CALIFORNIA ELECTIONS ATTORNEY GENERAL : Lungren Hits Smith’s Ability, Ideology and Character

Republican state attorney general candidate Dan Lungren came out swinging in his first post-primary Los Angeles press conference Thursday, branding Democratic opponent Arlo Smith a “Rose Bird liberal” who has mismanaged the San Francisco district attorney’s office during his 11-year tenure.

Recounting a decade-old incident in which several low-level employees of Smith’s office were forced to resign for selling illegal drugs and an episode eight years ago in which Smith himself was briefly detained by San Francisco police for drinking, Lungren asserted, “What you have is a picture of an office out of control.”

Lungren, a former congressman, called on Smith to reveal details of a 1982 San Francisco Bar Assn. audit of his office and also waved in the air a 1985 news article stating that Smith had attended a fund-raising dinner for then-state Supreme Court Chief Justice Rose Elizabeth Bird.

“This past week, Arlo Smith’s spokesperson accused me, if you can imagine this, of being a Ronald Reagan conservative,” Lungren said. “I will accept that mantle as long as he’ll accept the mantle of being a Rose Bird liberal.”

Lungren’s statements were swiftly decried by Smith’s campaign manager, Marc Dann, who accused the Republican contender of engaging “in personal attacks and rehashing some very old things” in order to obscure the fact that his views on key issues are “far out of the mainstream.”

Dann said Smith intends to release the results of the 1982 report as soon as personal references concerning his former chief deputy, Don Jacobson, can be deleted.

Smith, who was unavailable for comment Thursday, has repeatedly attacked Lungren for his staunch stands against abortion and in favor of offshore oil drilling. Dann said Smith would continue to focus on such issues in coming weeks rather than make personal attacks, as the San Francisco prosecutor was accused of doing against Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Ira Reiner during the primary campaign that ended in his upset victory last week.

Lungren, who ran unopposed for the Republican attorney general nomination, said he did not consider his barrage of accusations against Smith personal.

Referring to the 1982 drinking incident--which Reiner did not bring up during the primary race--Lungren said: “What someone does on their own time, in their own private life, is their own business as long as it’s not illegal conduct. But what takes place when someone is involved on the job, required by the taxpayers to perform their duties, certainly does have something to do in any campaign.”

Press accounts of a 1982 police investigation ordered by then-Mayor Dianne Feinstein state that Smith and Jacobson spent an afternoon at three North Beach bars during normal working hours. The police report also stated that the pair, who had driven to the taverns in an official city vehicle, were deemed “sufficiently under the influence of alcohol not to be able to operate a motor vehicle safely.” No charges were filed, but Jacobson resigned from his post.

Dann declared Thursday that the incident is water under the bridge.

“Arlo was unopposed in his two (district attorney) reelection campaigns since then and he got 76% of the vote in San Francisco County in the primary. Look, the guy made a mistake, he owned up to it, end of the story. He owned up to it unlike some others, unlike Lungren’s good friend Richard Nixon.”

Lungren’s father, John, was Nixon’s longtime personal physician.

Dann said Lungren was also misguided in attacking Smith over his attendance at a 1,200-person fund-raiser for then-Chief Justice Bird, who was ousted by voters from her post on the California Supreme Court in large part because of her liberal views on the death penalty.

“Arlo and Rose Bird simply disagree about fundamental issues, the most important of which is the death penalty,” Dann said. “Yes, he appeared (at the dinner); no, he didn’t support Rose Bird’s reaffirmation.”

In the drug-dealing incident, which occurred six months after Smith took office, eight employees of the district attorney’s Family Support Bureau were asked to resign for allegedly buying, selling and smoking marijuana.

The 1982 Bar Assn. study, the findings of which were never publicly released, was undertaken as a result of charges of low morale and poor management in Smith’s office.

“Let Mr. Smith open the door, unlock the door, let us see the report,” declared Lungren at his press conference. “If you have nothing to hide, it will probably help your campaign.”

Dann, who said that Smith would not dignify Lungren’s statements with a personal reply, asserted that the Republican contender was “leading with his chin” by complaining about Smith’s management skills.

“If Dan Lungren had ever managed a large prosecutorial office, he would know that change is not necessarily a fast-paced process,” Dann said. “It took several years to get (Smith’s) people in place and his program in place. . . . All Lungren has ever managed is a 12-person staff in Congress.”