Hayden Feels ‘Wronged’ But Will ‘Resume Business’

One day after a Republican-led attempt failed to oust him from the Assembly, Democrat Tom Hayden on Tuesday said he feels “wronged” by his colleagues but maintained that he can still work with them on legislation.

“I’m trying--despite my feelings of being wronged--I am trying to resume normal business and vote for bills, not looking at who the author is, and I’ve done that today,” said the two-term lawmaker from Santa Monica.

Assemblyman Gil Ferguson (R-Newport Beach), a retired Marine lieutenant colonel, led the attempt to oust Hayden for alleged traitorous conduct on four trips to Hanoi during the Vietnam War. Assembly Speaker Willie Brown (D-San Francisco) ruled Ferguson’s motion out of order. His ruling was sustained on a 41-36 vote. Voting no were 32 Republicans and four Democrats.

Hayden said in an interview Tuesday that he would not allow the highly charged debate about his past as an anti-war protest leader to get in the way of his work in the Legislature. His voice rising, Hayden said, “I was elected to represent the interests of my constituents in terms of the merits of legislation, not who the author is.”

Still, Hayden’s personal relations with GOP lawmakers are bruised, and what that could mean in the long term remains unclear.

Within hours of the Assembly action, Hayden declined to vote on a bill by Assembly Republican Leader Patrick Nolan (R-Glendale) in the Assembly Revenue and Taxation Committee. Nolan lobbied Hayden for his support for the measure, aimed at encouraging more film production in California by allowing various tax breaks for production companies. The measure stalled in the committee on a 4-4 vote with Hayden present but not voting.

Hayden, who is married to actress Jane Fonda, said his position had nothing to do with Nolan’s opposition to him. Instead, Hayden said, he supports a similar but less sweeping film measure by Assemblyman Gray Davis (D-Los Angeles).

But Hayden said he privately complained to Nolan that it seemed “a little hypocritical to try to oust me from the Assembly in the morning and then beseech me for a vote in the afternoon.”

Nolan said he tried to change Hayden’s mind in what he described as a conversation that dealt with “the merits of the bill.” Nolan would not discuss what Hayden told him.

Assemblyman Frank Hill (R-Whittier), a Nolan lieutenant, warned that if Hayden blocked Republican bills “he’ll have trouble” attracting GOP support for his measures.

But Hill and others who voted against Hayden said they doubt that the ouster attempt will influence their stands on Hayden’s bills.

“It won’t affect my judgment on his bills,” asserted Assemblyman Tom McClintock (R-Thousand Oaks), who supported the ouster bid. In fact, McClintock on Tuesday was among seven Republicans who voted for a Hayden measure to study new ways to finance the state’s community colleges. The Assembly approved the measure by a 48-21 margin.

Hayden complained that McClintock had once asked him about his past and had promised not to vote for Hayden’s ouster.

McClintock acknowledged that pledge, which he said was made about four years ago, but said he had changed his mind. McClintock, 29, said he had been in grade school and high school during the protest era and was too young to recall the details of Hayden’s activities.

McClintock remembered telling Hayden that he didn’t care about their political differences and that he “felt the people had a right to elect anybody they wanted, but that was before I learned what he had done to support North Vietnam.”

Democrats view Monday’s vote as settling the issue.

Assemblyman Burt Margolin (D-Los Angeles), whose district adjoins Hayden’s, said the ouster effort was a “partisan stunt” to raise campaign funds.

Monday’s vote “definitely ends the issue,” Margolin said. “It puts the issue behind him.”