Opponent Fires Back at Anaheim Mayor

Setting the tone for what is expected to be a political donnybrook in the mayoral race, Councilman Tom Daly said incumbent Mayor Fred Hunter’s two terms in office have been an exercise in “hypocrisy” and an embarrassment to the city.

Daly’s written comments, released Monday through his campaign office, were sparked by remarks the mayor aimed at Daly last week during a televised discussion of a controversial proposal to ban street vendors from the city.

After that debate, an angry Hunter directed a profanity at Daly. The mayor’s words were heard during Multivision Cable’s citywide broadcast of last week’s council meeting.

“Mr. Hunter’s threat is just one more in a long series of irrational and hypocritical statements during his embarrassing tenure in public office in Anaheim,” Daly said in the statement.

A videotape of the meeting shows Hunter becoming angry when a resident who wanted to ban the vendors shouted that the mayor would be defeated because of his pro-vendors position. The mayor turned to other council members and said “Daly’s been massaging” the residents, and he cursed his opponent.

Hunter said Tuesday that he could not recall what he said at the time but acknowledged that he was upset. At the time, he said, Daly was outside the chamber “politicking” with the residents.

“I thought it was inappropriate for him to be out there,” the mayor said.

Daly’s campaign consultant, Lynn Wessell, said Tuesday that the remark by Hunter, “upset or not,” was “not in keeping with a man who is expected to represent all of the people in Anaheim.”

But Hunter charged that his opponent’s campaign statement was not prompted by his remarks but rather by a poll done for the mayor that showed Hunter ahead.

“My polls show a major lead, so Mr. Daly has to attack me,” Hunter said.

Wessell said similar polling had been done for Daly. He declined to reveal the results but said Hunter’s figures could not be accurate.

Also contained in Daly’s written statement were references to a recent pledge by the mayor that he would not accept political contributions.

“Yet only 26 days after his self-righteous pronouncement, Hunter is holding a $100,000 fund-raiser at the Anaheim Hilton,” Daly said. “Mayor Hunter should keep his hypocritical obscenities to himself and address his campaign to the very important economic and social problems confronting the city of Anaheim.”

The mayor said he scheduled the Thursday Hilton event, bringing together some of the city’s most powerful business interests, to defend his record because of Daly’s “massive war chest.” According to the most recent campaign statements, Daly has raised nearly $100,000 since January, and Hunter has raised none.

“However, because Anaheim politics often ends up in the gutter, I must be able to defend myself and communicate my record of accomplishments to the voter,” the mayor said in a written statement of his own. “I must create a level playing field, and, sadly, this requires raising money.”