Time to Learn, Time to Grow

A hundred days do not a statesman make, and freshman Los Angeles City Councilman Alex Padilla, who represents the northeast San Fernando Valley, deserves more time than that to make his mark in city politics. For now, he displays a refreshing honesty about what he has to learn and a willingness to learn it.

Padilla already has succeeded in ways small and large. He’s kept his first campaign promise--getting a traffic light fixed near his old elementary school--and underscored his commitment to taking care of basic city services.

He also ushered a long-stalled proposal to build a new police station in the north Valley past its first hurdle and got Mayor Richard Riordan to appoint a 7th District resident to a new Department of Neighborhood Empowerment.

Riordan supported Padilla’s City Council campaign both politically and financially, and Padilla has already shown that he can use his good relationship with the mayor to his district’s advantage. One of the tests ahead for this youngest member of the council will be when he disagrees with the mayor--and acts on it.