VALLEY'S LATINO LEADERS MAKE PUSH FOR HIGHER PROFILE, OFFICES.

Byline: Paul Hefner Daily News Sacramento Bureau

Latinos are trying to cut short the waiting game for political power in the San Fernando Valley.

Spurred by victories in lesser contests and the growing ranks of Latino residents and voters, Latino politicians are vying this year for the Valley's plum elected offices - at the expense of the area's old guard.

The politicians themselves shy away from viewing their bids for office in racial terms. Others are more direct.

``You know that power is never given, power is always taken. We realize that,'' said Xavier Flores, president of the Mexican American Political Association's Valley chapter. ``We're not about to ask anybody to give over power. We're coming into our own and taking it.''

Until recent weeks, many saw the coming state Senate primary between Los Angeles Councilman Richard Alarcon and former Assemblyman Richard Katz as the year's key test of strength for the Valley's emerging Latino leadership.

But then came word that San Fernando Mayor Raul Godinez would challenge Rep. Howard Berman, D-Mission Hills, in what will be the second Valley race this June to pit an up-and-coming Latino against a veteran white politician.

Godinez acknowledged that the odds against him are long at best, and that trying to pick off an incumbent for his own party's nomination won't win him any political brownie points.

``Most people don't usually do this. They're looking to take the safe road and not rock the boat too hard,'' he said. ``I don't think you get too far if you don't rock the boat a little bit.''

The bids by Alarcon and Godinez come at a time when Latino candidates are making political gains across the state, steadily adding to their numbers in the Legislature and in many city halls.

``It used to be all you'd have to think about is the Eastside of Los Angeles,'' said Harry Pachon, director of Claremont's Tomas Rivera Policy Institute. ``That's not the case any more.''

In both the state and in Los Angeles County, Latinos are growing in numbers and spreading out over a wider political landscape. There's not a single census tract in the county without at least one Latino, Pachon said. Demographers predict that by 2020, California will have 20 million Latinos - as many are there are now nationwide.

And Latinos are an increasing presence in suburbs that were once predominantly white. That's true in Berman's Valley district, which stretches from Sylmar to Van Nuys and North Hollywood, where 52 percent of residents are Latino, Pachon said.

``The San Fernando Valley is an unrecognized breeding ground for Latino power,'' he said.

It's enough to make even the most confident non-Latino incumbent take a glance over his shoulder.

``When you have these substantial numbers, a challenge from a San Fernando city councilman makes you nervous,'' Pachon said. ``Uneasy lies the crown on a lot of heads when they start looking at the demographics.''

But Berman said it would be a mistake to view Godinez's bid for office as a move against him by the Latino community, which has supported him strongly over the years.

``I see it as a local elected official who happens to be a Latino challenging me,'' Berman said. ``I don't think it's a community challenge. I think you'll find huge numbers of Latino leaders from the San Fernando Valley will be supporting me.''

Nor does he see the changing makeup of his district as a political problem.

``I don't know what the future holds. My guess is that ethnic ties, and sometimes religious ties, do frequently play a factor in people deciding how to vote, but I think they are subordinate to one's record,'' he said. ``I don't think my ethnicity is a roadblock.''

Similar demographic changes are under way in the state Senate district where Katz and Alarcon will square off. Where only 6,500 Spanish-surnamed voters in the district voted in the June 1994 Democratic primary, the number swelled in the November 1996 election to 33,000, said Richie Ross, a political consultant running Alarcon's campaign.

But voting patterns still trail the Valley's demographic shift by a large margin. Katz estimated that Latinos make up only 17 percent of the likely voters in the race, while whites account for 70 percent.

``It's not dominant by any means,'' he said. ``It's less than a fifth of the vote.''

Efforts to register more Latinos may eventually benefit from a new Mexican law allowing immigrants to retain their Mexican nationality even if they become U.S. citizens. The law, which took effect Friday, means that immigrants from Mexico will no longer give up their rights to own property there to become citizens here.

Flores said his association supported the new law, but he sees it as a secondary force in the drive to bring more Valley Latinos into the political process.

``I don't think it's going to be that significant,'' Flores said. ``The main impetus has been the racist onslaught against immigrants.''

In sentiments echoed by the other candidates, Katz said ethnicity isn't - and shouldn't be - on voters' minds.

``I think a lot of these debates are for Sunday-morning pundits and folks who write op-ed pieces,'' Katz said. ``Real people want to know who's going to do the job better, who's going to stand up and fight for them.''

Alarcon agreed.

``I think voters are more concerned about issues than ethnicity,'' he said. ``I believe public safety is everyone's issue, economic development is everyone's issue and education is everyone's issue.''

Political scientists see Alarcon and Katz as crossover candidates, politicians looking to appeal to voters across ethnic and party lines. Pachon said that more Latino politicians are crafting their messages to have broad appeal.

``They're no longer associated with a cookie-cutter mentality,'' Pachon said.

For a candidate like Godinez, that means emphasizing his record as a local official, from hiring school crossing guards to working to streamline city departments.

``I take pride in being the mayor of my hometown. I don't want to be classified as the Latino mayor,'' he said. ``That sends the message that I'm only the mayor for a part of the population.''

Candidates send cultural messages with studied subtlety. Godinez makes passing references to the value Latino culture places on respect for elders. When a court decision upholding term limits prevented incumbent state Sen. Herschel Rosenthal, D-Van Nuys, from seeking re-election, Katz's first reaction was, ``Hanukkah came early this year.''

Fear of being branded a racist makes many people reluctant to address the link between race and politics - even when they acknowledge it exists.

Sherman Oaks Homeowners Association President Richard Close noticed that in Boston, where neighborhoods routinely elected representatives who mirrored each area's dominant ethnic group.

``People refused to admit they voted based on these views, but clearly, they did,'' Close said. ``Those are the facts of life. People oftentimes vote for someone for the wrong reasons.''

Close expects the process to play itself out in the Valley as well.

``As the demographics of the Valley change, so will the demographics of the elected officials change,'' he said. ``There's going to be a flexing of political muscle by all ethnic groups, and that's normal, whether it's the Latino vote or the Jewish vote, just as women running for political office play that card.''

Latinos have already seen the Valley's political landscape begin to swing their way. They hold a majority of seats on the San Fernando City Council. Alarcon is in his second term on L.A.'s council. Assemblyman Tony Cardenas, D-Panorama City, who was elected to Katz's old seat in 1996, will have no major-party opposition in November.

But in politics, clout is often a zero-sum game, with victories by one group translating into political losses by another.

``In the San Fernando Valley, as you have Latino gains, you have drops in white representation,'' said Bruce Cain, acting director of the University of California at Berkeley's Institute of Governmental Studies.

But neither Cardenas nor Alarcon had to challenge an established political veteran to win office. The seat Cardenas won was vacant in 1996, because Katz was forced out by term limits. Alarcon's council seat was open as well, thanks to the retirement of Ernani Bernardi.

That won't be the case in June. Berman has been in Congress 16 years, and with Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Los Angeles, oversees a political empire that stretches from the Valley to the Pacific Ocean.

Even some Godinez allies concede privately that he may be biting off a bigger piece of the political pie than he can chew. But he insisted that he believes voters should have a choice.

``I think I have a shot at it, a legitimate shot,'' Godinez said. ``If I didn't have a prayer, I wouldn't be in the race.''

Katz and Alarcon are more evenly matched. Though Katz has more direct experience, with 16 years in the state Assembly, he's been on the political sidelines for the past two years.

But no matter what the outcome of either race, both are likely harbingers of the Valley's political future, where direct challenges among competing groups are the rule, not the exception.

``My sense is, it's the shape of things to come,'' Cain said.

CAPTION(S):

4 Photos

Photo: (1) Alarcon

(2) Berman

(3) Godinez

(4) Katz