Mailer Critical of Record on Minority Issues Won’t Hurt Campaign, Griset Says

Santa Ana Mayor Dan Griset, the Democratic candidate for the 72nd Assembly District, said Wednesday that he is unconcerned about the effect on his campaign of a political mailer critical of his record on minority issues that was sent to 47 elected officials in California.

Griset, who will face Republican Richard Longshore in the November election, dismissed the letter as the work of “chronic complainers attempting to allege that Dan Griset is anti-Hispanic. . . . In any case, it’s not a serious thing. It constitutes no damage for my Assembly race.”

The letter, mailed to Assembly Speaker Willie L. Brown Jr. (D-San Francisco), Senate President Pro Tem David Roberti (D-Los Angeles) and more than 40 state and local officials, was signed by members of a United Latino Democrats Political Action Committee, which is chaired by Latino activist Amin David Jr. of Anaheim. The group includes the League of United Latin American Citizens, Hermandad Mexicana Nacional (a tenants’ rights organization), the Hispanic Business and Professional Assn. of Orange County and Los Amigos of Orange County.

The letter, written by David, attacks Griset’s efforts to defeat Santa Ana’s Measure C, a proposition on the June ballot that would have required ward elections in the city, a move that Latinos view as a way to gain more City Council representation. A mailer sent out just before the election “purposely created racial fears between Anglos and the Hispanics,” David wrote.

No Public Position

The anti-C forces included former mayor Lorin Griset (Dan’s father), political consultant Harvey Englander and several groups that support Griset’s Assembly bid. However, Griset argued that he never took a public position on Measure C and stressed that he, in fact, stepped in to assist the pro-C forces when they submitted incorrectly written petitions.

“What’s been overlooked in all of this,” he said, “is that I led the effort to get this on the ballot when it looked like they weren’t going to make it.” Griset said he did not employ Englander in his 1984 City Council campaign as the letter indicates.

The letter also cited:

- The City Council’s support of a stringent housing occupancy standard requiring at least 70 square feet for every two people and another 50 square feet for each additional occupant. The result, according to David’s letter, is that “thousands of Hispanics could be displaced.”

- Griset’s alleged lack of Latino appointees to city boards and commissions.

- Santa Ana’s redevelopment program, which has allegedly “resulted in a substantial number of Hispanic businesses either being forced to be bought out by the city, undergoing bankruptcy proceedings or being displaced.”

- The lack of Latino city department heads.

Griset cited his appointment of attorney Mike Silvas to the city’s personnel board and said he has recommended appointments of Latinos by other council members. In addition, he argued that the city has been actively seeking minorities for all positions in its affirmative action program, citing the currently available positions of library and Bowers Museum directors as two in which minorities are being sought.

The occupancy standard is one that the mayor said he will stand by, arguing that the city must enforce acceptable living conditions.

Not Backing Longshore

David said the goal of the mailer is to see Griset change his stance on the issues rather than provide support for Longshore’s campaign. He said the committee hopes to set up a meeting with Griset and other officials to discuss the various issues. “We are not backing Mr. Longshore,” he said.

Longshore could not be reached for comment.

Latino supporters of Griset said they knew of no instances of insensitivity on the candidate’s part and said they saw no reason to switch their allegiance. Said Silvas: “I certainly have never detected such feelings, and if I had, I would never have supported him. . . . I think he’s the best candidate. First of all, I’m a Democrat, and secondly, I think he’s done a lot for the city of Santa Ana.”

Robert Escalante, one of the developers of a Latino-oriented shopping center to be built downtown, said he has had a lot of cooperation and encouragement from Griset despite backing Griset’s opponent, Manuel Pena, in the 1984 elections. “I can’t say enough about his ability to lead a city that had been lost for a number of years,” he said.

David said his letter is designed to bring pressure on Griset from Latino state and local officials, many of whom are Democrats. “The mayor’s continued insensitivity to the Hispanic and minority community may jeopardize the Democratic Party’s ability to keep the 72nd state Assembly District,” he wrote.