Former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa brought his campaign for governor to the San Fernando Valley Monday, where he told the area’s business leaders he wants to bring middle-class jobs to the area.
“It’s not going to be easy,” Villaraigosa told several dozen community and business chiefs during a luncheon hosted by the Valley Industry and Commerce Association at the Hilton Universal City hotel. “We need to educate and train people for those jobs. We need more social workers, psychologists and teachers. Let’s train people for those jobs.”
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During the event, sponsored by the San Fernando Valley Business Journal and Southern California Gas Co., Villaraigosa told the audience that he could relate to Valley families that “lost everything” during the Great Recession, and it “was upon us to do something about it.”
He called the Valley “the epicenter of the city” that he once led as mayor and said he was willing to “show up” for the area’s residents. He had earlier made a stop in Sylmar, where he visited the Southwest Regional Council of Carpenters Training Facility in Sylmar Monday.
Villaraigosa said Valley residents have felt distant from the city, and when he was mayor he worked with the region’s leaders more than any of his predecessors.
“Your hear a lot of promises,” he told the crowd. “But if someone says they’re going to do something, the best way to check is to fact-check and look what they have done in the past.”
Villaraigosa, who was mayor of L.A. from 2005 to 2013, is running against a field that includes fellow Democrats Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom and state Treasurer John Chiang, and GOP hopefuls former state schools chief Delaine Eastin, Assemblyman Travis Allen and businessman John Cox.
A March Eyewitness News-Southern California News Group survey showed Newsom remains the front-runner in the race while Villaraigosa led a close battle for second. But another recent survey from the Public Policy Institute showed Newsom ahead, with Villaraigosa and Cox battling it out for second.
If he wins in November, Villaraigosa said he would support Gov. Jerry Brown’s plans to build a bullet train, but wouldn’t endorse a multi-billion-dollar two-tunnel water-delivery system in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta.
Both issues have sparked debate in the San Fernando Valley. In the case of the proposed high-speed train, northeast Valley residents oppose a section of the route from Palmdale to Burbank they say will adversely impact the region.
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Villaraigosa sounded a frequent refrain in the midst of the Trump administration’s crackdown on immigration.
“We’re not cooperating with ICE,” he said. “You’re going to jail if you commit a crime. But when you get out, we’re not calling ICE to take you.”
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Villaraigosa sounded many “right” ideas, VICA President Stuart Waldman said.
“He was talking about always coming to the Valley,” Waldman said. “I think he is right. He came here all the time. I think he has a fair shot of winning the Valley. The Valley will always be a friendly place for him as a candidate.”
But Nick Leone, president of Van Nuys-based The Adult Skills Center, said that despite the former’s mayor’s notoriety in L.A., he might not be known enough on a larger stage.
“I’m not sure how Villaraigosa will do because he is not known statewide,” Leone said, adding that he voted for Villaraigosa when he ran for mayor. “It depends on how the population feels about someone from Los Angeles.”
The story has been changed to reflect a correction on Antonio Villaraigosa’s stance on a two-tunnel water-delivery system in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta.
