Katz Rejects Democrats’ $40,000 Offer for Recount

Calling it “hush money,” Richard Katz on Tuesday refused to accept $40,000 from Democratic Party leaders to pay for a ballot recount of the San Fernando Valley’s hard-fought state Senate primary.

Katz lost the Democratic nomination by 29 votes--or .0003%--to City Councilman Richard Alarcon in a racially charged campaign.

Katz said he would not accept the money from the state Senate Democratic Caucus because state Senate President Pro Tem John Burton (D-San Francisco) imposed two conditions that Katz said are “unacceptable.”

To get the money, Burton said, Katz must stop rehashing the disputes of the campaign and pledge to support Alarcon if the recount does not change the outcome of the election.

Katz referred to the offer as “hush money.”

“I think it’s offensive for someone to say that if you want the money you need to stop talking about the race-baiting,” he said.

Katz was referring to a controversial mailer sent out on Alarcon’s behalf by state Sen. Richard Polanco (D-Los Angeles). The mailer linked Katz to a 1988 Orange County incident in which Republican candidates hired guards that scared some Latino voters away from the polls.

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Alarcon apologized for the mailer Monday, an apology that Katz promptly rejected as “insincere.”

The recount of nearly 100,000 ballots will cost $40,000 in fees, plus another $40,000 or more for lawyers and consultants.

But Katz is confident he can raise the money through contributions from supporters.

In an interview Tuesday, Burton said he offered the $40,000 to both camps as a way to bring a quick end to the divisive campaign and to eliminate what was becoming an annoying distraction for the Democratic Party.

“The whole purpose of the recount was to bring harmony to the thing,” he said.

Because Katz continues to snipe at Alarcon over campaign tactics, Burton said “the reason for the gesture has become null and void.”