ELECTIONS / 2OTH SENATE DISTRICT : Legislator Apologizes Over Anti-Roberti Letter

A Republican assemblyman’s appeal to Jewish voters in the San Fernando Valley to defeat Democratic state Sen. David Roberti at the polls backfired Thursday when its supposed author recanted and apologized for its harsh language.

Among other things, the letter accused Roberti, president pro tem of the Senate, of bringing disgrace on the Senate, operating unethically and attempting “to buy the election to represent the Valley” with “special-interest lobbyists’ money.”

The attack was signed with the name of Assemblyman William J. Filante (R-Greenbrae), a Marin County legislator identified in the mailer as the chairman of the informal Jewish legislative caucus. But even before the attack reached mailboxes, Filante dissociated himself from its stinging criticism and profusely apologized to Roberti.

Filante contended that he did not approve its contents and that someone else signed his name to the communication, which endorsed Carol Rowen, one of Roberti’s Republican rivals in a special election Tuesday to fill a Van Nuys-based Senate seat.

Filante on Thursday blamed his staff for the dispute, which raised the issue of whether the letter runs afoul of a new state law forbidding use of unauthorized signatures on campaign literature.

Filante said he had prepared the letter in conjunction with Marlene Bane, wife of Assemblyman Tom Bane (D-Tarzana). Marlene Bane describes herself as an unpaid adviser to Rowen’s campaign, although Rowen describes her as her campaign manager.

In a letter to Roberti later in the day, Filante said he was disturbed that his name appeared in a letter containing such strong language, “which I would not have used attacking your ethics.”

But Marlene Bane insisted that Filante “authorized it, he approved it, he saw it. There was no question about what was in the mailer.” She said Filante submitted a sample of his signature for use on the letter.

Assemblyman Bane complained that Republican Filante was caving in to pro-Roberti pressure from Democrats in the Jewish caucus, one of whom resigned from the caucus to protest Filante’s associating the caucus with the letter.

The mailer, which emphasized Filante’s and Rowen’s Jewish connections, was sent to more than 18,000 households in the San Fernando Valley.

The flap over the Filante letter is the latest in a series of disputes between Roberti and the Banes. The feud began when Roberti decided to move to the Banes’ political base in Van Nuys from Los Feliz in order to seek the seat vacated by former Sen. Alan Robbins (D-Van Nuys), who resigned last year and pleaded guilty to federal political corruption charges.

Roberti said he had no knowledge of the letter until Filante came to him Wednesday and told him of it. Roberti indicated to aides that he believed the Banes were responsible for the attack, which he described to reporters as “low-down and scurrilous.”

Roberti said he was not offended by Filante’s endorsement of Rowen. But he said he was angered by several paragraphs attacking him for having appointed to committee chairmanships three senators, including Robbins, who were convicted in the capital’s long-running federal political corruption investigation.

The letter signed with Filante’s name asserts that Roberti “is spending over a million dollars of his special-interest money on TV ads, radio and slick brochures. I believe Roberti operates unethically. He has disgraced the Senate. If we allow him to ‘buy’ the election to represent the Valley, he will disgrace us.”

Roberti said Filante gave him “deepest apologies” and quoted Filante as saying, “I wouldn’t say this about my worst enemy, let alone a friend.”

Saying he was shocked by the letter bearing his name, Filante asserted that he had approved a letter endorsing Rowen, but that he had not authorized the attacks on Roberti’s ethics.

“There may well have been some miscommunications with my staff,” Filante said in an interview, shrugging off a question about whether the use of his signature violated state campaign law.

The law makes it a crime to publish any campaign advertisement containing an unauthorized signature with the intent of deceiving voters. “I authorized the letter,” Filante said. “We’re nit-picking on a few words.”

Assemblyman Bane, who will retire at the end of his current term in December, and Filante have had a close relationship over the years. Bane is chairman of the Rules Committee and Filante is vice chairman.

Bane said Filante “apparently can’t stand the heat” from Democrats in the 10-member Jewish caucus angered by the attack on Roberti. The caucus meets only occasionally to discuss issues of importance to the Jewish community, such as matters dealing with Israel.

As copies of the letter surfaced in the Capitol, state Sen. Leroy Greene (D-Carmichael), a member of the caucus, criticized Filante for linking the letter to his position as chairman of the caucus and resigned from the group. Greene, a Roberti ally, called the letter “disgraceful and totally unwarranted.”

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