Activist's impact founded on 'power of one person'

This story appeared in the Antelope Valley Press February 24, 2001.

By LISA WAHLA
Valley Press Staff Writer

PALMDALE - The year was 1976, and a downtown Los Angeles sixth-grader had just easily won her campaign for student council president.

Enthralled with the process, a young Sandy Corrales turned her sights to the national stage, where Democrat Jimmy Carter was poised to take control of the country.

"I was just in love with the man - and I thought I would be first woman president," Corrales said.

Since that fateful year, Corrales hasn't moved into the Oval Office, but she has staked a place for herself in Palmdale politics. The 35year-old businesswoman is president of the Democratic Club of the High Desert and leads numerous civic groups.

She strives to see more diversity in local elected bodies and a continued "small-town quality of life with big-city amenities" in the Valley.

Supporters say she's qualified for the City Council seat that has thrice eluded her, praising her hard work and clean campaigning style.

But in a city with traditionally conservative, WASP-ish tendencies, Corrales is more than the average community activist. She's an infusion of diversity and a voice for the growing Latino and Democratic communities.

Robert Alvarado, who turned the Democratic club reins over to Corrales last month, calls her a role model for the Spanish-speaking community.

And according to Valley economic development specialist David Myers, Corrales' influence extends even more broadly: "Her fingerprints are all over Palmdale - a lot of the success and growth we've seen are because of her."

Corrales took Myers' seat on the Palmdale Planning Commission in 1992 when Myers was elected to the City Council; she held the position more than four years while the city's General Plan was refined.

That's about the time Corrales realized "what a political animal I was." The hints, however, were there all along.
Early years

Corrales was raised in a neighborhood of poor Latino immigrants, where life was conducted within a 1-mile radius from home.

Corrales' parents instilled the importance of education and community service into Sandy and her two siblings. "B's" weren't good enough, and the Corrales kids avoided gangs, drugs and violence by immersion in books - "we were seen as the nerds of the streets," she admitted.

When her parents tired of the unsightly and dangerous vacant lot a block from their home, they led the successful effort to transform it into a community park.

"Very early on, I knew the power of one person making a difference," Corrales said.

Both parents today serve the public: Her mother is a field deputy for Los Angeles City Councilwoman Rita Walters and her father is a community liaison for the L.A. Unified School District.

Corrales remembers her dad's involvement in the mid-1970s with campaigns for a longtime state senator, Los Angeles Democrat Art Torres.

After graduating from Belmont High School, Corrales spent several years at the University of Southern California, where she soaked up politics like a sponge and committed herself to the Democratic Party.

At USC, Corrales studied journalism and public relations. While working her way through school at a typesetting studio, she met Randy Houghton. The two later married and started a business, Houghton and Corrales Advertising and Graphics.
Leadership in Palmdale

The couple moved to Palmdale 13 years ago, attracted by the slower pace and business opportunities. Corrales soon joined the Palmdale Chamber of Commerce, which she eventually served as president.

Now, Corrales claims leadership positions on the Palmdale Chamber, the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, the Palmdale Education Foundation and the Mexican American Political Association.

That's in addition to her fulfilling - and time-consuming - role with the Democratic club and her involvement with city government.

"It amazes me constantly to see someone continue to give so much for the community and ask nothing in return," said Myers, who has worked with Corrales for nine years. With Corrales' volunteer work, "you don't get paid, you do it out of love."

Including e-mails, meetings and phone calls, Corrales estimates she spends 60% of her time volunteering. She prides herself on being available to those needing assistance, especially people in the Hispanic community, with anything from potholes to speaking before the City Council.

Corrales credits much of her involvement to her "1,000% supportive" husband Randy, who shares her commitment to community causes.

"He's very quiet and behindthe-scenes," she said. "We are total opposites, but he's just as interested in effecting change in this community as I am."
The future

Much of the change Corrales wants to effect relates to the increasing Democratic activism in the Valley. The party owns a slim majority in Palmdale, one Corrales hopes to extend through a yearlong drive to register 1,500 new Democratic voters.

The numbers may favor the Democrats, but the money, organization and history favor the GOP, so Corrales knows she has to work hard to translate the numbers advantage into Democratic victories.

She hopes to increase the party's visibility in the Valley - where the "Democrat" label can carry a stigma - and at the state level. Corrales wants to attract California Democratic Party dollars for candidates in local elections, and "nuts and bolts" advice on how to run a campaign.

"This is not the Republican stronghold it used to be - things are changing," she said, noting the victory Democratic presidential candidate Al Gore scored in Palmdale over George W. Bush in November.

"You can expect to see a lot more prominent Democrats coming up to the Valley," she said, mentioning the importance of Torres' visit to Palmdale last year; Torres is now chairman of the state Democratic Party.

With the changing demographics, some Republican leaders concede the future will likely feature Democrats in leadership roles, but they're not about to lie down.

"We recognize the threat the Democrats pose, and we're working as hard as we can to try to slow their gains," said Randy Hall, chairman of the 36th Assembly District Republican Central Committee. Local Republicans also plan to register voters throughout the year, starting in March at the Antelope Valley Mall.

As to her own political future, Corrales said she hasn't decided whether to make a fourth bid for the Palmdale City Council.

"I need more time to digest what happened in the last election, but I have had some very generous and encouraging offers for support," she said.

Corrales first ran in 1994, placing seventh in a field of 13.

The next two attempts were achingly close - she lost to Kevin Carney in 1999 by 97 votes, and fell 138 votes shy of Rick Norris last year. Both times, she added, she won the Election Day polling but lost via absentee ballots.

"Always a bridesmaid," she joked. "You have to have a sense of humor if you're going to be in politics. You have to have thick skin."

She believes she has contributed to the city even in losing, by shedding light on issues while campaigning - issues such as making Palmdale more businessfriendly.

She knows her opposition to Measure T, the Palmdale WalMart initiative that passed in a landslide, may have hurt her 2000 campaign.

But it is that sort of commitment to principles - in that case, a pro-labor stance - that wins her admirers. Corrales also managed to stay above the fray of a 2000 election that included a number of below-the-belt hits.

"I'd hope we could get all the candidates to operate on that same clean approach," said Palmdale Mayor Jim Ledford, who has known Corrales since his days on the Planning Commission in the late 1980s.

Corrales believes the nature of Palmdale politics, with influential Republican organizations backing candidates who usually win, has hindered her thus far.

"I have this independent streak about me," she said. "I don't know if it's being naive, or stubborn, or if it's just me wanting to create something positive on my own with the new resources I bring to the table.

"I feel like a politician, or a public servant, even though I haven't been elected."