Boyle Heights Steamed by Antonio

“Mr. Villaraigosa is NOT good for L.A.,” Martha Cisneros wrote to me in a blistering e-mail.

That’s the kind of note I’ve been getting lately. Ever since I dinged Los Angeles Mayor Jim Hahn by trying to find a hot date who can spice up his life, his supporters have been asking when I would go to work on Hahn’s challenger, City Councilman Antonio Villaraigosa.

What does a columnist have to do?

As I’ve pointed out, Villaraigosa’s campaign has been big on generalizations and short on specifics. I’ve already made it clear that if I hear him prattle on about “trust” and “leadership” one more time, I may have to hit the hard liquor.

Villaraigosa did pretty well in Boyle Heights in the March primary, and my guess is he’ll win it comfortably in next month’s finale.

But Cisneros wasn’t the only longtime resident of the neighborhood who had a beef with her councilman. So I met with Cisneros and five of her friends and neighbors Thursday morning at La Parilla to hear their complaints.

La Parilla means “the grill,” and for 90 minutes at the popular Boyle Heights restaurant, Villaraigosa was roasted.

“The love is gone,” said Felicia Acosta, a translator and homemaker who voted for Villaraigosa four years ago.

What soured the relationship?

You can’t love someone who’s never around, said Cisneros, who is secretary to the executive board of the Boyle Heights Neighborhood Council and plans to vote for Hahn.

It’s not enough that Villaraigosa is Latino, she and others said. You’ve got to do your job to earn their votes, and Antonio has been missing in action by their account.

“He hasn’t been to a neighborhood council meeting in two years,” said Cisneros, a claim the Villaraigosa staff disputed and said it could disprove. I’m still waiting.

Cisneros’ friends -- including Kay Morishita, Monica Harmon and Rosa and Armando Gabadon -- had their own grievances. And these aren’t a bunch of finger-pointing layabouts. They go to meetings, look after the community’s children, support church and police, and try to get City Hall’s attention.

“We were not exactly fans of Nick Pacheco, either,” Acosta said of their former councilman, whose job was wrested away by Villaraigosa. “But at least Pacheco would cross the river, face the community and ask us what was on our minds.”

Actually, it sounded like some of the others were fans of Pacheco. But Pacheco is out of the picture now, and these folks said they’re tired of hearing Villaraigosa talk about trust.

Not only did Villaraigosa break his promise to hold on to his council seat and not run for mayor, says Harmon, who has moved to the Westside but still calls herself a Boyle Heights activist. He’s also neglected his job because of one distraction after another.

He campaigned to help Gov. Gray Davis beat the recall, then he campaigned for John Kerry to be president, and then he began campaigning for mayor. He campaigns for everything but Boyle Heights, said Harmon, who along with Cisneros is doing volunteer work for Hahn.

“Hahn’s had problems, but he has a record,” Harmon says. “Antonio can’t tell you, ‘This is what I’ve done.’ ”

The La Parilla crowd said they could never get Villaraigosa’s help to crack down on illegal street vendors, who, as they see it, litter the streets and put the squeeze on legitimate, tax-paying merchants.

“Antonio told us they’re just people trying to make a living,” said Harmon. “Well, do it legally.”

But this group’s biggest issue is crime, said Morishita. She and Acosta say a prayer every time their children leave the house, and they’re tired of living in fear. Villaraigosa talks about expanding Neighborhood Watch programs, but they don’t see much evidence.

Hahn, they say, had the guts to dump former LAPD Chief Bernie Parks, who ran a department with rock-bottom morale, replacing him with a guy who’s making headway in the crime fight.

Villaraigosa, on the other hand, wouldn’t even support Hahn’s proposal to hire more cops with proceeds from a sales tax increase -- and with 15 homicides in Boyle Heights already this year by their count, the LAPD needs beefing up.

“In my seniors club, no one goes out at night,” said Rosa Gabadon.

“We’re not important to him,” Acosta added.

When I called Villaraigosa’s campaign staff, they told me he was too busy to talk. So I guess you don’t have to live in Boyle Heights to be ignored by him.

One of his City Hall staffers argued that Villaraigosa’s key role in settling the transit strike, his opening of Ascot Hills park and his community “service days” are all the work of a councilman who’s delivering the goods to his district.

“Antonio shows up, and he’s cleaning right there next to us,” says Virginia Miranda, a longtime Villaraigosa supporter and a campaign volunteer.

And as for crime, Miranda said, don’t blame Antonio. Blame all those people who “come here for a better life but don’t want to learn the language, and then their kids are running around joining gangs.”

As I see it, there’s some truth in both takes on Councilman Villaraigosa. He hasn’t entirely ignored his district, but he’s always had his eye on something bigger, driven by the kind of ambition that makes you forget where you came from.

I can see how some people might have trouble figuring out who Villaraigosa really is. And I can see how some folks in Boyle Heights might wonder if Villaraigosa was the suitor who always intended to be gone before sunrise.

Reach the columnist at [email protected].