Mayor puts his clout to the test in Weiss race

In the four years since he became mayor of Los Angeles, Antonio Villaraigosa has thrown his weight behind an array of politicians and would-be officeholders, working to elect candidates to the school board, the Legislature and even president of the United States.

But Tuesday’s election may present the greatest test to his clout, as he pushes for his closest ally at City Hall, Councilman Jack Weiss, to defeat former prosecutor Carmen Trutanich in the competitive race for city attorney.

Over the last two years, Villaraigosa has lined up endorsements, hosted campaign fundraisers, asked friends to contribute money and even tried to keep at least one ally who privately dislikes the councilman from defecting to the other camp, according to records and interviews.

His political consultant and campaign opposition researcher, Ace Smith, runs the Weiss campaign and has lobbed a steady stream of attacks to drive up Trutanich’s negative ratings. Meanwhile, the mayor’s labor union allies have pressed risk averse council members to support Weiss or at least stay neutral.

“The mayor’s raised money for Jack. The mayor’s campaigning for him. He’s doing everything he can for Jack,” said Richard Katz, a Villaraigosa appointee on the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, who contributed to Weiss at the mayor’s request.

From a field of five candidates, Weiss came in first and Trutanich second in the March 3 primary.

Trutanich campaign consultant John Shallman warned that if Weiss wins the general election on Tuesday, it will show that “old-school corrupt machine politics is alive and well” in Los Angeles. Trutanich himself said Weiss, who faced lukewarm reviews from his colleagues and a failed recall attempt from a group of constituents in his Westside district, would never have gotten this far, financially or politically, without aggressive advocacy by the mayor.

“I can tell you this: Without the machine’s help, he would have raised nothing,” Trutanich said of his opponent.

Weiss declined to comment. But Smith described Trutanich’s comments as “the whining of a losing campaign,” and said voters should be more worried that the city’s police officers’ union has spent nearly $750,000 on Trutanich’s behalf.

The mayor’s support goes beyond money. Police Chief William J. Bratton, one of the mayor’s department heads, has appeared in television commercials for Weiss. In his capacity as mayor, Villaraigosa has staged news events that put Weiss if not directly in the spotlight then close to it.

Still, support from Villaraigosa hasn’t always worked in Weiss’ favor. Two weeks ago, one of Villaraigosa’s pension board appointees was forced to resign after he held a fundraiser for Weiss in violation of the city’s ethics law. Weiss said he returned the contributions.

Trutanich also has his own list of big-name supporters, including Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley and L.A. County Sheriff Lee Baca. Still, neither has the political reach of Villaraigosa, who has established relationships with politicians, developers, investors, Democratic Party activists, nonprofit groups and environmental organizations -- many of whom have stepped forward as surrogates to criticize Trutanich.

In the campaign’s final days, the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor -- whose leader, Maria Elena Durazo, is a Villaraigosa confidant -- has spent nearly $395,000, much of it for television advertisements criticizing Trutanich. The Democratic Party poured nearly $174,000 into various campaign expenses, including mailers attacking Trutanich.

Weiss fundraisers have been headlined by Villaraigosa financial backers such as Tim Leiweke, president of Anschutz Entertainment Group, which won up to $270 million in city tax breaks to build the LA Live entertainment complex. Another was hosted by Clinton administration Cabinet secretary Henry Cisneros, whose investment fund received a $50-million allocation from pension boards controlled by Villaraigosa appointees.

Several recent Villaraigosa news conferences have focused on Weiss’ campaign themes, particularly public safety and gun violence. Last week, for example, he stood by as Villaraigosa discussed a program to give gift cards to residents who surrendered weapons.

“When people ask me why I’m supporting Jack Weiss for city attorney, I say: because he’s a crime fighter,” Villaraigosa told reporters.

Weiss has been a dependable Villaraigosa ally, voting for his plan to hire 1,000 police officers and backing him on efforts to change traffic patterns on Olympic and Pico boulevards -- even at the risk of upsetting his own constituents.

The city attorney race is not the first time that the mayor’s supporters have intervened on Weiss’ behalf. Two years ago, Villaraigosa friend and campaign fundraiser Ari Swiller stepped in to try to help stop a drive to recall Weiss.

Neighborhood activists considered Weiss imperious and unresponsive. In response, Swiller met with them at least three times -- with Weiss in tow -- to ask how the councilman could make amends, said Mike Eveloff, president of the Tract 7260 Homeowners Assn.

Introducing himself as a friend of Weiss, Swiller warned that a recall campaign could get uncomfortable if it moved forward, said Eveloff, a longtime Weiss critic. “He said, ‘You know, these recalls can get really personal,’ ” Eveloff said. “And I said, ‘Ari, that sounds like a threat.’ And he said ‘No, it’s not a threat. These things can get really personal.’ ”

Swiller did not return a call seeking comment. But Smith said it was Eveloff who posed the question about the tenor of prior recall campaigns. Swiller also sought repeated assurances from Eveloff that he understood that he was talking about recalls in a historical context, Smith said.

With Villaraigosa as his campaign chairman, Weiss built up a $700,000 fundraising advantage over Trutanich in the March 3 primary campaign. That advantage was erased, however, after Weiss received 36% of the vote and Trutanich came in second.

Since then, Trutanich received a huge boost from law enforcement employee unions, which have spent more than $845,000 on his behalf.

Durazo’s labor coalition has provided a counterweight for Weiss, running television spots that stress the central themes of his campaign -- Trutanich’s legal work representing polluters.

Villaraigosa recently said he played no role in securing that support. “They didn’t need to be asked,” he said.

Durazo also weighed in in another way. Weeks before the election, she met privately with Councilman Bill Rosendahl -- who has not masked his disdain for Weiss -- to make clear that she did not want him to endorse Trutanich.

Rosendahl would not discuss his conversation with Durazo.

But during the one-on-one meeting, according to two city officials familiar with the details, Durazo told Rosendahl that a Weiss victory was critical for Villaraigosa to show that he has clout in a potential race for governor. The sources spoke on the condition that they not be identified for fear of retaliation.

Durazo denied making such comments but confirmed that she has spoken to Rosendahl and other council members about the need for a Weiss win.

Even as they seek to stay neutral publicly, Rosendahl and Councilwoman Janice Hahn have shown up for Trutanich fundraisers. Eight council members have endorsed Weiss. Others declined to take a side. The lone exception is Councilman Dennis Zine, who endorsed Trutanich and repeatedly has gone on radio shows to criticize Weiss. “People were told it wouldn’t be smart to go against Jack,” he said. “But . . . you’ve got to have some integrity and stand up for what you believe is right.”

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