SANTA ANA : Council Apologizes for Political Mailer

A group of Latino activists outraged over what it described as an “offensive and unfair” political mailer sent out during last year’s election campaign received a long-awaited public apology.

At a City Council meeting Tuesday night, Mayor Daniel H. Young apologized to the community on behalf of the Santa Ana Police Officers Political Action Committee, which sent out the mailer, and voiced “true regret for any racist overtones.”

Young emphasized, however, that he and the other candidates endorsed in the mailer, including council members Lisa Mills and Thomas E. Lutz, had no involvement in or knowledge of its creation or distribution.

The cover of the mailer showed a photograph of Latino children holding rifles. Inside was a photo of older Latinos, described as gang members, also holding rifles. The text stated: “When their baby pictures look like these . . . this is how they grow up.”

Another mailer showed four smiling white children with their bicycles. The caption read: “Our favorite gang photo.”

Both mailers encouraged residents to vote for Young and then-council candidates Mills, Lutz and Glenn Mondo. All but Mondo won seats on the council in the November election.

The sponsor of mailers, the police officers’ PAC, is the political arm of the Santa Ana Police Officers Assn. Rosie Ruiz, a spokeswoman for the association, said Wednesday that her organization would not comment on the mailers.

Last week, about 20 protesters held a peaceful candlelight vigil in front of the Police Officers Assn.’s new headquarters on Sycamore Street to decry the use of the campaign mailer that they said portrayed all Latinos as gang members. The group demanded an apology but received none.

At Tuesday’s council meeting, about a dozen people--some holding a banner that read, “Our children are more than gang bangers”--urged the council to denounce the mailers and promise never to tolerate such campaign literature in the future.

“Because you have ignored the issue, I’m here to tell you that we are going to keep this issue alive through your terms,” said Rueben Martinez, spokesman for the Committee Against Ethnic Bashing for Political Gain. “I can tell by your faces that you’re tired of hearing about this, but I’m also tired of bringing this up.”

After the public comments, Young said the controversy had continued long enough and offered his apology on behalf of the PAC. The PAC wanted to underscore the problems of gang violence but erred in its execution of the mailer, the mayor said.

“They would acknowledge that this is clumsy and ill-conceived . . . ,” he said. “The mailer should not have been sent.”

He added, however, that “some people just want to use this as politics, just something to fight about.” They also want to continue to “tell the lie that we (candidates), in fact one or more of us, sent it out.”

Lutz said he was also offended by the mailer. “I apologize for not stepping forward to the committee and showing my distaste in that,” he said.

Councilman Miguel A. Pulido Jr., who was not up for reelection last year, said: “The olive branch has been extended, and now I feel it needs to be picked up on the other end.”

“Now that they’ve heard our feelings, maybe now they’ll know where we’re coming from and realize that these mailers did us some harm. I’m glad (Young) acknowledged that these mailers were in bad taste,” Martinez said Wednesday.

An apology, he added, “is never too late.”