Poor choice of words casts a spell of embarrassment over Hawthorne’s mayor.

BUBBLE, BUBBLE, TOIL AND TROUBLE: Somebody ought to teach Hawthorne Mayor Steve Andersen to use a dictionary.

In a recent letter to a local newspaper, Andersen referred to four women who are running for city office as “coven candidates.”

When the women demanded an apology from Andersen for calling them witches, the mayor told City Council candidate Martha Bails: “I did not say you were a witch. . . .”

“It was literal,” he said of his word usage.

Well, mayor, the literal meaning of coven, according to Webster’s, is clear. It’s “a gathering or meeting, (especially) of witches.”

Candidates Ginny Lambert, Frances Stiglich and Carol Mayer all condemned Andersen.

“I was insulted by the remark,” Stiglich told the mayor.

Andersen accused the women of political grandstanding, but later apologized.

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TIME TO PLAY: After 39 years working his way up through the ranks of the Manhattan Beach Fire Department, Fire Chief Keith Hackamack has retired to pursue a life of leisure.

“I plan to do a lot of flying, snowmobiling, skiing, hiking, biking--maybe even a little golfing,” said Hackamack, 64, who is moving to Park City, Utah. “I’ve been here 38 years and nine months. I’m ready to go play full-time.”

Hackamack, whose annual salary upon retirement was $89,856, joined the department as a firefighter in 1954. Over the years, he had held every position in the department but fire chief--until he assumed that post in 1986.

“He was a leader,” said Fire Capt. Frank Chiella. “He had a lot to give to everybody. Everybody learned from being around him.”

Firefighters helped the chief celebrate his retirement last week with a going-away party that included cake, punch, plaques and a $1,000 gift certificate, paid for by firefighters, from a travel agency.

Reflecting on his career, Hackamack described the firefighter’s job as “one of the best in the world.

“There’s a little glamour to it, a whole lot of excitement and every day is different,” he said Friday. “On the other hand, being a fire chief is not an easy job. I’m looking forward to being retired and having a good time.”

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DISAPPOINTED, THEN APPOINTED: Those who always thought Los Angeles City Council candidate Diane Middleton was destined for City Hall were right.

Last Monday, the 49-year-old San Pedro attorney was appointed by Mayor Richard Riordan to the commission overseeing the Los Angeles Housing Authority, which administers 21 housing developments that are home to 21,000 of the city’s poorest residents.

Middleton unsuccessfully ran for the City Council earlier this year in a race eventually won by Rudy Svorinich Jr. of San Pedro.

A member of the South Bay Womens’ Lawyers Assn. and the National Lawyers Guild, Middleton is also president of the board of directors of Toberman Settlement Center and on the board of Harbor Interfaith Shelter. Her appointment to the five-member commission must be confirmed by a majority of the council.

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LEGAL SHOOTING: In a move bound to spark controversy, Inglewood carwash owner Sam Kash is asking the city to let him open a gun club and shooting range.

Kash says he would give the police and reserve officers free use of the facility, which would be in a warehouse next to his Jet Car Wash on the west end of Manchester Boulevard.

Councilman Curren Price Jr. said he’s “open to the idea.” But anything to do with firearms is a sore subject with many Inglewood residents, given the city’s high crime rate. Two people were shot to death last weekend in the city.

Kash made his request in a letter to Mayor Edward Vincent, who shared it with the City Council at its meeting Tuesday. The council referred the matter to the Planning Commission, which would have to agree to changes in the zoning code before the club could be built.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“I just loved the attention from the kids. All I heard when I went down from the stage was, ‘Hi, Dorothy. Hi, Dorothy. Can I have your autograph, Dorothy?’ ”

--Keesha Ross, lead player in “The Wiz,” presented in Inglewood last week by 50 low-income youths working in the city’s federally funded summer jobs program.

LAST WEEK’S HIGHLIGHTS

Inglewood: Federal job-training money will be used to prepare dealers for the proposed Hollywood Park card club under an agreement approved Tuesday by the City Council. In a 4-1 vote, the council agreed that the Gaming Academy in Inglewood would get $2,575 for each person it trains and the International Dealers School in Commerce would get $2,275 per trainee. Councilwoman Judith L. Dunlap abstained, which is counted as a no vote.

Los Angeles: The City Council agreed to restore the softball field at Bogdanovich Recreation Park in San Pedro to its original design. The park was to undergo a face-lift, at an estimated cost of $85,000, to reduce noise for nearby residents. That plan was scrapped at the urging of the Harbor area’s new councilman, Rudy Svorinich Jr., who said it was too costly and required lighting that could disrupt traffic on nearby streets.

THIS WEEK’S HIGHLIGHTS

Palos Verdes Peninsula: Admission fees go up Wednesday at the South Coast Botanic Garden, 26300 Crenshaw Blvd. Los Angeles County officials who operate the garden blamed the fee hike on the county’s budget problems. Adults will pay $5; senior citizens and students with identification will pay $3.50. Children 5 to 12 years old will pay $1.

Inglewood: Cable TV subscribers will voice their concerns at a public hearing set for 7 p.m. Tuesday by the City Council. Faced in recent months by growing numbers of complaints about the service from Continental Cable, the council agreed to hold the hearing as a “general airing-out session.”