LOCAL ELECTIONS / L.A. CITY ATTORNEY : A Political Unknown Takes On His Boss

Only six people were gathered at a plumbers union local recently to listen to Los Angeles city attorney candidate Michael Guarino.

But small crowds are not the only problem facing the 44-year-old political unknown running against the veteran James K. Hahn, who is seeking a third term.

Often people do not even know what the city attorney does. The plumbers were no exception, and nodded vigorously when Guarino began by saying: “Maybe I should explain the office.”

Confusion over what the city attorney does, or does not do, lies at the heart of Guarino’s David vs. Goliath race against Hahn--who happens to be his boss.

While there are 31 candidates competing in the mayoral race, only two people are seeking the four-year term of city attorney in this April’s election.

Hahn, 43, who has held the office nearly eight years, is the son of famed former Los Angeles County Supervisor Kenneth Hahn and is an integral part of the political Establishment. His most recent 70-page campaign statement lists nearly $192,000 in contributions.

Guarino has been a deputy city attorney for the last 15 years and a veteran of more than 200 trials. He is now prosecuting a child molestation case. Though considered a bright and talented lawyer by many colleagues, he lost his most famous case--a 1987 pornography trial against punk rocker Jello Biafra of the Dead Kennedys. His campaign statement lists one $300 contribution.

Guarino plays the role of a crusader.

“Somebody has to cross the insiders,” he says, claiming that the office--which prosecutes misdemeanors, defends lawsuits against the city and enforces political reform laws--fell short during recent political scandals.

Guarino portrays Hahn as an “Ozzie Nelson” character out of touch with today’s need for strong enforcement of political campaign, wage and safety violations.

Hahn plays the role of statesman.

“It’s what we deal with, making tough calls,” he says of decisions such as not to criminally prosecute Mayor Tom Bradley after conflict-of-interest allegations involving a Chinese-American bank, or for campaign funds raised through controversial inner-city carnivals.

Hahn defends his record and sees Guarino as a man disappointed with his career, who is “taking that frustration out on me.” Guarino will not lose his job if he loses, Hahn says. “He has tenure.”

Hahn’s tenure gives him some obvious advantages, as Guarino learned the day he kicked off his race at a news conference. The city attorney called his own news conference, scheduled at the same time.

Most of the media attention went to Hahn as he announced a major development in a landmark case he was pursuing against city slumlords and their lenders. The timing, one staffer said, was a coincidence.

Hahn said he realizes that even if the race is not close, the campaign will provide a report card on his record. This is Hahn’s first election after the tumultuous years when the city attorney was a fulcrum for allegations against Bradley, the mayor’s former business partner Juanita St. John, and fund-raiser Harold R. Washington Jr.

How Hahn handled those cases is the cornerstone of Guarino’s campaign.

“I think we’ll see a lot of people going over a lot of things they wished would have happened,” Hahn said. “It’s a scalp hunter mentality. . . . That’s not my style.”

One of the best known cases involved Bradley’s financial relationships, including one with Far East National Bank, which paid the mayor as an adviser and obtained millions in city deposits.

Hahn’s office undertook a six-month investigation of Bradley in 1989 and the city attorney found “no reasonable possibility of a (criminal) conviction” for conflict-of-interest violations. But Hahn said he intended “no vindication of the mayor’s conduct.”

The way Hahn sees it now, his findings were vindicated by later decisions by the California Fair Political Practices Commission and the U.S. Justice Department not to prosecute the mayor. “They reached the same conclusions,” Hahn said.

Hahn did file a civil lawsuit against Bradley for failing to disclose personal stock holdings and investments. Bradley paid a $20,000 fine to settle the suit.

Guarino said Hahn should have filed criminal charges, saying that the city attorney is “someone looking for the path of least resistance.” During his campaign visit to the plumbers, Guarino said: “This case defines conflict of interest. We try poor people on much less evidence every day all over the city.”

One former high-ranking police official, who was privy to this and other investigations and no longer works for the city, said there is truth to both sides. He agreed with Hahn that the hard evidence needed to convict was lacking. But he agreed with Guarino that Hahn lacked fervor in prosecuting members of “the old-boy network” in Los Angeles.

Hahn was criticized by the California Commission on Campaign Financing for failing to pursue alleged conflict-of-interest violations involving City Councilman Richard Alatorre during his first election in 1985.

A 1989 report from the commission criticized Hahn for being “reluctant” to enforce the city’s campaign financing law. The city attorney filed a civil suit against Alatorre only after the political watchdog group Common Cause threatened to go to court.

Alatorre settled the case in 1986, agreeing to pay fines of $5,000 out of his pocket and $136,000 from his campaign chest.

Hahn’s actions were typical of elected prosecutors in California, said Robert Stern, co-director of the campaign financing commission. “Generally city attorneys and district attorneys have not been willing to bring enforcement actions against fellow public officials,” he said.

The 1989 report cited the need for local independent watchdog agencies, which Los Angeles established in 1990 when the Ethics Commission was started.

The first high-profile case initiated by the commission was an investigation of payroll fraud and improper political activity by two staffers in Hahn’s office. The commission referred the matter to former Dist. Atty. Ira Reiner, who found “an appearance of impropriety” but no evidence of criminality.

Hahn publicly blasted the watchdog panel, likening it to a “runaway freight train.”

The only criminal prosecutions involving an officeholder that Hahn has filed were against Alatorre’s campaign staff, spokesman Mike Qualls said.

Harold Washington was charged with labor law violations involving a city-assisted housing project, but pleaded no contest shortly before trial. Juanita St. John was prosecuted for failing to honor a city controller’s subpoena for records involving a city-funded African trade task force. But a judge dismissed the action.

Inside the city attorney’s office, no position has been taken on the race by the association representing the deputy and assistant city attorneys.

Deputies contacted would not speculate on whether the attorneys union will take a position. But some said they would like to see the two men debate, particularly in light of staff shortages and a possible $600,000 in budget cuts that the office is facing.

“There’s been a hiring freeze, there are no promotions, people feel in a kind of stasis,” said one veteran attorney, who hopes that the race will allow internal problems to be aired. “People have a sense of being besieged or overworked, and if the manager is not spending time with the troops, that contributes to people’s frustration.”

Deputies describe Hahn as an aloof manager, whose open-door policy has steadily eroded since his first election in 1985. Those who support Guarino, one said, do not say so openly “for fear of repercussions.”

Guarino is “very dedicated to public service,” one deputy said, while another questioned whether his occasional sharp tongue and aggressiveness would translate into positive leadership.

“Whatever the outcome,” said one staffer, “it is healthy to debate about the issues, and reconsider some of the methods and manner in which this office is run.”