Hayden Describes Riordan as Racist

Calling incumbent Mayor Richard Riordan a “racist,” state Sen. Tom Hayden on Tuesday unveiled an endorsement from the Rev. Jesse Jackson, lauded the city’s “living wage” ordinance, and attended press conferences on immigrant rights and the “justice for janitors” campaign.

He also took his son to opening day at Dodger Stadium--for a few innings.

Arriving at City Hall on Tuesday morning, Hayden, the Democratic legislator who is challenging Riordan in Tuesday’s election, said his campaign theme for the day was a simple one: “Riordan is a racist.”

Expanding on the theme at a later news conference, Hayden said: “All across the city, from transportation to education to health, there is a deepening racial divide. This mayor could have been a hero. Instead he has turned into a Nero. He’s put this city at risk.”

But Riordan spokesman Todd Harris denounced Hayden’s comments as “disgusting” and “opportunistic.”

“Angelenos are looking for someone who can bring the city together,” Harris said. “Divisive racial attacks are not going to do that.”

Meanwhile, as Hayden was showing off new radio ads by Jackson, one of the city’s best-known African American politicians denounced the mayoral campaign, and urged his constituents to vote for “none of the above”--unless Hayden forces Riordan into another debate before Tuesday.

“The people of the city of Los Angeles are being cheated,” said Councilman Nate Holden, who bowed out of the race in January after much deliberation. “There’s been no discussion of the issues facing this city. You have not heard one word from either of them in a confrontational setting. It’s the fault of both candidates.”

Hayden and Riordan had a half-hour debate last month on Century Cable. Hayden has asked the mayor for a rematch, but Riordan has said repeatedly that he is too busy running the city to meet his opponent.

“It takes two to tango,” Hayden aide Rocky Rushing said after Holden’s remarks.

But Holden said Hayden should be following the mayor wherever he goes to force a face-off.

“You can’t let them run and hide,” he said. “My suggestion to the public: Withhold your committed vote until you hear about the issues. Vote for none of the above or for someone else on the ballot. That’s what I intend to do.”

With a week left before the election, Hayden had a full schedule Tuesday, targeting low-income residents in the African American and Latino communities, where a recent poll showed he has the best chance of collecting votes.

He visited City Hall to laud the City Council’s override of Riordan’s veto of a measure that will boost the pay for low-wage workers. He piggybacked on a news conference lambasting the new federal law that will reduce government benefits to immigrants, citing his own Irish immigrant heritage and his wife’s status as a Canadian living in this country. He appeared with janitors at USC who are trying to organize a union, marching on the president’s office to urge the university to construct a “living memorial” to Cesar Chavez--rather than a stone monument--by signing a contract with the janitors.

And he showcased the endorsement from Jackson, which is the centerpiece of a mailer sent to 25,000 African American households this week, as well as of a radio spot.

“Tom Hayden has always stood with us, fighting for freedom, speaking truth to power. . . . He stood with us when it counted. We should stand with him on Tuesday, April 8th,” Jackson says in the ad. “Father [Martin Luther] King [Jr.] and Nelson Mandela paid for our right to vote with their blood, their sweat and their tears. Please don’t waste that precious right.”

In contrast to his “lifelong” civil rights record, Hayden said, Riordan has increased “disconnectedness” among Los Angeles’ diverse communities by backing subsidies to keep large corporations within the city while vetoing the “living wage” ordinance, and by supporting the removal of the city’s African American police chief.

Hayden pointed to the mayor’s comments in a recent Times story regarding the preponderance of Latino waiters as evidence that Riordan does not understand the reality of life in minority communities.

With a recent Times poll showing him at least 20 points behind the incumbent, even Hayden appeared dubious Tuesday about the path to victory.

“How are we going to do this? I don’t exactly know,” he told a sparse crowd at a downtown luncheon hosted by Town Hall-Los Angeles. “When we set out to end the war in Vietnam, we didn’t exactly know. When we set out to end segregation, we didn’t exactly know either.”