Miscikowski Backers Decry ‘Mudslinging’

Stung by her leading opponent’s campaign mailer accusing her of wrongdoing, 11th District City Council candidate Cindy Miscikowski on Thursday gathered a group of community activists at a City Hall news conference to call for an end to “mudslinging.”

Homeowner association leaders and others from throughout the Westside-to-San Fernando Valley district decried the “hit piece,” and the candidate whose campaign sent it, former mayoral aide Georgia Mercer. They also praised Miscikowski, former longtime top deputy to retiring Councilman Marvin Braude.

“We are here today to criticize Georgia Mercer and other candidates who use city money to run negative campaigns,” Richard Close, president of the Sherman Oaks Homeowners Assn., said.

As of March 20, Mercer had received some $76,500 in city-provided matching campaign funds, according to records on file at the city Ethics Commission. Miscikowski had received about $64,300 by then.

The mailer in question accuses Miscikowski and her husband, lobbyist Doug Ring, of using their City Hall connections to get a gate installed across a street leading to their affluent neighborhood in the Santa Monica Mountains.

Miscikowski predicted the tactic will backfire, based on calls to her campaign office by voters angered by the attack.

But Mercer campaign consultant Larry Levine said his candidate has struck a chord among voters by bringing the matter to public attention.

“I’ll bet they didn’t talk about the gate, did they?” Levine said when asked to respond to the news conference. In fact, Miscikowski did not respond directly to Mercer’s allegations.

“The real issue here is the arrogance . . . She and her husband got the only gate [on a public street] in the history of the city,” Levine said.