Chen’s Attacks on Martinez Enliven 30th District Race

Lily Chen says she and her election opponent, Rep. Matthew G. Martinez (D-Monterey Park), “don’t differ that much” on political issues.

And if Martinez weren’t “lazy, arrogant and inept,” unable to keep a staff together, and “an embarrassment” to the district, Chen said, she wouldn’t have much to complain about.

Chen, a former mayor of Monterey Park, is a long shot in the June 7 Democratic primary in the 30th Congressional District, but her strong, personal attacks have captured headlines and unsettled her opponent.

“She’s a sick woman,” Martinez said with disgust last week after Chen accused him of improperly hiring an alleged girlfriend for two government jobs with a combined salary of more dhan than $72,000 a year.

Martinez, who is married but does not live with his wife, called Chen’s allegations “garbage.” He said he had obtained a legal opinion from the office of the clerk of the House of Representatives which showed that he had acted legally in hiring Maxine Grant as both administrative assistant and administrator of his subcommittee on employment opportunities. And Grant said she earns her salary by spending 60 to 70 hours a week on the job.

Martinez said that by launching a personal attack, Chen is showing that she has no real issues and is desperate.

Although Martinez rebutted the allegations by Chen, the attacks drew media attention and focused the campaign on the congressman’s integrity and personal life. And the attacks gave encouragement to three Republicans competing for their party’s nomination June 7 who hope for a divisive Democratic primary to open the way for a Republican upset in November. Democrats outnumber Republicans in the district nearly 2 to 1.

Martinez, 59, has represented the 30th Congressional District, which runs from Bell Gardens to Azusa, since 1982. He was elected to the Monterey Park City Council in 1974 and was serving as mayor and running a furniture upholstery business in 1980 when he upset incumbent Democrat Jack Fenton to win a seat in the state Assembly. Two years later, he was elected to Congress and has been reelected twice since.

Chen, who turned 52 on Friday, was born in China, moved with her family to Taiwan in 1949 and came to the United States as a college student, obtaining a master’s degree in social work from the University of Washington. She has campaigned full time since the beginning of this year while on unpaid leave from her job as director of public affairs for the county Department of Children’s Services. She was elected to the Monterey Park City Council in 1982 but lost a bid for reelection four years later.

The 30th Congressional District includes Monterey Park, Alhambra and San Gabriel, three cities with large and growing Asian populations, but the overall district is heavily Latino. A computer analysis that categorizes registered voters by race and ethnic origin on the basis of surnames indicates that 46.4% of the district’s Democratic voters are Latino, 2.3% are Chinese and 3% are Japanese.

Chen said most immigrant Chinese register as Republicans or nonpartisan, and she has been encouraging them to re-register as Democrats. Chen said she “is bringing new blood into the Democratic Party.”

Both Chen and Martinez discounted the importance of race in the election.

Martinez said his Latino heritage does not guarantee him the support of Latino voters. “Most Hispanics are Americans, and they think, like every other voter, about who is the best candidate, not along ethnic lines,” he said.

Chen said: “Obviously, I’m not an Asian candidate. In every election I have had to get votes from other groups.”

Until last week, the most visible accomplishments of the Chen campaign were the signs plastered throughout the district and her fund-raising success. Aides said she has raised $288,000 for the campaign, substantially more than the $192,704 reported by Martinez.

Chen enlivened the campaign last week by accusing Martinez of improperly hiring his aide for the two jobs. Promising revelations about Martinez, Chen summoned reporters to a Rosemead restaurant, where she read a nine-page statement. She took only a few questions before hurriedly leaving the press conference and referring reporters to a campaign aide.

In an earlier interview, Chen said people in the district tell her that Martinez “votes OK but that’s about it.”

“It takes more than just voting to make a good congressman,” Chen said. “He’s inept. Previously, I thought he was just being lazy, but now I’m really convinced that he is just incapable of doing many things.”

Chen cited an article in the January, 1987, issue of California magazine that rated the state’s House members and gave Martinez the lowest score for intelligence and the second-lowest for effectiveness. She said that although Martinez is chairman of a labor subcommittee, he has produced no significant legislation.

In addition, Chen said, Martinez has such a high turnover in staff that he cannot provide effective services to his constituents. People call the district office and explain their problem to a staff member, she said, and then call back a short time later and find that the person has been replaced by someone unfamiliar with their problem.

The fact that Martinez has only one district office, in Montebello, is also inconvenient, Chen said, and if she is elected, she will open several district offices.

Martinez rejected Chen’s charge that his office neglects constituents.

“I provide a high level of service because I look for top-level people to work for us,” he said.

He denied that his staff turnover is unusually high and added: “What do (constituents) care, as long as they get service?”

Martinez said the derogatory California magazine article was “not even worth reading” and said its conclusions are refuted by the fact that he has been endorsed by his congressional colleagues and most of the Democrats on local city councils.

As for the suggestion that he is lazy, Martinez said: “Since I left the Marine Corps, I’ve held three or four jobs at a time, started a business and made it quite successful. I don’t think you can do those things without being more than energetic.”

He has served as chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and authored legislation regulating the use of lie detector tests and promoting proficiency in English.

Martinez said there are two approaches to congressional service. “Some people like to go on the floor and make hourlong speeches about their opinions on world affairs and different things like that,” he said, but “I don’t think that really accomplishes much for the constituents.”

He said the other approach, which he has adopted, “is to concentrate on what you can do for constituents.” The result, he said, is that he has won senior citizen housing and economic development grants for cities in his district.

In contrast to the lively Martinez-Chen race, the Republican primary has produced few sparks, although all three candidates are campaigning.

The candidates are Ralph Roy Ramirez, 50, a San Gabriel business consultant; Mike Radlovic, 28, an El Monte real estate broker, and Robert S. Kowell, 35, an Alhambra engineering supervisor.

Ramirez ran against Martinez once before, in 1982, and came within a few hundred votes of victory. But that was an unusual situation in which there was a special election in July to fill a vacated congressional seat for a few months. Although Martinez won that election, he had to run again in November, when a full two-year term was at stake.

The Republican strategy that year, Ramirez said, was for him to run in the special election and “rough up” Martinez so that veteran Republican Rep. John Rousselot, who had been reapportioned out of his congressional district, might have a chance against Martinez in the November election. Martinez defeated Ramirez, 51% to 49%, and widened the margin against Rousselot to 54% to 46%.

Ramirez said that although he was regarded by Republican strategists as a “stalking horse” for Rousselot in 1982, he never saw himself that way. “I viewed it as an opportunity to prove a point to Democrats and to Republicans and to myself that Hispanics are conservative, will vote conservative and have all the natural affiliations with the Republican value system.”

In his campaign, Ramirez is emphasizing his Latino heritage, his nearly lifelong residency in the district, his experience in the insurance business and his four years as head of the state Division of Industrial Accidents, which oversees the workers compensation program. He was appointed to that post by Gov. George Deukmejian.

In addition, Ramirez said, he has a long record of community service as a founder of the Open Door drug rehabilitation clinics and as a leader in two boys’ clubs, the March of Dimes and other organizations.

Radlovic is also making his second run for Congress, after failing to win the Republican nomination two years ago.

Like Ramirez, Radlovic is emphasizing his work in the communidy, citing efforts on behalf of the San Gabriel Valley Boys Club, South El Monte Property Owners Assn. and other organizations.

Although Ramirez may have a longer record of community service, Radlovic said, “I will put my accomplishments up against anybody’s in the last five years.”

Born in Yugoslavia in 1959, Radlovic came to the United States with his family in 1961, attended Claremont’s Webb School and Claremont High School, became an all-conference football player at Saddleback College in Orange County and earned a political science degree at UC Irvine.

In Congress, he said, he would concentrate on jobs and economic development to directly benefit residents of the district.

Kowell is a graduate of Cal Poly Pomona and a supervisor at Aerojet Electrosystems Inc. in Azusa. He described himself as “kind of a hidden candidate,” who is running his own campaign, unlike Ramirez and Radlovic, who have hired professional campaign consultants.

Although he said he expects to spend less on his campaign than his rivals, Kowell has managed to install signs throughout the district identifying himself as the anti-crime, anti-drug candidate and is planning to mail voters a brochure outlining his goals.

Kowell said he was a Democrat until 1979, but “I kept getting smarter and switched parties.”

By donating several thousand dollars to the Republican Party, Kowell said, he has become a member of the Republican Senate Inner Circle and other fund-raising groups and has been to Washington five times within the last year for Republican functions.

Kowell’s platform includes limiting representatives to a total of six year in Congress and the death penalty for drug smugglers.

In addition to the Republican and Democratic candidates, there are two other candidates on the June ballot for other parties.

Kim J. Goldsworthy, 31, a computer programmer from Rosemead, is unopposed for the Libertarian nomination. Houston Myers, 73, a retired auto repair shop owner who lives in San Gabriel, is the candidate of the American Independent Party.

A LOOK AT THE DISTRICT 30 CANDIDATES

Lily Chen, 52

Occupation: social worker.

Strategy: “Bringing new blood into the Democratic Party” by getting Asian voters to switch from nonpartisan and Republican registration.

Matthew G. Martinez, 59

Occupation: congressman.

Strategy: “Concentrating on what you can do for constituents,” such as winning senior citizen housing and economic development grants for cities in the district.

Robert S. Kowell, 35

Occupation: engineering supervisor.

Strategy: Identifying himself as the anti-crime candidate and promising to work for the death penalty for drug smugglers.

Mike Radlovic, 28

Occupation: real estate broker.

Strategy: Stressing his work in the community and vowing to concentrate on jobs and economic development to benefit residents of the district.

Ralph R. Ramirez, 50

Occupation: business consultant.

Strategy: Emphasizing his Latino heritage, his nearly lifelong residency in the district and his record of community service.