Hawthorne Voters Reject 3rd Police Tax Plan in 2 Years

Hawthorne voters Tuesday struck down a police tax measure for the third time in two years despite an aggressive campaign by supporters who hammered away at the city’s rising crime rate.

Tuesday’s ballot measure, a controversial property tax increase that would have paid for 35 new police officers, won 59% of the vote, well short of the required two-thirds majority and considerably less than a similar proposal received in June.

Jubilant opponents said the results send a message that residents are just as fed up with the city’s spiraling tax rate as with the crime rate.

“People are tired of being taxed,” said George Walter, chairman of the Committee Opposing Proposition D. “I’m hoping the City Council will get the message that we don’t want to tax ourselves for police.”

Police Chief Stephen Port said he was disappointed by the results and predicted that “crime will continue to rise.” He said the department will probably have to cut back on some of its community-oriented functions.

The measure, which would have raised $2.5 million a year for new officers, pitted neighbor against neighbor in a bitter campaign aggressively pushed by both sides.

Supporters, who included three of the four council members, the mayor and the police and fire chiefs, sent out mailers that contrasted a photo of gang members being handcuffed with a picture of children frolicking on a school playground.

“Do You Want Drugs in Hawthorne?” one mailer asked. Another urged support for Proposition D by saying, “Your Life Could Depend on it.”

They stressed statistics showing that while Hawthorne’s crime rate has increased significantly in recent years, the city has the lowest number of police officers per capita of any city in the South Bay. City figures show that violent crime, including murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assault, increased by 31.5% between 1983 and 1989.

Opponents, meanwhile, appealed to the community’s anti-tax sentiment, saying in one brochure: “Your city is singing their favorite song. They want more of your money.”

Opponents also questioned whether the city would actually hire all 35 police officers with the money or manipulate the city budget to allow some of the money to be funneled elsewhere.

Shelley Effler, who coordinated the Proposition D campaign as chairman of Citizens Against Crime, said she will probably move from Hawthorne because of the crime rate.

She and other angry supporters said opponents had misled voters, citing the statement questioning whether the money would actually be used to hire officers.

“I can understand a tax revolt, but to tell lies is sickening,” said Effler, the wife of a Hawthorne police officer.

But opponents of the measure stood by that statement and criticized Effler’s group for scare tactics aimed at turning the vote into a referendum on crime.

“We’re not anti-police,” Walter said. “We’re against bad management.”

The opponents have urged city officials to consider restructuring the Police Department or contracting with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

The measure would have imposed a $55-a-year tax on each residence and up to $5,000 on each commercial property. Senior citizens and disabled people with incomes under $25,000 could have applied for exceptions.

The tax would have remained at that level until 1993, after which annual increases could have been approved by a four-vote majority of the City Council.

BACKGROUND Proposition D was Hawthorne’s third effort in two years to raise taxes for additional police officers in the face of a rising crime rate. In June, a similar measure that would have raised $2.6 million a year failed by just 58 votes, prompting the council to place a revised measure on Tuesday’s ballot. In November, 1988, voters overwhelmingly rejected a measure that would have increased utility taxes from 3.5% to 6% to raise $2 million a year for more police.