Opening Salvo Fired in Race for City Attorney
A Los Angeles city investigation into a Whitewater figure who worked as an airport lobbyist turned decidedly political Thursday in an opening salvo for the city attorney’s race next spring.
Incumbent City Atty. James K. Hahn started the scuffle with a letter to City Controller Rick Tuttle saying that he wants to stay out of the investigation because it may target his election opponent, former Airport Commission President Ted Stein. Stein struck back with a statement to the media, saying Hahn’s allegations “are as insubstantial and flimsy as his record as city attorney.”
The City Council is scheduled to consider a motion to hire outside counsel today. Tuttle’s investigation, triggered by a separate council motion, seeks to determine whether Webster L. Hubbell--who is serving prison time for bilking his clients out of $482,410 at the Rose Law Firm in Little Rock, Ark.--actually did the work the city paid him $24,750 for in 1994. Stein approved Hubbell’s local hiring and billings.
“Serious questions have now been raised about whether or not Mr. Hubbell did the work he cites,” Hahn wrote to Tuttle. “This in turn raises questions about Mr. Stein’s role in drafting what now appear to be fraudulent letters.”
Stein used the occasion to attack Hahn--calling Hahn’s letter “an attack piece.”
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