Houseman Turns Stationery Debate Into Attack on Chu

During a City Council debate on the proper use of city stationery Monday night, Mayor Christopher F. Houseman accused Councilwoman Judy Chu of plagiarism.

Houseman charged that Chu had sent Gov. George Deukmejian a letter that was essentially a copy of one Houseman had sent to him on the same topic.

But after a debate in which Houseman attacked Chu at length, Police Capt. Joseph Santoro said he was to blame. As the audience laughed, breaking the tension, Santoro said he had written the letters for both Houseman and Chu.

The dispute erupted as the council debated a policy to set limits on the use of city stationery by city officials. The policy was later approved by a 3-1 vote, with Houseman abstaining.

Council Approval

The new policy requires that a letter espousing personal views be paid for by the council member and carry the phrase “not printed at public expense.” A majority of the council also must now approve any letter dealing with subjects other than routine ones.

The new procedures were prompted partly by the controversy surrounding a recent letter in which Councilman Barry L. Hatch complained about U.S. immigration policies. Chu, who had questioned Hatch’s use of stationery for what she has called private, political purposes, was the first council member to urge that safeguards be enacted.

When Chu suggested that the council vote on new procedures, Houseman replied: “I don’t need you to play the parliamentarian. And I don’t need you to shove through your policy.”

Houseman then accused Chu of plagiarism.

“You took the words and the work of another council member and you wrote it all down as your own,” Houseman said. “You basically plagiarized my entire letter. But you made a couple of interesting changes, especially the closing. The closing was ‘Please contact me (Chu).’ ”

It was improper for Chu to ask the governor to contact her, Houseman said. And Houseman pointed out that in closing his letter, he had written that he was speaking on behalf of the entire council.

Demanding an apology, Houseman continued: “You have committed some of the most outrageous violations, far more outrageous than this city has ever, ever, ever seen, with the use of city stationery.”

During the summer, the mayor said, he wrote a letter on behalf of the council to Deukmejian, asking for help with the city’s goal of relocating a state parole office from its present location on the Alhambra-Monterey Park border.

‘Worst Offense’

Chu received copies, Houseman charged, and she soon wrote a letter on the same issue to the governor. Houseman said that Chu signed herself as a Ph.D., indicating her doctorate in psychology. “The worst offense to commit as a holder of a doctorate,” Houseman said, “is to commit plagiarism. That’s the worst possible academic crime.”

“If you’ll let me . . .,” Chu said, trying to interrupt.

“Can you imagine what they thought in the governor’s office,” Houseman said, “when a week after my letter they got your letter with the same exact words?

“You should be absolutely ashamed of yourself. You tried to undercut our united efforts for your own grandstanding.”

Chu then gave her version of what happened. A citizens group, upset about the parole office being located last year in their neighborhood, had asked her, Chu said, “to find as many contacts as I could in the governor’s office.” Chu said she contacted Santoro, who has spearheaded the city’s efforts on the issue, and asked him to compose a letter for her.

‘Composed Both’

“That is correct,” Santoro said, when Chu asked him to confirm what happened. “I composed both letters.”

Santoro explained that the opening and closing of Houseman’s and Chu’s letters were different. But the middles were the same, consisting of three paragraphs of facts that, Santoro said, “are used regularly by me in any correspondence I have” on the issue.

“If there is any blame for these two letters, the blame is mine and mine alone,” he said. “I had no idea it would cause any type of controversy on the council. The pure intent was to deliver accurate information.”

But Houseman was unmoved. “The real problem with all this, Councilwoman Chu, is that you damaged us in the eyes of the governor’s office.”

Earlier this month, the council had refused to act on a similar proposal to limit the use of city stationery, but Councilwoman Patricia Reichenberger asked that the council reconsider.

“Before the election, we had some very strange things going on in this community,” with letters, she said.

She cited a letter the council had mailed, after a split vote, during the campaign before the April 12 elections. The letter criticized two candidates for suggesting the city had water quality problems.

Reichenberger said her belief that a policy was needed did not stem from disagreement over the content of Hatch’s letter on immigration policies, which has infuriated some residents.

In his July 28 letter, Hatch called for “closing (of) our borders, removing illegal aliens and controlling the abuse of visas.” The nation’s existence, he wrote, was threatened by “hordes of invaders.”

‘Diapers on an Adult’

He sent the letter to six dozen candidates for state and national office, including presidential candidates George Bush and Michael S. Dukakis.

The new policy would not prohibit any council member from writing a similar letter, using the city’s letterhead, as long as the member paid for it and the phrase “not printed at public expense” appeared on the document.

Hatch, who voted against the policy, said “it’s like putting diapers on an adult when we impose such childish rules.”