Consultants More in Demand for Local Election Campaigns

Owen Griffith fondly recalls what it used to take to run for a seat on the Torrance Unified School District’s governing board.

“I would hold a few coffees, show up for candidate forums and put a candidate’s statement in the sample ballot,” the 24-year incumbent said last week. “For my first two terms, I don’t think I even had a brochure.”

That was then. Griffith’s campaigns now, like those of a growing number of local office-seekers in the South Bay, feature a paid political consultant to design and target direct-mail appeals. More than half a dozen South Bay candidates on the Nov. 5 ballot are using such consultants.

Experts cite factors ranging from worries about political competition to poor voter turnout to explain the rising use of consultants in local races. The trend, they say, will probably intensify under Proposition 140, the voter-approved initiative that limits the terms of state elected officials.

Since Proposition 140 will make it easier for local politicians to reach higher office, experts say, competition will increase for city council and school board seats.

“A lot of us consultants see Proposition 140 as the campaign consultants’ full employment act,” said Jeffrey Adler, a Long Beach political consultant soliciting clients in the South Bay. “It is taking a system that has protected incumbents and opening it up to other people.”

Adler added: “Now a guy running for a second or third term on the city council who has an eye on the Assembly will say: ‘I don’t want to just win. I want to win with 70% of the vote.”’

Some aren’t so enthusiastic about the prospect of increasingly well-oiled local campaigns. Several candidates say they have avoided hiring consultants because they believe that voters disapprove of paid political operatives. And one who has hired a consultant says he did so reluctantly.

“It used to be that a grass-roots candidate with good ideas and good issues still had a chance,” says Paul Krehbiel, a state legislative aide competing for a seat on the Hawthorne City Council. “But I’m noticing that even candidates in small local races are spending more and more money, and that is making it more difficult for the average person to run.”

The South Bay is by no means a mecca for political consultants. As Parke Skelton, a Hollywood consultant who counts Griffith and Torrance school board incumbent Dave Sargent among his clients, puts it: “Politics in the South Bay is still not as consultant-heavy as in areas like the Westside.”

Still, candidates and campaign aides say the use of consultants in South Bay local races is clearly on the rise. Others who are using consultants include Hawthorne City Council candidate Jimmie Williams Jr., Hawthorne mayoral hopeful Ginny Lambert, and Rancho Palos Verdes City Council candidates Susan Brooks, Barbara Dye and Steven Kuykendall.

In most cases, candidates say they hired consultants mainly to quarterback “high-propensity” direct-mail efforts. In these mailings, consultants use computer information to target residents who have a history of voting in local elections.

Such mailings don’t come cheap. They cost from 35 cents to 40 cents per letter--or $1,750 to $2,000 to design, print, label and post a 5,000-piece mailing--according to Tom Glass, a Torrance consultant who is assisting Dye.

But with postage rates high and voter turnout low, some candidates say, consultants save a campaign time and money by targeting residents likely to show up at the polls. The same goes for precinct walks: Consultants map routes for candidates that lead to the homes and apartments of frequent voters.

“It makes sense to direct your efforts to people who want to vote,” said Lambert, a Hawthorne city councilwoman.

Although some candidates handle their own direct mail, she says, that can be counterproductive: “We tried it ourselves once and found ourselves running around like crazy. You lose time that could be used to campaign.”

Another reason given for the increased use of consultants is to ensure incumbents a quick response in case they suddenly find themselves facing aggressive and well-financed opposition.

Griffith says he started using a consultant in the early 1980s after teachers unions began weighing into school board races. Fearing that he might become a target of the unions, he says, he wanted a consultant on hand so he could defend himself on a moment’s notice with direct mail and telephone efforts.

This year, Griffith appears safe from a union challenge. But he hired Skelton, the Hollywood-based political consultant, just in case.

“I do not see a big push like 10 years ago, when the unions got three people on the board,” he said. “This time it’s a precaution.”

Some South Bay candidates who are not using consultants say they fear that the electorate might take a dim view of those who do.

“If you use a consultant, the presentation you make will probably be more slick, but I don’t know how that kind of thing is received by voters,” said Hawthorne City Councilman Steve Andersen, Lambert’s opponent in the mayor’s race. “When people find out a consultant is involved, they might feel manipulated.”

Krehbiel, the Hawthorne council candidate, disagrees. Although he is trying to use a consultant as little as possible, he says professional campaign help is becoming a must for local office-seekers in many South Bay cities.

“The only reason I’m using a consultant on a part-time basis is that I can’t afford one full time,” he said. “The reality is that the person with the most money can hire a consultant to do the most targeted mailings and create an impression with the most voters. The person with less money is at a big disadvantage.”