South Bay Politics : Voters in the 53rd Assembly District should brace themselves for an onslaught of political hit-mail

If there’s a place where voters ought to be wary of what arrives in their mailbox just before an election, it is the South Bay’s own 53rd Assembly District.

History shows that voters in the traditionally Democratic district of Hawthorne, Gardena, Lawndale, Carson, Harbor Gateway and Dominguez have received some of most vicious political hit mail in California.

Two years ago this month, Assembly Republican leader Pat Nolan of Glendale unleashed an October onslaught of campaign mailers that attacked Democratic Assemblyman Richard E. Floyd of Hawthorne.

The barrage of campaign mailers included a phony letter allegedly signed by President Reagan that accused Floyd of caving in to “the powerful underworld drug industry.”

Later investigation by the state attorney general’s office and the Sacramento County district attorney showed the purported presidential letter was false, a creation of Assembly GOP staffers.

Now, the opening shots have been fired in what both sides expect to be a down-and-dirty dogfight between Floyd and his latest Republican challenger, Charles Bookhammer.

Since direct mail is the only efficient way to reach the voters in the district, it is the chief weapon in the arsenals of both candidates.

Bookhammer, a Hawthorne city councilman, kicked off the campaign season in the last two weeks with back-to-back mailers to 58,000 Democratic- and independent-voter households. The mailers charge that Floyd “cheated” taxpayers by voting for “huge salary and expense increases.”

One of the mailers features a cartoon character of Floyd as a “fat cat” sitting on a bench in front of the state Capitol feeding pigeons.

“Dick Floyd has a name for taxpayers . . . Lunch,” the mailer says. “When it comes to playing the game of fat cat politics, Dick Floyd is one of the best.”

The piece attacks Floyd for receiving more in travel money than any other Assembly member in 1985, voting to raise legislative salaries every session since he was first elected in 1980, collecting tax-free expense money while the Legislature was out of session, receiving honoraria from special interest groups, registering his car in Sacramento where auto insurance is cheaper and missing numerous votes on the Assembly floor.

The message was reinforced by a second mailer featuring a cartoon sketch of a cigar-smoking Floyd with a bag of cash in the back seat of his car. It reads, “Hi ho, hi ho . . . it’s off to the bank I go” and accuses Floyd of “profiting from his job as our assemblyman.”

Both mailers were mailed by the California Republican Party, which can send campaign mail at a lower postal rate than candidates.

Bookhammer defends the mailers.

“It isn’t mudslinging, it’s truth-slinging. It is about his record in Sacramento,” he said. “I’m going to keep pushing on Floyd. I’m not going to let up. The voters are going to know the differences between Dick Floyd and Chuck Bookhammer by Nov. 8.”

Angry at the attack, Floyd vows to fight back.

“It’s going to get pretty dirty,” he said. “I’m not going to lay down and take it this time. Last time, they ran outrageous lies. They even forged the President’s signature and I was reelected in the face of all that garbage.”

Floyd said his travel expenses are high because he commutes back and forth to the district and he often toured the state as a member of a legislative committee on veterans issues.

He freely admits that he voted to raise legislative salaries from $28,110 to $37,105 over the past eight years but notes the pay hikes could not have been approved without Republican votes. “Hell, I’m worth it,” Floyd said. “If this guy isn’t worth it, he shouldn’t be looking for the job.”

Floyd said legislators are allowed to collect $82 a day in tax-free expense money for weekends and holidays during the legislative session, and other times of the year when they are on official business.

“I don’t think that anybody expects me to be a street person . . . and not enjoy some of the perks of the job,” he said. “There is nothing illegal about that.”

He confirmed that he received honararia from special interests, a common practice among lawmakers in Sacramento, but said $34,000 over eight years is “no big deal.”

Floyd said his personal car is registered in Sacramento, and he uses his state car in the district, adding that some members use state cars in Sacramento and at home.

As far as his attendance record is concerned, Floyd said he often does not vote on the legislative consent calendar--usually a batch of non-controversial bills--and unlike many lawmakers does not add his name afterward to Assembly roll calls that he has missed.

Floyd said he does not intend to “answer crap like this” in his mailers.

If Bookhammer keeps it up, Floyd warned the race is going to get personal.

And if it does, Floyd has two masters of hard-hitting political mail ready to fire back. Los Angeles political consultants Michael Berman and Carl D’Agostino handle Floyd’s mailers. The Times recently published portions of bluntly worded campaign memos from the consultants that mapped out strategy for Los Angeles City Councilman Zev Yaroslavsky to challenge Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley.

Bookhammer said he is “prepared for the worst” but does not intend to get personal. “What has that got to go with politics?” he asked.

GANGING UP ON THE GOVERNOR. Rarely does one hear GOP Assemblyman Gerald N. Felando of San Pedro criticize Gov. George Deukmejian, but it happened last week.

The assemblyman was “deeply disappointed” that Deukmejian vetoed his legislation that would have created a state strike force to crack down on emerging criminal groups, including street gangs involved in drug dealing.

“Gang-related crimes pose an immediate and explosive problem in this state, and if the governor won’t give officials the tools to deal with it, the situation can only get worse,” Felando said.

Felando said the legislation would have “laid a solid foundation for state and local law enforcement officials to work together to address burgeoning gang-related crimes.

The $9.4-million cost of creating the strike force in the attorney general’s office is “money we can’t afford not to spend,” Felando said.

Joining the chorus of criticism was Democratic Assemblyman Floyd, no fan of the governor, who branded Deukmejian a “scrooge” for vetoing the bill.

“Gang violence and the related drug trafficking problems have many of our neighborhoods in practically a state of siege,” Floyd said in his press release. “It’s a sorry day when the governor would rather veto a bill than spend a few bucks to protect the people.”

Both lawmakers noted the measure was the product of bipartisan efforts to deal with the gang problem.

In his veto message, Deukmejian noted the legislation was opposed by district attorneys who feared it would greatly expand the role of the attorney general without providing coordinated state and local anti-gang efforts.

REGISTRATION DEADLINE. The deadline for registering to vote is this Tuesday.

Voter registration forms are available at post offices, city clerks’ offices, libraries, fire and police stations, the Department of Motor Vehicles and numerous South Bay businesses, including Baskin-Robbins stores, McDonald’s restaurants, GTE Phone Marts, Auto Club locations, Pacific Telephone and Southern California Gas Co. offices.