James Hahn Acting Like a Candidate

City Atty. James K. Hahn has been sending out mixed political messages on the Chief Gates issue.

First, he advised the Police Commission it could place Daryl F. Gates on leave during an investigation of the Rodney King beating. It appeared to be an early victory for Mayor Tom Bradley in his effort to force Gates out.

Then, after the commission followed his advice, Hahn gave the City Council advice on how to nullify the temporary ousting. That second opinion, which appears to countermand the first, has helped create the incredible legal quagmire enveloping City Hall. The situation reached new depths of muddiness Tuesday when Dan Garcia resigned as Police Commission president.

I could devote considerable space to explaining the legal reasoning behind Hahn’s actions. But you won’t understand it any better than I do. Suffice it to say, people in City Hall are wondering just where the man is coming from--or where he’s going.

His direction seemed pretty clear to me when I visited Hahn in his office Monday: The City Hall East elevator down for 15 floors; a walk west across the Henry Rios Bridge to the old City Hall and then a sharp turn left to the cherished destination, the office of the mayor.

Of course Hahn’s real mayoral route won’t be so direct. He’ll have to ponder, leak hints to the press, consult family, friends and advisers, sound out campaign donors and perform the rest of the elaborate charade that precedes the announcement of a candidacy.

“I’m not running for mayor,” he said a couple of weeks ago. When I asked him, he said he’d like to be state attorney general.

But if words, demeanor and actions mean anything, you’ve got to include Hahn in the 1993 mayoral handicap.

When I interviewed him on Monday, Hahn was dressed in a blue suit, not as dark as you find at O’Melveny or the other downtown law firms, but dignified enough for public life. His face is a bit more lined than when he took office six years ago and his hair has traces of gray, the price of reaching 40.

We talked about an event that gave a pretty clear clue as to where Hahn is headed. It was his letter two weeks ago to Bradley criticizing a comment the mayor had made during his latest Asian expedition. Bradley had assured the Japanese that, despite the gangs, L.A. really is tourist friendly. Gangbangers, the mayor said, are restricted to South L.A. and East L.A. They shoot each other, he implied, not stray tourists.

When Hahn read that in the paper, he composed a long, handwritten letter to the mayor. “Instead of going to Japan, why don’t you stay here and work on making this city safe for our own citizens who live here?” Hahn said. After writing it, he told his press secretary, Mike Qualls, he was going to send it to the mayor and the City Hall press corps.

“You’re going to get a reaction,” warned Qualls. Hahn said he expected that.

“The mayor’s speech bothered me,” Hahn told me. “This guy has been gone lately, and during critical periods. And this period was real critical. He’s not here. He’s AWOL.”

We ran through dominant issues at City Hall. He didn’t like the Bradley budget priorities. He said Gates should remain in office and oversee reform efforts.

“The Police Commission should put Chief Gates on the spot (and say) we want you to come up with a plan and implement it. . . He should be held accountable.”

You need a good road map to follow Hahn’s political path.

At first glance, his outrage at the Bradley remarks in Japan reflected the traditional black-white coalition politics of his father, County Supervisor Kenny Hahn, a white politician who has represented a largely African-American South L.A. district for almost 40 years.

Kenny Hahn has been a strong ally of Mayor Bradley and other black leaders. He’s built a black-white coalition which helped his son become elected city controller and later city attorney.

But in the furor of the King affair, coalition politics seem to be part of an earlier, simpler age. The King beating has polarized political debate. Increasingly, only African-Americans, joined by a few Anglo, Latino and Asian liberals, are demanding Gates’ removal.

In the cold arithmetic of politics, that’s not a winner. The census has just shown the black population dwindling. Public opinion polls show only a minority support Gates’ immediate removal.

So James Hahn departed from the old-time Hahn rhetoric, mixing his criticism of Bradley’s Japan speech with an attack on his travel, issuing opinions that pleased both the anti-Gates Police Commission and the pro-Gates City Council.

James Hahn learned many political lessons from his father, not the least of which was how to count.