Mercury News/Monterey Herald

By Edwin Garcia
Mercury News

Sunday, July 10, 2005

It's the bustling lunch hour inside a trendy Sacramento restaurant where hungry political animals jockey for seats. Speaker of the Assembly Fabian Núñez? Your table is ready. Film director Rob Reiner? Right this way, sir.

The Esquire Grill hostess turns to Assemblyman Alberto Torrico: ``Do you mind sitting at the bar?''

Just finishing his first six months in office, Torrico -- the freshman from Newark -- is content with not hogging the spotlight. And yet the 36-year-old baby-faced legislator is a unique character in Sacramento: the embodiment of California's social, cultural, religious and political diversity.

Torrico is Asian and Latino. He's a tithe-giving, born-again Christian-Democrat. And while his values often tilt to the right, his bleeding heart leans the other way. If all that's not unlikely enough, at the end of long days he'd much rather drive a hundred miles to be with his family than hobnob with Capitol heavyweights.

Despite his low-key demeanor, Torrico has risen rapidly in politics: from the Newark City Council in 2001, to his prominent appointment as chairman of the state Assembly's Pension Committee.

And now Torrico's legislative mettle is being tested as he seeks final approval for bills that favor immigrants, working families and the poor.

Meanwhile, his faith also is under fire because his non-denominational church opposes homosexuality and abortion -- both intensely partisan political issues that conflict with his values.

He struggled for months with San Francisco Assemblyman Mark Leno's bill to legalize same-sex marriage.

``It was excruciating,'' said Torrico after abstaining from a first vote. ``When I didn't vote, I knew I needed to do some more soul-searching.''

Before a second vote, Torrico prayed and read an online Bible on the Assembly floor.

``Jesus treated everyone with compassion and dignity at the end of the day,'' he explained about voting for the measure. ``And that's well-documented in the scriptures.''

The bill failed by four votes, but Torrico was left hoping, ``I did the right thing.''

GOP friends

The son of a postal worker mother and a light-rail operator father, both of whom were born in Bolivia, Torrico describes himself as a staunch partisan. But he also counts resolute Republicans among his closest friends, and joins several of them weekly for bi-partisan fellowship.

The friendships seem to be paying off, politically.

Some conservative Republicans voted in favor of one of Torrico's bills (AB 1132), which seeks to change the law that lets authorities impound for 30 days the cars of motorists caught while driving unlicensed, including illegal immigrants.

Torrico's bill would allow the vehicle's owner to retrieve it almost immediately, saving a month of storage fees.

He and his staff persuasively pitched the measure as beneficial to middle-class parents and poor families.

``I was planning to vote `no' on that bill,'' said Assemblyman Tim Leslie, R-Roseville, who said, ``You know, they're right, that's not the way we should do things.''

Torrico never publicly mentioned that 2 million California drivers are illegal immigrants who, like young teens, don't qualify for a license and frequently get their borrowed cars impounded.

``He has a lot more substance than some of the other members,'' said Assembly Speaker Núñez.

Torrico, of Japanese and Bolivian ancestry, was born in San Francisco and raised in Fremont. There he played youth soccer and dreamed of a big future in business -- until his political science grades at Santa Clara University became stellar.

After completing study at Hastings College of the Law, he worked for labor unions on behalf of underprivileged workers.

Love in Bolivia

Religion, politics and love converged in the mid-1990s in his father's homeland of Bolivia, where his mother's family emigrated from Japan. That was when Torrico fell hard for Raquel Andrade, a flight attendant, saying, ``Within 24 hours I knew I wanted to marry her.'' Raquel's mother invited him to an evangelical Christian rally that led him to leave Catholicism for a non-denominational church.

Three years later, he and Raquel married. In 2000 they moved to Newark. Months later, he prayed about the possibility of a political future with the pastor of the 38-member Mission Peak Bible Church in Fremont. Soon the couple along with their baby son, Mateo, hit the city council campaign trail. Torrico won by 32 votes.

In 2004 he ran to replace the outgoing 20th Assembly District legislator John Dutra. By then, 3 1/2-year old Mateo was almost accompanied by Amy Elizabeth Emiko, now 8-months-old.

Torrico narrowly won the Democratic primary, but his supporters slammed challenger Tom Pico with allegations that proved to be false.

``I have to say that I don't think he gained any respect in my eyes,'' said Pico, the former Pleasanton mayor.

Today, Pico dings Torrico for a ``lack of experience,'' referring to a pension committee hearing in March when Torrico stopped a tax advocate from continuing to testify after he disparaged public employees.

Mateo loves his make-believe Blackberry.

``Mateo, you have to help me with this,'' his mother said in Spanish, the only language of the Torrico household.

``I can't,'' Mateo replied, mimicking his busy dad. ``I have to go to Sacramento for a meeting.''

``With whom?'' his mother asked.

``With firefighters, with police.''

Torrico's real Blackberry fills quickly: meetings with politicos, non-profit groups and constituents in his district which primarily includes Fremont, Union City and Newark.

``I thought I had a pretty good idea what the job would be like,'' said Torrico, who finds himself constantly negotiating against a crush of bills and duties. There is a re-election campaign to consider, not to mention two children to play with, dishes to wash, a lawn to mow, a church to worship at.

``I'm trying to put my foot down on the schedule,'' he declared, ``to spend more time at home.''

Shortly before 6 p.m., as many as four nights a week, Torrico slides into a silver Chrysler 300 sedan -- his own leather-covered, 80-mph rolling sanctuary. There he loves to listen to Marcos Witt, a Spanish-language sing-and-shout Christian praise artist.

Many nights he could attend political soirees, but mostly he can't wait to see his kids -- who can't wait to see him.

``My husband can come home super tired,'' Raquel said, ``but he'll always play with the children.''

Two caucuses

Steering toward Newark one evening, Torrico talked proudly about belonging to the Latino and Asian legislative caucus. He also beamed about his brothers: the vice principal of Peter Burnett School in San Jose, the police officer in San Jose, and the real estate agent in Fremont.

And in discussing the power of his faith: ``What motivates me first and foremost is my commitment to learn about God's word and God's plan.''

With the sun setting, minutes from home, a weary Torrico glows when asked why he works endless hours.

``We have an opportunity to shape what the state is going to look like for our kids and grandchildren,'' he said. ``We have an awesome responsibility.''