Huntington Police Union Rethinks Endorsement in City Attorney Race

The Huntington Beach Police Officers Assn. said Friday that it is reconsidering its endorsement of lawyer Ron Davis for city attorney after learning he was arrested and charged with bribery in 1983.

The case against Davis, who is in a tough election battle against veteran City Atty. Gail Hutton, was later dismissed, and the California State Bar exonerated him in its own investigation.

Police union officials said they will investigate the incident and interview Davis about it next week before deciding whether to withdraw the endorsement.

“At this time, the Huntington Beach Police Department has endorsed Ron Davis,” Kreg Muller, a union director, said Friday. “At this point, we are investigating other allegations to see if there needs to be a change in our position.”

Early in the race, the police union had taken the unusual step of supporting a lawyer who had represented criminal defendants in cases that received local public attention.

But before endorsing Davis, the union had not thoroughly checked his background, which also includes several malpractice lawsuits that were dismissed.

Muller said he and the other union directors were uncomfortable that the information on Davis came from Hutton’s camp and came so late in the campaign.

“They expected us to retract our endorsement, but we have a little more integrity than that,” Muller said. “We are not going to have a knee-jerk reaction. That just plays into the politics of this thing.”

He refused to say anything publicly about why the union doesn’t support the incumbent. But it is well-known that Hutton has stood up to police on workplace issues.

Last December, for instance, she went to court to get an order halting police from staging a so-called blue flu during the holidays. Police, who by law cannot strike, were rumored to be ready to call in sick en masse in a contract dispute with the city. In July 1995, She reacted similarly when a possible blue flu arose in another contract dispute.

In the 1983 incident, Davis admitted being guilty only of “bad judgment” and “stupidity.” Davis and two other men were charged in Long Beach with committing bribery in an alleged scheme to receive $45,000 from a man involved in a shooting.

The case was thrown out because a Municipal Court judge had denied Davis the opportunity to represent himself and cross-examine one of the witnesses. Deputy Los Angeles Dist. Atty. Paul Marin, who handled the case, said charges were not refiled against Davis because the case was weak.

Davis, 55, said he went home depressed Thursday night after learning that the union was reconsidering its position, but woke up Friday morning furious.

“Damn it, I’m not going to let them do this to me,” he said.

Whatever the police union decides about the case, however, it clearly does not intend to swing its endorsement to Hutton.

“We interviewed Gail Hutton and Ron Davis,” Muller said. “We liked his ideas. He had some positive changes he would like to see in the office and we bought into those.”

Davis has been attacking Hutton for her lack of trial experience and charging that her long term in office has left her too insular to provide any guidance to her deputy city attorneys.

As a result, he contends, she has spent $6 million over the last four years alone to hire outside attorneys to handle cases that could easily be cleared in-house.

Hutton, 61, has held the office for 20 years. Previously, she worked in the Santa Ana city attorney’s office.

Hutton countered that Davis had done nothing in his career to prepare him for the largely administrative role of city attorney. The city must deal with suits ranging from maritime law and bankruptcy to obnoxious neighbors and environmental issues, she said.

“He’s being naive,” she said. “When you have a heart problem, you go to a cardiologist, not a general practitioner. We wouldn’t expect someone who is one day advising the Planning Commission to be able to react to extremely sophisticated bankruptcy rules.”

Hutton pointed to the $6-million award the city won from the 1990 American Trader oil tanker spill as one example of the successful use of outside attorneys.

She also said she played a strong role in preventing more of the riots that had plagued the city’s Fourth of July celebrations and drafted numerous ordinances to make neighborhoods safer.

Davis, she contended, has been essentially a criminal defense attorney not suited for the administrative job of city attorney. Davis asserts that his practice also has involved much civil law work.

“It’s one thing to say you’re going to train deputies, but how about the morass of paperwork, the signing off on every ordinance, every resolution, every lease?” she said. “This is a very big administrative job.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Huntington Beach City Attorney Candidates

Ron Davis

Age: 55

Occupation: Lawyer in Huntington Beach

Background: Bachelor’s degree in government, Cal State Long Beach; law degree from UCLA; volunteered as expert witness for grand jury; served as judge pro tem in West Court, Santa Ana; previously served with Orange County district attorney’s office

Issues: Said his extensive trial experience would allow him to handle more cases in-house and save money on outside attorneys; would resolve neighborhood issues more quickly and draft better local laws; would provide better training and mentoring to deputies

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Gail Hutton

Age: 61

Occupation: Incumbent; elected in April 1978

Background: Bachelor’s degree, UC Berkeley; master’s in political science, UCLA; law degree from Pepperdine University; worked in Santa Ana city attorney’s office; former Huntington Beach high school teacher; former instructor at Pepperdine and Saddleback College; member, Coastal Cities Commission, Soroptimist Club, Elected City Attorneys Assn. of California and Orange County City Attorneys Assn.

Issues: Said she has invaluable experience as an administrator during 20 years in office; hires the best outside attorneys to protect the city in highly specialized areas of law; has drafted ordinances to prevent riots, graffiti and panhandling; has solid record on winning judgments for the city

Source: Individual candidates

Researched by LESLIE WRIGHT / For The Times