CALIFORNIA ELECTIONS / ATTORNEY GENERAL : Lungren Assails Smith With Feinstein Memos

Employing Democrat Dianne Feinstein as his source, Republican state attorney general candidate Dan Lungren sought to discredit the crime-fighting record of his Democratic foe, San Francisco Dist. Atty. Arlo Smith, during a rare joint televised appearance Wednesday.

Lungren, appearing on a KCBS-TV “Newsmakers” taping scheduled to be broadcast Sunday, waved in the air Smith’s 1986 and 1987 performance reviews from then-San Francisco Mayor Feinstein. In the letters, Feinstein, the Democratic candidate for governor, stated that Smith’s felony conviction rate was lower than that in other major metropolitan areas across the state.

“These are annual reviews of the office of Arlo Smith--and these are her words, they are not my words,” Lungren said.

“If you’re going to be arrested for a felony anywhere in the state,” the former five-term congressman added, “the best place to be is Arlo Smith’s San Francisco.”

Smith countered that since he became district attorney in 1979, San Francisco’s crime rate has declined by 25% and the number of convicts committed to state prison has more than doubled.

“That’s why peace officers who know best who is effective have supported my (candidacy),” said Smith, who has split the state law enforcement community’s endorsements almost 50-50 with Lungren.

Later in the day, Feinstein entered the fray herself.

In a letter faxed to reporters by the Smith campaign, Feinstein said her performance reviews of Smith had been written “in the heat of budget battles” between the mayor’s office and city department heads.

“Unlike you,” the letter to Lungren continues, “Arlo Smith is a law enforcement professional with 36 years of experience prosecuting killers, rapists and drug dealers. Arlo Smith has prosecuted death penalty cases at every level of the state and federal courts, and won them.”

“California needs an attorney general who is an experienced prosecutor,” she concluded. “This is no time for on the job training for a politician who is only qualified for an entry level position in the attorney general’s office.”

Feinstein’s 1987 letter, based on statistics gathered by the state attorney general’s office, stated that Smith’s office registered yearly conviction rates ranging from 56% to 59% from 1983 to 1985--about 20% lower than the statewide average and more than 25% lower than the average in Los Angeles. The percentage of felony case filings in San Francisco that resulted in prison sentences was 10.7% in 1985--just below the state average of 12%, according to the letter.

In a 1987 response to the letter, Smith called the statistics “misleading,” noting that the state itself cautioned that counties vary in the accuracy of statistics they report.

The candidates’ caustic flap over qualifications highlighted an unusual day in which Smith and Lungren taped the only two TV joint appearances they are scheduled to make in the Los Angeles media market.

Both 30-minute broadcasts--the second one was KNBC-TV’s “Channel 4 News Conference”--are to be aired Sunday, the same day the first live televised debate has been scheduled between Feinstein and her Republican rival, Pete Wilson. The only other joint TV appearance between Smith and Lungren this fall is planned in San Francisco a week from Sunday.

During and after the forums Wednesday, Lungren lashed out at Smith for refusing to appear more often with him in public forums. Referring to Smith’s campaign, he said: “They wanted to do two in one day . . . (and) they want it on TV the same day as the gubernatorial (debate). What for? The idea would be to try and hide it.”

Smith, who is neck-and-neck in the polls with Lungren, countered that the three appearances provide “plenty of opportunities to get the issues discussed and aired.”

Smith’s stance is in sharp contrast to the one he took last spring. Then, as a decided underdog in the Democratic primary race against Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Ira Reiner, Smith agreed to appear four times across the state with Lungren in moderator-free, Lincoln-Douglas style sessions.

At the time, he criticized Reiner’s refusal to participate in head-to-head debates, saying: “The public has a right to have information on candidates who are seeking the office of attorney general. It can’t be done in 30-second television shots.”

The candidates also clashed Wednesday on abortion rights.

Smith, emphasizing his staunch support of the issue, said he would refuse to defend the state in court if legislation were approved to restrict Medi-Cal funding for abortions. He said he would also refuse to defend a parental consent law limiting teen access to abortions.

Both laws, Smith said, trample on womens’ right to privacy guaranteed in the state Constitution. “(As attorney general) you are the state’s lawyer, you’re also the people’s lawyer,” said Smith. “One of those duties is to protect constitutional rights.”

Lungren, a vehement abortion foe, said he considers both types of restrictions constitutional and would thus defend them in court.

“The obligation of the attorney general is to represent the interests of the state unless there is an absolute obvious conflict (with the Constitution),” Lungren said.