In Campaign for Sheriff Against Duffy : Hoobler Would Push for Advisory Council

Challenged by incumbent Sheriff John F. Duffy to persuade voters that he could do “better than my own record of accomplishments,” challenger Ray Hoobler said Friday he was an “innovative” San Diego police chief and wants “to talk about the issues.”

Hoobler said he appreciated Duffy’s advice in a statement this week “to keep (to) the high road,” and said he plans to “come forth with some fairly good and imaginative ideas that will make it a very interesting race.”

As a first suggestion, Hoobler proposed the creation of a citizens’ advisory counsel for the Sheriff’s Department “to establish greater communication not only within the department and with the Board of Supervisors but with the constituency of the county.”

Other Ideas to Come

He said he has other ideas but declined to discuss them.

“I don’t want to throw all my eggs out the first time,” he said.

But he said his suggestions will be in keeping with those he made while police chief in the early 1970s, notions such as a combined law enforcement narcotics detail. That unit still operates and has “expanded dramatically” to include a variety of county, state and federal officers, he said.

In a two-page letter mailed this week to the press announcing his plans to run for a record sixth term, Duffy said Hoobler had “no significant record as a problem solver or as an administrator” in public or business affairs.

“I think my record speaks for itself,” Hoobler said, saying he plans during the campaign to highlight the various programs in which he had a hand as chief that stressed communication between officers and the public.

When Hoobler announced his candidacy last month for next year’s election, he accused Duffy of mismanaging the department’s budget, improperly supervising the jails and generally failing to lead the department.

Report of Duffy’s Trips

Last month, The Times reported that Duffy had been gone from San Diego for at least 50 days during the first half of this year, nearly a third of the workdays during that period. His extensive travel--16 trips--came at a time when his department was under fire from the San Diego County Grand Jury for being poorly managed and under-supervised.

Duffy did not return a phone call Friday to his office. He told The Times last month that he stays in close touch with his assistants handling day-to-day operations while he travels and that he is “keeping a closer eye” on the jails.

Hoobler said there is “no question” a sheriff should “interface with his peers for the exchange of information. I think the bottom line is, do these trips benefit not only the individual but the agency (that person) serves? If that’s not the case, if all they do is serve personal aggrandizement, then I think it’s not necessarily fiscally beneficial to the county.”

Hoobler added, however, “I can’t make a judgment at this point” about how to view Duffy’s frequent travels.

Resigned Under fire

Hoobler was appointed San Diego police chief in 1971 after about 20 years on the force. He resigned in 1975 under fire because of allegations that he had lied about reviewing confidential files of police counselors.

Since then, Hoobler, 61, has been a hotel chain’s security chief and in the travel business. He served last year and this as chairman of the San Diego Crime Commission but left in May to return to travel-agency work.

In his statement, Duffy said he is “looking forward to an active campaign to counter systematic negative media attacks fanned by some county politicians in an effort to drive me from office.” He did not name any of those politicians.

“Both of (Hoobler’s) previous starts (at campaigning for sheriff), in 1974 while he was still employed as a city police chief, and again in 1978 while he was still employed in the hotel industry, were self-aborted for apparent lack of support,” Duffy said in his statement.

“Perhaps this time his name will actually appear on the June, 1990, ballot.”

“First,” Hoobler said, “I have no knowledge whatsoever of any potential candidacy in 1974. In 1978, I was solicited by a lieutenant from the Sheriff’s Department to consider running but didn’t do it. So I don’t know where he got this information.”

Duffy has been sheriff since 1971. In his statement, he said he will make a formal campaign announcement in early 1990.