Opponent Raps Wachs’ Refusal to Appear at Election Forum

City Council candidate Jerry Hays charged Tuesday that Councilman Joel Wachs’ refusal to participate in the campaign’s first election forum showed that Wachs “places politics above the interests of the community.”

Hays, president of the Studio City Chamber of Commerce, blasted Wachs at a one-hour 2nd District candidates’ forum sponsored by the Sun Valley Chamber of Commerce. He was joined by two other candidates, Jack E. Davis, 63, a retired railroad brakeman from Studio City, and Georgetta Wilmeth, 64, a Tujunga homemaker. Both are political unknowns.

Wachs, who has a campaign war chest of nearly $600,000 and is heavily favored to win reelection, even though he is running in a recently redrawn district, has said he will not join his opponents at any forums or debates for the April 14 election. “I’m not willing to give my opponents any help,” he said.

Refusal to Appear Defended

His campaign manager, Mark Siegel, who appeared at the forum, said Wachs has been “very aggressive” about attending other community functions. Wachs was at a City Council meeting Tuesday, but forum organizers had offered to find a more convenient date if he would participate.

The low-key session before about 25 Chamber members provided little interaction between the candidates and no rhetorical fireworks. The Sunland-Tujunga Rotary Club has scheduled a second joint appearance on March 7.

Hays, 49, who finished a distant second to Wachs in a six-person field in the old 2nd District in 1983, took a swipe at the 16-year incumbent for accepting substantial contributions from real estate developers.

Holding aloft what he said was a list of campaign contributions received by Wachs from 1982 through 1984--before adoption of a 1985 law limiting contributions to $500 per donor--Hays said that more half the money came from developers. He later said that Wachs received $126,000 from developers during that period.

“I don’t think that represents my interests, and I don’t think it represents yours,” Hays said, pledging to vote on development on the basis of “need, not just profit.”

Asked later whether he could cite a specific vote or action Wachs had taken that was improperly influenced by real estate contributions, Hays said he could not. He also said he had accepted contributions from developers himself but would not let them “dominate my thinking.” He said he has raised a total of $20,000, which he acknowledged was “not enough to be a threat.”

Siegel, Wachs’ top aide, responded that Wachs’ record on development has been exemplary, citing his early support for building-height restrictions on Ventura Boulevard, community growth plans and control of construction in the Hollywood Hills.