Aide quits job with Huizar to challenge him for City Council

The first surprise of the March 2007 elections for Los Angeles City Council came Saturday morning when Alvin Parra, a deputy to first-term Councilman Jose Huizar, resigned his job and then filed to run against Huizar.

“I worked for him for about a year, and what became very clear to me is that Jose Huizar is not the person that he portrays himself to be,” Parra said. “He has made it clear that what goes on in the district and field aren’t his priorities. He’s more concerned with City Hall.”

Huizar said he received Parra’s resignation on a voice mail left on his cellphone at 10:26 a.m., 94 minutes before the filing deadline.

“This is not a statement about me. It’s a statement about Alvin, who is desperate to run for office and who has run for this seat three times already,” Huizar said. “If Alvin actually believed that he was a better candidate than me, he would have had the courage of his convictions and resigned a long time ago.”

Huizar represents the city’s 14th District, which includes Eagle Rock, Lincoln Heights, El Sereno and Boyle Heights as well as parts of Highland Park, Mount Washington and downtown. It has long been known as a hotbed for soap opera-style politics with a rotating cast of characters.

Huizar was elected to represent the district last November, replacing Antonio Villaraigosa after he became mayor. With the backing of the new mayor and labor unions, then-school board member Huizar handily won -- even receiving help from Parra.

This will be the fourth time that Parra has run for the 14th District. He was beaten by incumbent Richard Alatorre in 1995, came in third out of 13 in 1999 and raised more then $81,000 in 2003 but dropped out.

Parra had been working in Huizar’s El Sereno office as a district director. In interviews Saturday, Huizar said that he had demoted Parra earlier this year for inattentive work. Parra disputed that and contended that Huizar stopped going to meetings that involved issues in the district.

A contest pitting employee versus former boss has precedent when it comes to City Council races.

Laura Chick, now the city controller, ousted Joy Picus from her 3rd District seat in 1993. And in 1997, 11th District incumbent Marvin Braude retired rather than run against a former aide, Cindy Miscikowski

Boyle Heights resident and neighborhood activist Juaquin Castellanos offered this reaction to the latest flap in the 14th: “I think Huizar has good intentions, but we haven’t seen anything concrete that he has accomplished, and time is running. I think [Parra] is just like many politicians. He just wants to take the next step.”

The eight even-numbered council seats are up for grabs in March. Qualifying for the ballot is a two-step process: First, candidates had to declare their intent to run by Saturday. The more important step comes Dec. 6, when candidates must submit petitions with 500 residents’ signatures and pay a $300 fee. Or they can submit 1,000 signatures without the fee.

No one filed to run against incumbents Wendy Greuel, Tom LaBonge and Greig Smith.

Twelve lesser-known challengers filed against incumbents Huizar, Tony Cardenas, Bernard C. Parks and Herb Wesson.

The other race involves filling the northeast Valley-based seat held by Alex Padilla, who will resign early next month to go to the state Senate.

steve.hymon@latimes.com