City Controller Race Heats Up as Shapiro and Tuttle Trade Charges

A subdued Los Angeles city controller’s race awoke Friday in controversy with candidates Dan Shapiro and Rick Tuttle battling over who is a stronger supporter of law enforcement and whether Tuttle’s massive direct mail campaign is misleading voters.

In the waning days before Tuesday’s election, Shapiro accused his opponent of engaging in “false, misleading, unfair and sleazy campaign tactics” in his mailers. And one of Shapiro’s leading supporters, state Sen. Ed Davis (R-Valencia), claimed Tuttle had wrongfully implied to Republican voters that Davis, a former Los Angeles police chief, endorses him.

But Tuttle, a community college trustee, vehemently denied those charges and called Shapiro’s attacks a “desperate effort” to confuse issues in the controller’s race and to defuse the support Tuttle has gotten from such politicians as Mayor Tom Bradley, who will be featured in radio ads scheduled to air this weekend, and Dist. Atty. Ira Reiner.

Charges, Countercharges

Those charges and countercharges began at a news conference called by Shapiro and spilled over into a joint appearance on KABC radio’s “Michael Jackson Show.” There, both men argued over campaign tactics and tangled over whether the police tax issue on Tuesday’s ballot is an accurate barometer of their commitment to law enforcement.

That proposition, if passed by two-thirds of the voters, would raise property taxes in order to add as many as 1,000 officers over the next five years to the 7,000-officer Los Angeles Police Department.

Although both men support the measure, Tuttle said Shapiro’s lukewarm support of Proposition 1 had cost him the support of such groups as the Los Angeles Police Protective League.

‘Serious Misgivings’

In a pro-Tuttle mailer from the police union, the league’s president, George Aliano, claimed Shapiro has “serious misgivings” about whether the Police Department should be strengthened.

Calling the tax plan the “litmus test” for police support, Aliano described Tuttle as “the only candidate for controller fully backing the drive to pass Proposition 1 and make our streets safer.”

But Shapiro, a Studio City real estate attorney, told Jackson’s radio audience “that mailer is an outright lie” because it raised doubts about whether he favors boosting the strength of the Police Department.

Shapiro said he would vote for the tax measure because it represents the only current alternative for additional police officers, but he warned that it does not guarantee that the entire 1,000 officers would be added to the police force.

Cites ‘Concern’

“That’s been my concern from the beginning,” Shapiro said. “We currently lack the political resolve to put additional police officers on the street and this just may be another method by the politicians to increase the taxes without giving any additional increase in services. . . .”

Tuttle has put himself squarely behind Proposition 1 and said both campaigns have “merged their efforts” on slate cards sent out by Berman and D’Agostino Campaigns, which is running Tuttle’s campaign. The firm is owned by Carl D’Agostino and Michael Berman, the brother of Rep. Howard L. Berman (D-Los Angeles).

The influential Westside political organization headed by Reps. Berman and Henry Waxman (D-Los Angeles) has strongly backed Tuttle in the controller’s race.

Davis Dispute

That joint effort led to the dispute involving Davis, whose picture appeared with Tuttle on a mailer aimed at Republican voters. Davis is a supporter of Proposition 1 but is also a Shapiro backer.

In the slate card sent out by the Berman-D’Agostino firm, Davis is identified as supporting the ballot measure while an endorsement from the police union is shown with Tuttle’s picture. Although a line separates the two pictures, the overall message is spelled out in headlines--calling on Republicans to vote for both Tuttle and the ballot measure.

“It was simply a misleading slate card put out by the Berman-Waxman machine,” said Eric Rose, press secretary for Davis’ U.S. Senate campaign.

Gates’ Statement

Los Angeles Police Chief Daryl F. Gates also issued a statement stressing that he is neutral in the controller’s race after his endorsement of Proposition 1 also appeared in the pro-Tuttle mailer. But Ann Hollister, Tuttle’s campaign manager, said: “We’re not trying to confuse voters. We just have a joint campaign. It’s not meant to be misleading.”

At his news conference, however, Shapiro criticized other Tuttle mailers. He said that while both candidates are Democrats in the nonpartisan race, the Berman-D’Agostino firm has carefully worded messages appealing to each political group.

Hollister accused Shapiro’s camp of the same offense, citing the use of Shapiro’s picture on two slate mailers--one billed as “the Democratic team for Los Angeles” and the other as “the Republican team for Los Angeles.”