GOP Big Spender in Bid to Oust Tanner

Assembly Republican leaders have poured $123,000 into the campaign to unseat Democratic Assemblywoman Sally Tanner of El Monte, enabling Republican challenger Henry J. Velasco to flood the district with mailers that Tanner says distort her record, but which he says contain charges that have been solidly researched.

Tanner said the barrage is “a bundle of lies and distortions,” and has left her “physically ill.”

“Their campaign is clever, but it’s ugly,” Tanner said. “They don’t speak to the issues.”

But Velasco, a former El Monte councilman, said the mailers are well-researched and Tanner’s discomfort stems from the fact that she is in a tough political fight and in danger of losing in Tuesday’s election.

Doug Haaland, who is managing Velasco’s campaign against Tanner, said the Assembly Republican caucus has put $123,000 worth of money and campaign services into the effort, raising total expenditures to $140,000. Much of the money has gone into mailers that have attacked Tanner for supporting reconfirmation of California Chief Justice Rose Elizabeth Bird, and which charge that she has taken campaign funds from companies that produce toxic waste while she is drafting laws on such wastes, and voted against the death penalty and for reduced penalties for drug use.

Haaland said all of the charges in the mailers have been carefully documented and are based on voting records and other information.

But Tanner said the mailers “are lying” about her record. For example, she said, one mailer said she supports legalized offshore gambling. The Velasco campaign based the charge on Tanner’s vote in 1985 for a bill that would have repealed penal code provisions that make it unlawful to solicit persons to visit gambling ships.

Tanner’s staff said the bill would not have legalized offshore gambling, which already occurs on cruise ships and is beyond the power of the state to regulate. In an interview, Tanner said she could not recall the purpose of the bill, but she does not advocate legalized gambling, and, in fact, opposed establishment of the state lottery.

Tanner also accused the Velasco campaign of using a “phony committee” to claim support from law enforcement. Tanner has the endorsement of the Police Officers Research Assn. of California, which claims 30,000 members, other major law enforcement organizations and the police chiefs of El Monte and West Covina.

Velasco’s mailer claims that he was endorsed by law enforcement, but the organization cited was the Professional Police and Sheriffs of California, a political organization that was formed Oct. 6 with only 19 members statewide.

A Campaign Ploy

Tanner replied to Velasco’s mailer with a mailer of her own calling the Professional Police and Sheriffs of California a “phony organization” and quoting other law enforcement leaders as saying that it had been established as a “campaign ploy to confuse voters.”

Haaland said that the organization, although new, is a legitimate one and that the mailer containing its endorsement was important not for the size of the organization’s membership, but for the issues that were raised, including Tanner’s support of Bird and her record on crime issues.

In addition to general mailings to the district, Velasco’s campaign has included targeted mail, sending messages designed to appeal to specific groups of voters. A Velasco letter to Chamber of Commerce members, for example, criticized Tanner’s record on issues of interest to small businesses and cited her votes contrary to the position of the state Chamber of Commerce.

In a letter to Latino voters, Velasco noted that he is Latino and said, “Because Hispanics make up the population majority in our 60th Assembly District, I think it is important for us to have a Hispanic representative--someone who really understands what our concerns are.”

Edge in Registration

An estimated 54% of the residents of the 60th Assembly District are Latino, according to the 1980 census. Nearly 60% of the voters are registered Democrats and less than 32% are Republican, with the remainder either independent or belonging to minor parties.

Tanner has represented the 60th Assembly District for eight years. The district includes Baldwin Park, El Monte, La Puente, Rosemead, City of Industry and part of West Covina.

Velasco said the amount of support his campaign is receiving from the Republican Party shows that leaders share his conviction that Tanner can be beaten despite her party’s registration edge.

Tanner said she had planned to spend about $50,000 on her campaign, but is revising the budget upward to meet the Republican attack.

Source of Funds Criticized

Velasco has sharply criticized Tanner’s acceptance of campaign funds from chemical companies, toxic waste haulers “and other polluters” while sitting as chairwoman of the Assembly Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials Committee. The campaign contributions have amounted to more than $30,000 over several years.

Velasco said it is “simply an outrage” that Tanner would take campaign money from such companies, some of which have paid heavy fines for damaging the environment.

Haaland, the campaign manager, conceded that it is standard practice for legislators in Sacramento to accept contributions from companies while working on legislation affecting those companies, but said, “that doesn’t make it right.”

Tanner said she stands on her record of accomplishment in the toxic waste field, including authorship of the state Superfund bill, which levies a tax on companies that dispose of toxic waste.

Opposition to Bird

Velasco’s campaign has emphasized his opposition to the reconfirmation of Bird and Tanner’s support of the chief justice.

Tanner said she is not campaigning for Bird, but does support her retention, and she criticized efforts to “politicize” the courts.

Velasco also has hit hard at votes and statements that he alleges Tanner made in opposition to the death penalty. He said she has voted against the death penalty five times. But Tanner said she cannot recall ever voting or speaking against the death penalty and cited death penalty bills that she has supported. She said her opinion of the death penalty is that “it is the law and should be enforced.”

Velasco said Tanner has blurred her position on the death penalty because she knows that opposition to it is politically unpopular.

Crime Charge Stings

Tanner voted in 1983 for a bill the governor vetoed that would have made it possible for possession of less than an ounce of marijuana to be treated as an infraction instead of a misdemeanor. Velasco has cited this vote as evidence that she is “soft’ on crime issues. Tanner said that charge has particularly stung because she has worked hard against drug abuse, and, in fact, was instrumental in founding the Duarte Council on Drug Abuse 15 years ago. The organization has given drug abuse treatment to more than 5,000 people.

Velasco also has called upon Tanner to return $14,000 in per diem expense money to the state because he claims that she lives in Sacramento, not the San Gabriel Valley. The expense money is paid to legislators to offset the cost of maintaining a place to live in Sacramento while the Legislature is in session. Velasco said Tanner’s principal home is in Sacramento, so she should not take the money.

Tanner said the charge has no merit because she has homes in both Sacramento and Baldwin Park. She must be in Sacramento when the Legislature is in session, she said, but returns to the San Gabriel Valley nearly every weekend. She bought a Baldwin Park condominium recently and before that maintained an apartment in El Monte, she said.