3 Mayoral Candidates Give Depositions in Lawsuits

Three candidates for mayor of Los Angeles appeared at command performances in the last two weeks, but the events were not the kind they sought to publicize.

Under court order, Mayor James K. Hahn, City Councilman Bernard C. Parks and state Sen. Richard Alarcon (D-Sun Valley) were called to give depositions in federal civil rights lawsuits spawned by the 1998 Rampart police corruption scandal.

Attorney Steven Yagman, who is representing nine alleged victims of Rampart Division police abuse, took Hahn’s deposition on Wednesday as he seeks to prove that the mayor and City Council have not done enough to prevent officer misconduct.

“I have a court order allowing me take the depositions of every living former and present mayor, chief of police, City Council member and police commissioner,” Yagman said. “What I’m trying to do is show there has been a pattern of indifference toward police abuse allegations.”

Parks was called because he is a member of the City Council and a former chief of the Los Angeles Police Department. Alarcon said he was called because he served on the Los Angeles City Council before he was elected to the state Senate.

Hahn and Alarcon declined to comment, but Parks disputed the contention that the City Council and LAPD have been lax in preventing officer misconduct.

So far, the mayoral candidates have been feisty and defensive, Yagman said, adding that Parks repeatedly denied that he could have done more to foresee and head off the corruption scandal.

Yagman did let a mayoral candidate off the hook. Councilman Antonio Villaraigosa, who has voted on numerous settlements of Rampart cases and has been in briefings on the city’s response, is not named in the lawsuit and was not called to give a deposition.

“He’s a personal friend,” Yagman said. “I’m not suing a personal friend.”

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Hahn, Other Mayors Take Stage With Kerry

If flying all night to spend a few hours in the cold land of the cheeseheads is a sacrifice, then Hahn did his part last week for Democratic presidential candidate John F. Kerry.

Hahn and several other mayors attended a speech Kerry gave Tuesday in the women’s basketball gym at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, about homeland security. The mayor had a prime seat on the stage, directly behind the lectern.

When Kerry first came out on stage, he sat down between Hahn and Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle. The Massachusetts senator squeezed the mayor’s arm. They engaged in quiet chitchat for a few moments and exchanged grins.

Baltimore Mayor Martin O’Malley introduced the half-dozen mayors in attendance, singling out Hahn for “coming all the way from California on the red-eye.”

But Kerry did not mention the mayors by name and instead praised them as leaders of the fight for homeland security.

Hahn did not speak, and, as soon as Kerry finished his speech, the mayor strode off the stage away from the media and disappeared.

Later, he issued a statement, apparently to say what he might have said earlier, if he had said it: “I was proud to join mayors from across the country who are united in support of Sen. Kerry.”

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Schwarzenegger’s DVD Sales Get an Election Boost

It appears that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger may have profited from his foray into politics.

Last November, six days before Schwarzenegger was sworn in as governor, Warner Bros. released the DVD of “Terminator 3.”

At the time, the studio and the governor’s office insisted that there was no connection between the release and Schwarzenegger’s political career.

But a new book about the marketing of blockbuster movies, “Open Wide,” suggests otherwise.

Warners, write the book’s authors, Variety editors Dade Hayes and Jonathan Bing, studied the potential effect of Schwarzenegger’s political future on DVD sales even before the recall election was over.

The studio’s projections: Sales would be lowest if the recall failed; higher if the recall passed but Schwarzenegger lost the race to succeed Gray Davis; and highest if Schwarzenegger became governor.

More than 5 million of the DVDs have been sold, according to some estimates.

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Former Deputy Mayor Joins Rick Caruso’s Firm

Matt Middlebrook caused a stir a year ago when he resigned as deputy mayor to Hahn and joined Fleishman-Hillard, a public relations firm with fat city contracts and close ties to Hahn.

Middlebrook’s move was all the more eyebrow-raising because it happened at the same time Hahn hired Shannon Murphy from Fleishman-Hillard to serve as a press deputy.

Now, with Fleishman-Hillard being sued by the city for alleged bill-padding, and facing investigations by federal and county prosecutors, Middlebrook has decided to move on.

He has taken a job as a government relations manager with Caruso Affiliated Holdings, the company that brought the Grove shopping center to Los Angeles.

The firm, which also has plans for shopping centers in Glendale and the Bay Area, is headed by Rick Caruso, a Hahn appointee to the Los Angeles Police Commission.

Middlebrook said his decision to leave Fleishman has nothing to do with the problems the firm has in L.A.

“It’s been terrific to work here,” he said. “But I have known Rick for some time, and I had a chance to watch him work when I was in the mayor’s office. He has a great company. It was too great an opportunity to pass up.”

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Points Taken

* Talk about hot air. Rep. Christopher Cox (R-Newport Beach) is gleeful over finally puncturing a seemingly useless program -- and making the country money to boot. Cox’s Helium Privatization Act of 1996 requires the federal government to sell off its helium stockpile by 2015. Sales are expected to bring in nearly $2 billion. The reserve was started in 1925, when the War Department was considering a fleet of blimps to use in wartime. The fleet never materialized.

* California ranks second in the nation, behind Washington, for the best laws that reveal the role of campaign contributions in politics. The study was a collaboration of the California Voter Foundation, the Center for Governmental Studies and the UCLA School of Law. “While there were still the same number of failing grades in 2004, the overwhelming majority of states did make some improvements to their disclosure programs,” said Kim Alexander of the California Voter Foundation.

* Not content with embarrassing Schwarzenegger by marketing a “girlie man” doll depicting the governor in a pink dress, salesman and provocateur John Edgell is offering a $500 prize for anyone who can photograph the governor with the doll. The brave can get more information at

www.Governor GirlieMan.com.

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You Can Quote Me

“If water funnels can appear off the coast of Southern California, we can certainly pass business tax reform. If the Boston Red Sox can get rid of their curse, we can get rid of our curse too.”

Los Angeles City Councilman Eric Garcetti on a council panel’s vote last week to move forward with a major package of business tax reforms after more than a decade of false start.

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Contributing this week were Times staff writers Matea Gold, Joe Mathews and Jean O. Pasco.