Peace, Bradley Aide Argue Over Prop. 65

Placard-carrying farmers opposing anti-toxics Proposition 65 staged a rally outside Los Angeles City Hall Wednesday, but the highlight of the event turned out to be a loud, animated argument between Democratic Assemblyman Steve Peace and the top assistant to Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley.

As demonstrators, reporters and photographers looked on, Peace and Los Angeles Deputy Mayor Tom Houston stood face-to-face, disputing the merits, impact and wording of the controversial ballot measure to limit discharges of toxic chemicals into drinking water.

Witnesses compared the confrontation to one between a baseball umpire and a manager victimized by a bad call. Both blamed the other for escalating the discussion on the City Hall steps into a public argument.

“He started it,” said Peace, who was leading about 250 farmers from the Imperial Valley and other agricultural areas in the demonstration. “Tom got all excited and he started running down the steps. . . . At one point, he was pointing his finger in my chest.”

But Houston, Bradley’s top aide at City Hall, charged that Peace kept interrupting a television interview with Tom Epstein, campaign manager for the Yes on Proposition 65 effort. He said Peace was misstating facts regarding the initiative “and I stepped in and set the record straight.”

At one point, while the two men were arguing over the wording of the initiative, Peace handed Houston what he claimed was a copy of the measure and Houston angrily tossed the papers to the ground.

“He gave me the very first draft,” said Houston, a co-author of the measure. “It is very clear to me what it says. I drafted the initiative.”

Peace, a two-term lawmaker from Chula Vista, supports Bradley in his gubernatorial race and has criticized Republican Gov. George Deukmejian for having “a weak performance on environmental issues,” including management of toxics.

But Peace, who represents the Imperial Valley, a rich farming area, has been an outspoken opponent of the Democrat-backed initiative. He contends that it is “vague . . . illogical . . . inconsistent with its stated aims . . . and politically motivated.”

The Deukmejian Administration’s handling of toxic regulation and cleanup has become the central issue in the bitter governor’s race. Bradley is a strong supporter of Proposition 65; the governor opposes it. Peace is one of a handful of Democratic legislators who oppose the measure.

Peace, 33, a former movie producer, was involved last year in a well-publicized Capitol corridor shouting match with Senate Budget Committee Chairman Alfred Alquist (D-San Jose) after one of Peace’s bills was killed in Alquist’s committee.

For several days, senators, angered by Peace’s reported conduct in the name-calling incident with the 77-year-old Alquist, refused to pass any bills that Peace had authored until he apologized to the senator. Most of Peace’s bills that had been held hostage eventually passed in the final days of last year’s session--after he made peace with Alquist.

Times staff photographer Al Seib, in Los Angeles, contributed to this story.