Mayor, Hayden Spar Over Jobs, Crime in Debate

Tangling on television for 27 minutes in their only scheduled debate, Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan and state Sen. Tom Hayden (D-Los Angeles) on Thursday traded barbs over policing and jobs and presented their strikingly different visions of Los Angeles as it approaches the millennium.

The incumbent proclaimed, “Los Angeles is not just back, it’s better,” while the challenger defined the choice as between “a visible mayor who will protect neighborhoods and empower them” and “an invisible mayor who guards special interests downtown.”

Riordan, a notoriously unsteady public speaker, performed better than many had predicted, appearing slightly wooden during his opening and closing statements, but sparring handily with his opponent, particularly over this week’s decision to reject Police Chief Willie L. Williams’ bid for a second five-year term. Hayden, who has spent much of his adult life in front of a microphone, was less aggressive than expected, and failed to raise several key planks of his campaign, including Riordan’s role at the troubled Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

Most observers called it a draw.

“The race is legitimized,” Hayden campaign consultant Larry Remer declared. “These are the players, and these are the issues--or at least some of them.”

Asked during the debate whether he would agree to a rematch, Riordan--who has already declined several invitations--said he is booked six months in advance and suggested someone call his scheduler to find an opening. But the mayor’s political consultant, Bill Carrick, said another round is unlikely.

“I doubt it,” he said. “I don’t really know what the point is.”

Monopolizing the debate, shown live on Century Cable and rebroadcast Thursday on radio, KLCS-TV Channel 58 and KCAL-TV Channel 9, was Monday’s announcement by the Police Commission--whose members Riordan appointed and the City Council confirmed--that Williams would not be rehired for another term. The two candidates deftly interrupted one another, as Hayden accused Riordan of engineering the popular chief’s ouster, while the mayor steadfastly recited the qualifications of his “independent” and “diverse” commissioners.

“Mr. Mayor, how can you say that you had nothing to do with this . . . and then in the same breath announce that you want them to appoint [Deputy Chief] Bernard Parks to be the [interim] chief?” Hayden asked. “You can’t have it both ways.”

“It’s very opportunistic and divisive of you to put rhetoric and politics into it,” Riordan retorted. “Respect the reform process that you bragged about, and don’t throw the democratic process out the window.”

They also differed on substantive law enforcement issues, with Hayden attacking the mayor for failing to fulfill his 1993 campaign pledge to add 3,000 officers to the LAPD, being “soft on guns” and not spending enough money on violence prevention. The mayor stressed that crime is down 25% since he took over, and said that his administration had hired 3,300 more officers but that attrition left the force with a net increase of only 2,000.

“We have the largest department in the history of the city,” Riordan said, citing a laundry list of improvements at the LAPD, including computerization, bicycle patrols and a new training facility. “The men and women of the LAPD have great confidence in me; 88% of them have endorsed me to be their mayor.”

Hayden said he agreed that the city needs more police, but numbers are not enough.

“The issue is whether violence is down in the city. I think it’s out of control,” said the challenger, who has vowed to hold weekly gang truce meetings if elected. “This mayor is spending twice as much on that jingle, ‘Together, L.A., we’re the best,’ as he has on his own gang intervention program.”

Perhaps the most contentious moment came during a discussion of the city’s major development projects, including the expansion of Los Angeles International Airport, Universal Studios and Playa Vista.

Hayden said that Jeffrey Katzenberg, a principal in DreamWorks SKG--which is scheduled to receive $70 million in tax breaks as an incentive to anchor the Playa Vista project--had told him the jobs created by the studio would not be suitable for inner-city residents.

“This is the most outrageous thing I’ve ever heard,” the mayor interjected.

“He said that,” Hayden responded.

“He did not say it,” Riordan insisted. “He has an agreement with the city that they will train people from the economically disadvantaged communities for these jobs.”

Hayden then suggested that agreement was the result of his “lobbying,” which only provoked the mayor further.

“A minute ago you said he wasn’t going to do it, then you said it came about a different way,” said an almost-sarcastic Riordan. “Which way are you going to go on this, Tom?”

“My view is that this is about profits for big developers, not about the working people of this city,” Hayden said. “Growth used to be compatible with community. These projects are simply mega-projects for downtown business interests that do not help the quality of life in this city.”

But Riordan said his opponent “would deny quality jobs to people in our city.”

“You can’t have a quality of life without a good job,” the mayor said. “If you want to solve the problems of the economically disadvantaged, they need a strong education. But when they’re educated, they need access to quality jobs.”

When the candidates were asked about their qualifications, Hayden pointed to a 30-year history of activism on behalf of “civil rights and human rights,” and Riordan described himself as a lifelong “problem-solver” who had donated $20 million to help the “economically disadvantaged, particularly children.”

Prodded by moderator Bill Rosendahl, Hayden acknowledged that he had received $2 million in a divorce settlement from actress Jane Fonda. Riordan, who is reportedly worth $200 million and accepts just $1 a year as mayor, said “I honestly don’t know,” when asked how much is in his bank account.

“It’s certainly enough to live as comfortably as I want,” Riordan said. “But it’s not how wealthy you are, it’s what you do with your wealth.”

Later, Hayden said: “Charity is not a substitute for public policy.”

More than 50 journalists crammed into Century Cable’s Santa Monica studios to watch the debate, which will be repeated for Century Cable’s 200,000 households today at 10 a.m. and 7 p.m. and Saturday at 9 p.m., and has been made available to other area television stations.

Unlike Hayden, who stayed afterward for nearly an hour giving interviews, Riordan left quickly, stopping to chat only briefly. “It’s not my decision how it went,” he said. “It’s the voters’.”

At a news conference later in the day, Riordan said he enjoys “the give and take of debates” but probably will not have time for another one before the April 8 election.

“My schedule is backbreaking, and it would be very unfair to the city if I were to take that much more time on my campaign,” he said.

But Hayden said the status quo is unfair.

“There was live exchange for about 20 minutes,” he said. “I don’t think that’s enough to revive civic culture in the great city of Los Angeles.”

Even observers who thought Hayden had outperformed Riordan in the debate did not think he had done well enough to overcome the incumbent’s strong lead in the polls and $2-million campaign war chest.

“He didn’t catch up today. Just the fact that Riordan was able to stand up and smile and walk off happy is a plus, is a victory,” said political consultant Joe Cerrell. “I expected Hayden was going to be a pit bull, just going to rip [Riordan ] from one end to the other. He wasn’t bloodied at all.”

Allan Hoffenblum, a Republican political consultant, said Hayden failed to play up his status as a Democrat. Although the April 8 election is nonpartisan, Riordan’s membership in the Republican Party could be a liability in Los Angeles, where Democrats outnumber Republicans 2 to 1.

“It’s perceived that Hayden’s a great debater and Riordan’s boring, but Riordan more than held his own,” said consultant Harvey Englander. “For Hayden to have won, he had to have scored a knockout. I don’t think he even scored a knockdown.”

Times staff writer Ted Rohrlich contributed to this story.

* THE SPIN: Just as Riordan strategists intended, the debate failed to make a TV splash. A22

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Transcript on Internet

A transcript of the mayoral debate will be available by this afternoon on the Internet, at https://www.democracynet.org. It is also being rebroadcast on Century Cable today at 10 a.m. and 7 p.m. and Saturday at 9 p.m., and may be shown on other cable stations.