State Probing Conduct by Donelon’s Campaign : Politics: The investigation was requested by the Latino Legislative Caucus. The opponent’s camp says callers attempted to intimidate them.

The Secretary of State has begun an investigation into allegations that supporters of newly elected Long Beach City Councilman Mike Donelon and some city police officers attempted to intimidate voters during last month’s special election.

The investigation was requested by the state legislature’s Latino Legislative Caucus after it received a complaint from a local Latino organization.

The complaint contended that Donelon campaign workers phoned dozens of voters and warned that their absentee ballots may be invalid. The callers also hinted that police were investigating alleged voter fraud and deceptive campaigning by supporters of Donelon’s opponent, Tonia Reyes Uranga.

Uranga’s campaign workers also said they felt intimidated, according to the complaint, when a police officer appeared at campaign headquarters the night before the election and told volunteers it was illegal to hang campaign literature on doors during certain hours.

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“It looks as if he either knew exactly what he was doing and tried to suppress the Uranga vote, or he was misinformed,” said Darren Chesin, chief consultant for the state Senate Committee on Elections and Reapportionment. The committee is chaired by Sen. Richard G. Polanco (D-Los Angeles), who heads the Latino Legislative Caucus and requested the investigation.

Long Beach police have never received a complaint about the incident, said spokeswoman Karen Kerr, who declined further comment.

Both Donelon and his campaign manager, Jeff Adler, said their campaigns also had been warned about hanging campaign literature on doors after dark.

Donelon said the investigation “is no more than political posturing. I’m not in the least bit concerned.”

Donelon said he has asked the district attorney’s office to investigate allegations that Uranga’s campaign duped voters into signing up for unwanted absentee ballots. A spokesman for the district attorney refused to comment on whether the office is investigating.

Uranga could not be reached for comment, but she previously denied any improprieties in distributing absentee ballots.

The battle between Donelon and Uranga for the open 7th District council seat began last spring. Last month’s special election was scheduled after the two candidates finished in a virtual tie in last June’s runoff election. Donelon won the special election handily.

The complaint now being investigated by the Secretary of State’s office originated with an organization called IMAGE of Greater Long Beach.

Leonard M. Gonzales, president of IMAGE (Incorporated Mexican-American Government Employees) said he filed the complaint with the Latino Legislative Caucus after an attorney working with Uranga’s campaign sent him several signed statements from 7th District voters detailing apparent intimidation efforts.

The voter statements outline calls received Feb. 1 by people identifying themselves as being with the Long Beach police or the Long Beach Police Officers’ Assn. The callers then mentioned a criminal investigation, targeting Uranga’s campaign, according to the statements.

Sgt. Richard (Buzz) Williams, vice president of the officer’s association, said he approved the use of his organization’s name in the phone bank’s script. The officers’ union endorsed Donelon. He said he couldn’t recall whether he approved the term criminal investigation in the script.