Foes Question Hayden’s Official Residency in Aide’s Guest House

Already under fire for moving into the 5th District to run for the Los Angeles City Council, former state Sen. Tom Hayden is facing new questions from political opponents about where he lives.

Jack Weiss, a former federal prosecutor running against Hayden and nine others in the 5th District, questioned whether Hayden meets legal residency requirements and called Wednesday for the city attorney to investigate.

Hayden, who moved from Santa Monica to Brentwood in 1996 to run for mayor of Los Angeles, said in November that he had rented a house in Sherman Oaks, in the 5th District, so he could run for the seat being vacated by Mike Feuer.

But when Hayden recently filed papers to run, he listed his residence as a house on Weyburn Avenue in Westwood that also is in the district.

It is owned by Sandy Brown, who heads Hayden’s campaign and was his chief of staff in the Senate. Brown lives in the main house, and Hayden rents a room in a guest house out back, she said.

“That’s his official residence,” Brown said.

Hayden said in a statement that his Westwood guest house has a bedroom, bathroom and front kitchen and that he uses the Sherman Oaks home when he campaigns in the Valley.

“What I’ve done is perfectly legal and proper,” he said.

Hayden’s wife and child have remained in their Brentwood home, which they purchased for $550,000, but they visit Hayden frequently at his temporary digs, he said. However, he did concede that “some nights I am in my old house in Sullivan Canyon, six minutes from the [5th] District line.”

Hayden decided to list his official residence at Brown’s house so all mail and other materials would be delivered to his campaign hub, Brown said.

Hayden said he is “actively working with a Sherman Oaks Realtor to buy a house if the voters elect me.”

Several of Hayden’s opponents were skeptical.

“What kind of commitment to the district is that?” asked Jill Barad, a Sherman Oaks businesswoman and a candidate in the race. She called it “hard to believe” that Hayden is living in Brown’s guest house.

Attorneys for Weiss researched the issue, according to campaign consultant Larry Levine, who said it does not appear that Hayden is meeting the residency standards set by city and state law.

But election law experts, including Assistant City Atty. Tony Alperin, said that in general, if a candidate resides in the district, he meets the residency requirement. The office is not investigating, Alperin said.

To run for office, Hayden was required to sign a statement, under penalty of perjury, stating that his legal residence is on Weyburn Avenue, said Deputy City Clerk Kris Heffron.

“It has to be a place where the candidate intends to reside,” Heffron said, adding her office does not routinely check.

The City Charter requires a candidate to be a resident of a district for 30 days before filing a declaration of intent to run in a race there. Hayden filed his declaration Jan. 12 but registered to vote in December using the Weyburn address, Brown said.

The city Election Code states, “A person does not gain a domicile in any precinct into which he comes merely for temporary purpose, without the intention of making that precinct his home.”

Parke Skelton, Hayden’s campaign consultant, said Hayden pays Brown $1,000 a month for the guest house. “Residency has to do with intent, and Tom clearly intends to be a resident of the district,” Skelton said.

The residency issue has been a sticky one for Hayden, whose Web site lists it as one of three frequently asked questions.

The site describes Hayden as a “legal resident” of the district, adding that he represented most of the council district when he served in the state Senate.

Steve Saltzman, another candidate, said Hayden’s conduct was outrageous.

“Does anyone think Tom Hayden, a multimillionaire with a wife and baby, is living in a room at Sandy Brown’s house?” Saltzman asked. “Everyone knows it’s a joke. It’s deceitful.”