On Eve of Forum : Letter Accuses Picus of Being Against Police

A mailer accusing Los Angeles City Councilwoman Joy Picus of being anti-police began arriving Wednesday in San Fernando Valley homes, setting the stage for tonight’s first and only meeting between Picus and her five opponents in the West Valley’s 3rd District.

The mailer, sent by Picus opponent Gil Eisner, refers to critical remarks by Picus about the Police Department, including a 1983 challenge to Police Chief Daryl F. Gates to “stand up like a man.” The document also contends that Picus “doesn’t support the working police on our neighborhood streets.”

However, Deputy Police Chief Dan Sullivan, head of Valley operations, said in an interview Wednesday, “I don’t have any criticism of Joy Picus.”

Concern With Crime

Crime is expected to be a major topic at tonight’s candidates’ forum. A recent Los Angeles Times Poll found that crime is the leading concern of a majority of Valley residents, although statistics indicate that major crimes have decreased in the Valley as well as in the rest of the city.

The forum will be at 7:30 p.m. at Emerson Unitarian Church, 7304 Jordan Ave., Canoga Park. It will be broadcast live on radio station KCSN (88.5 FM) and at 8 p.m. Friday on Valley Cable TV.

Eisner’s mailer was prepared by Harvey Englander, a political consultant known for aggressive, hard-hitting campaigns. It cost $15,000.

The outside of the mailer says, “If you listen to Joy Picus, you’d hear that our police are good. . . .”

“For nothing,” continues the inside.

1981 Remark Noted

The mailer refers to a remark Picus made to her colleagues the day after she was reelected in 1981 over the opposition of the police union.

“I guess we showed those bastards,” she said.

The mailer also says that Picus, “after an explosive face-to-face confrontation with Gates . . . told him to ‘stand up like a man.’ ”

Picus, who made the latter statement at a 1983 council hearing, said she felt Gates should assume responsibility for alleged abuses in the Police Department’s now-disbanded spy unit, the Public Disorder Intelligence Division.

Statements Acknowledged

In an interview Wednesday, Picus acknowledged making the statements quoted in the mailer but contended her remarks were taken out of context “and put together in a deliberate attempt to deceive the voter.”

She said the police union opposed her reelection in 1981 because she had led a successful effort to limit police pensions. Gates and the police union are staying out of this year’s council race.

Asked what she had done for the Police Department, Picus replied, “When the major crimes task force in the Valley needed help at City Hall, they called on me, and they got their help.” Sullivan, the deputy police chief, said Picus had helped the Valley task force obtain cars for its undercover operations.

Mailing From Nemo

“She has done as much for the department as any other Valley council member,” Sullivan said.

Eisner’s mailer came only a week after another Picus opponent, Jeanne Nemo, sent out a letter signed by three Los Angeles West Valley police officers attacking Picus as the “most anti-police member of the City Council.”

“While Picus has served on the City Council the number of police officers in Los Angeles declined by 1,200,” the Nemo letter said.

City records show there has been a drop in police staffing during the tenure of Picus, who took office in 1977, but not by as much as Nemo has charged.

Nemo has said she obtained her figures from City Councilman John Ferraro, who has made a similar charge in his bid to unseat Mayor Tom Bradley.

Staffing Figures

In the 1973-74 fiscal year, when Bradley took office, the department was authorized to have 7,459 police officers and 2,942 civilians. City administrative staff members said Wednesday that the number of positions was roughly the same when Picus took office. This year, there are 6,999 police officers and 2,786 civilians authorized, for a total decline of 616 positions.

The 1,200 figure apparently counted 500 temporary, federally paid employees hired by the city under an economic recession program that since has been discontinued. It also does not include the council’s recent funding for 100 additional officers, which Picus supported.

City Administrative Officer Keith Comrie has blamed the reduction on budget cuts required after 1978 passage of tax-cutting Proposition 13, mushrooming costs of the police pension system and a business slowdown, which cut tax revenues.

Ballot Measure Issue

Opponents of Picus also have criticized her for supporting a June ballot measure that would raise property taxes by $58 a year for the average home to pay for 1,000 additional policemen.

All five of her opponents contend the tax is unnecessary and that the council can pay the additional officers’ salaries with existing tax revenues. Picus has accused her opponents of using “smoke and mirrors” for coming up with money that does not exist in the city budget.

Tonight will be the first public opportunity for the five challengers to confront Picus, whom they have accused of trying to avoid such a meeting.

Reasoning Given

Picus has said she chose tonight’s forum because she prefers to participate in one well-attended meeting rather than many small ones.

It is sponsored by the Los Angeles Chapter of the League of Women Voters, the San Fernando Valley Chapter of the American Assn. of University Women and the United Chambers of Commerce.

The event will open with three-minute statements by each candidate. Candidates will be given one minute each to respond to questions from the audience and will have three minutes each for closing statements.