Feeling Aftershocks From Remarks on Quake Plan

Los Angeles City Controller Rick Tuttle clearly touched a nerve with Mayor Richard Riordan a while back when he questioned about whether the mayor was doing enough to help business recover from quake damage.

Tuttle pointed out that a disaster recovery plan signed by Riordan five days after the quake called for Riordan to set up a hot line for aid and to deploy business assistance teams to help proprietors get back on their feet. But as of six months after the quake, no such teams had been assembled, Tuttle noted.

When Riordan heard that the press had picked up on Tuttle’s charges, he called Tuttle into his office for a verbal caning, according to City Hall insiders. The mayor’s aides announced that the hot line and the assistance teams would be in place by September.

But Riordan’s people did not stop there. Apparently determined to squelch any suggestion that Riordan had lost interest in the quake recovery, the mayor’s staff led a full-court press to get the word out that he is committed to leading the rebuilding effort.

Riordan has announced he would hire an ombudsman to coordinate the city’s efforts and has called three news conferences to promote new funding programs for quake victims.

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THE BIG DEBATE DEBATE: Labor Day marks the traditional start of the fall election season, but the sparring so far has largely been behind the scenes in the contest in the 36th Congressional District, which hugs the coast from Venice to San Pedro.

In that race, between Rancho Palos Verdes Councilwoman Susan Brooks and Rep. Jane Harman (D-Rolling Hills), the latest debate has been about debates.

Brooks sent Harman a letter last week asking her opponent to face her in one or more “Lincoln-Douglas”-style debates. The modern-day translation: a freewheeling, back-and-forth session where audience members get a chance to grill candidates on any issue.

But Harman’s campaign said it had already agreed to debate Oct. 2, when the League of Women Voters holds a forum at the Torrance Civic Center. Each candidate will give an opening statement, then answer questions from the audience submitted in advance.

To Harman campaign spokesman Roy Behr, the Lincoln-Douglas format is less than ideal. The candidates, he pointed out, would speak for up to an hour at a time--nonstop.

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NOT ON BOARD: Four Palos Verdes Estates City Council members say they don’t support Brooks, although their names have appeared on her campaign letterhead.

“Susan is a good friend, I support her as a council member, but I don’t support her in this race,” said Councilman Bill Finer, who discovered that he was on her letterhead when he went to a recent Republicans for Harman picnic.

Finer said he sent a certified letter to Brooks’ campaign last week, asking that his name be taken off her mailings. Councilman Michael Moody also has been on Brooks’ roster, but is supporting Harman. Two other council members who are on Brooks’ stationery, Rosemary Humphrey and Ray Mattingly, say they want to remain neutral.

Brooks’ campaign officials said the council members gave their support to Brooks, though not in writing, before the primary. Finer said he doesn’t recall giving his endorsement, but doesn’t want to create a flap.

“Maybe she just assumed that as (a friend) I supported her in the race,” he said.