New Bradley Ads Rap Governor on Toxic Waste

Mayor Tom Bradley’s campaign, attempting to counter his drop in the polls by pointing out “failures” in Gov. George Deukmejian’s Administration, Thursday unveiled a television commercial campaign attacking Deukmejian’s record on toxic waste.

At a press conference at Bradley’s Hollywood headquarters, campaign chairman Tom Quinn showed two 30-second commercials, one featuring actress Tyne Daly of the television series, “Cagney and Lacey.”

In it, mounds of what appears to be sludge pours through an opening, while Daly says, “George Deukmejian doesn’t want you to see this.”

She goes on to say that Deukmejian received $500,000 from “toxic polluters,” while “blocking enforcement of our toxic cleanup laws.”

Larry Thomas, Deukmejian’s campaign director, disputed the ads and said Bradley’s attacks were “shameful and intellectually bankrupt.”

Thomas said that among other things, “state personnel working in the toxic management area has increased by nearly 40% and that the state has participated in the cleanup of more than 100 toxic sites.” The governor, he said, “has three times proposed to establish a separate toxic waste management department, only to be thwarted by the Democratic-controlled Legislature.”

With nearly six months still to go before the general election, the charges and countercharges have become a central part of the gubernatorial campaign. Quinn said Thursday that he hopes through the ads to focus voter attention on Deukmejian’s “failures” as a means of helping Bradley gain on Deukmejian. Polls show the mayor trailing the governor by substantial margins.

The $500,000 figure cited in the new Bradley commercials is double the amount the mayor had been citing previously. When Quinn first criticized such campaign gifts to Deukmejian, he said the contributions counted were from companies involved in waste hauling and disposal.

On Thursday, however, the definition of “polluters” was broadened to include such companies as Rockwell International, Chevron Corp. and Santa Fe Southern Pacific Corp. Adding those three companies alone to the list added $93,000 toward the new $500,000 total Bradley is now citing.

The new companies listed include some overlooked before and others taken from a state Department of Health Services list, Quinn said. The list includes companies that have been verified to have released hazardous wastes into the air, water or ground, said Lache McClenahen, a toxic waste site official in the Department of Health Services.

The state list includes companies with problems “that range from very, very serious to minor in importance,” McClenahen said.

Quinn said Thursday that he did not know if Bradley had received campaign contributions from any of the same companies.

Even if Bradley did, he would not need to return the money, Quinn said.

“The issue here is the governor’s failure to enforce the health laws of this state,” he said.

Quinn said he was not trying to show a “quid pro quo” relationship in the ads, although the new ones also highlight campaign contributions to Deukmejian, while talking about toxic dangers.