San Pedro Voters Wary of LA Mayoral Candidates Promise

The residents of the close-knit coastal enclave of San Pedro have long felt like the city's redheaded stepchild, geographically and culturally removed from the downtown power structure, the bright lights of Hollywood and the sprawling San Fernando Valley.

But in the Los Angeles mayoral race, they are seeing fresh attention from Wendy Greuel and Eric Garcetti as the rivals try to stitch together coalitions to win the May 21 runoff. Within the span of a week, the candidates appeared at port workers' union halls a block apart in the area's historic downtown, pledging they would not forget this corner of LA.

"This is the economic engine of our entire city," Greuel said Saturday as she rallied supporters at the headquarters of ILWU Local 63, the Marine Clerks Assn. She noted that her 9-year-old son was studying a map of Los Angeles and asked about San Pedro, which is connected to the rest of the city by a thin spit of land. (Read more here.) 

-cw

CityWatch

4-7-13