama City. Whether the project works out or not will likely depend on whether the prospective developers - Voit Cos. and Selleck Properties - can line up enough tenants to secure big construction loans.

Developer Daniel Selleck did not return calls seeking comment on Alarcon, and Mayor Richard Riordan did not issue a statement on the GM development, as he does in conjunction with most such major announcements.

But Alarcon insists that everyone involved is still committed to working together and making the project work.

And he says he is committed to staying on the council for at least another four years so he can preside over the various projects he has launched and/or advanced.

"Some of the projects we're working on are hot," he says. "I want to enjoy the moment. I try to focus on what I'm doing today."

One of the things he's doing today is getting his feet wet at the MTA.

In a short time, he has involved himself there in discussions on such things as alternative-fuel buses, bringing rail to Glendale and Burbank and the selection of insurance brokers.

"Richard Alarcon's appointment was an excellent one," comments MTA Board Chairman Larry Zarian. "He is a listener. He doesn't speak on everything. But when he speaks, he makes a lot of sense.

"I've found him asking proper questions and taking the whole issue of transportation very seriously."

Ovrom notes that long before Alarcon was an MTA board alternate, he was an advocate of transportation projects in the Tri-City area.

"He understands that a new (Burbank) airport terminal is necessary. He was an ally on getting transit brought out to Burbank," says Ovrom. "We (in Burbank) feel we have benefited by having him there.

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Richard Alarcon

Age: 42 Native of: Glendale Resident of: Sylmar Education: B.A. in political science, CSUN, 1981 Spouse: Corina Alarcon