Candidates Face Off, Talk About Rampart

Squaring off before a broad segment of Los Angeles’ legal community, the four candidates for city attorney sparred vigorously at the UCLA School of Law on Thursday evening.

The multimillion-dollar Rampart Division police corruption case loomed large in the two-hour debate, sponsored by the Los Angeles County Bar Assn.

Deputy Dist. Attys. Lea Purwin D’Agostino and Frank Tavelman, who is also an LAPD reserve officer, implied that Councilman Mike Feuer and Deputy Mayor Rocky Delgadillo shared some of the responsibility for the city’s failure to prevent the scandal and its delay in implementing long-promised reforms.

Throughout the evening Tavelman and D’Agostino pushed their credentials as prosecutors and City Hall outsiders who would bring independence to the job.

And Tavelman insisted his experience as a volunteer cop on the streets and as a onetime attorney for a private investment firm made him the best qualified to run the city attorney’s office.

Delgadillo, who is Mayor Richard Riordan’s point man on economic development, touted his work in bringing investment and jobs to the city, especially to its poorest neighborhoods.

He said he would use the city attorney’s office as a bully pulpit to improve the troubled school system and combat blight and other neighborhood problems.

“I believe the city attorney is a leader, not just a lawyer,” Delgadillo said.

Feuer said his work as director of a large public-interest law firm and his six years on the City Council make him the best choice as a city attorney who can provide “leadership, vision and experience.”

Disagreement on a Variety of Issues

D’Agostino was the most combative, saying people “want a breath of fresh air at City Hall.” She said voters are fed up with “bureaucracy and do-nothing politicians” and promised not to use the office as a steppingstone to another post.

The candidates disagreed on a range of issues, from whether to split the office into separate entities for civil and criminal matters, to how to improve office morale and keep talented lawyers on the city payroll.

Tavelman drew appreciative laughter when it was his turn to answer a question about fairness in hiring and promotion, and enforcing good-government laws.

“Let’s talk reality: Nobody is going to sit up here and tell you they won’t enforce the ethics laws,” Tavelman said.

But it was the Rampart case that kept cropping up throughout the night.

City officials have estimated that it will take at least $125 million to settle some 200 lawsuits and claims by alleged victims of police abuse, and that the reforms, to be enacted under federal supervision, will require between $20 million and $40 million in the first year alone.

Delgadillo said he would urge private attorneys to volunteer to help the city sort out claims and reach settlements.

Feuer defended the city’s entering into a consent decree with the federal government for oversight of the police department. Otherwise, “we would have an unelected federal judge running the LAPD by edict.”

Tavelman said he saw many ambiguities in the consent decree, and D’Agostino said city leaders waited far too long to implement police reforms and to weed out corrupt officers.

The candidates have appeared together at several other forums, but Thursday’s debate marked their first opportunity to face off in front of their peers.

Times columnist Patt Morrison moderated the debate.

The city attorney’s office, with a staff of about 430 lawyers and 500 other employees, has a $70-million annual budget.

Its criminal branch prosecutes all misdemeanors and infractions that occur within city limits. Its civil branch handles most traditional municipal legal matters, such as contracts and land use. The special operations branch handles cases in six categories, including enforcement of housing laws and environmental and consumer protection matters.