LOCAL ELECTIONS: 9th DISTRICT : Walters, Gay Pledge to Bring Better Services

In a sometimes heated exchange, 9th District City Council candidates Rita Walters and Bob Gay on Saturday debated issues that centered on the need for better city services in the poorer parts of the district.

About 70 people in Kinsey Auditorium in southwest Los Angeles listened to the candidates in the June 4 runoff election, which will determine the first new council representative in almost 30 years for the district, which includes downtown and parts of South-Central Los Angeles.

Gay and Walters engaged in an hourlong debate that also touched on building a stronger link between the economic vitality of downtown and the rest of the district.

Walters and Gay were the top two vote-getters in the April 9 primary, beating eight other candidates vying for the seat left vacant by the death of Gilbert W. Lindsay, who represented the district for 27 years.

Gay, a longtime aide to Lindsay, has emphasized throughout his campaign that unlike his former boss, who championed the revitalization of downtown but who had been accused of virtually ignoring the rest of the district, he will focus on South-Central Los Angeles. Gay said fees paid by developers to construct downtown office buildings should pay for affordable housing in poorer neighborhoods.

Walters, who for the past 12 years has been a vocal member of the Los Angeles Board of Education, said it was a “disgrace” that the city had failed in its responsibility to provide services to the 9th District, such as keeping its streets clean and fencing off vacant property.

She added that she plans to initiate job-training programs and ask downtown businesses to give internships to young people and adults so they can learn marketable job skills.

An issue that has dogged Walters throughout her campaign re-emerged in the debate when she was asked how well she understood the problems of the 9th District after living in it less than six months.

“The 9th District doesn’t take a person working there 16 years to see there’s been an absolute failure by the council in giving (it) services,” Walters said. “The streets are dirty, (and) there’s not a movie theater, skating rink or bowling alley south of the Santa Monica Freeway.

“Whether you’ve lived there for five months, whether you’ve lived there for 50 years, if you have not done anything to make your presence felt, that’s the issue,” Walters said.

She added that she was asked to run for the seat by residents who felt that they had suffered from inadequate leadership from Lindsay and his staff, including Gay. Walters had to get a court order to win a place on the ballot, after moving to the district after Lindsay’s death.

Gay, who has had to fend off allegations that he could have done more for South-Central Los Angeles during his 15 years working for Lindsay, drew applause from the audience when he described the diversity and extremes of the district and then countered Walters’ statement.

“What’s clear to me is you do have to live there to know it,” said Gay, who said he is a lifetime resident of the district.