Hayden Concedes to Weiss in Close Race for Council

Tom Hayden conceded defeat Tuesday in his race for the Los Angeles City Council, using the occasion to blast what he called the “shameful insider culture of power” at City Hall.

Hayden’s concession in the 5th District came as the council voted Tuesday to certify Jack Weiss’ victory by 369 votes of 53,000 cast on June 5. Weiss, a former federal prosecutor, will take office July 1.

In a statement issued on his behalf, Hayden congratulated Weiss and pledged to work with him, but also took aim at everything from City Hall’s environmental policies to the cost of its earthquake retrofitting. He expressed regret over not being able to play a crusader role on the council.

“It was my wish to be Upton Sinclair or Lincoln Steffens inside City Hall, challenging the shameful insider culture of power that has turned Los Angeles more into a city of scandals than a city of angels,” Hayden said. The former student radical was in New York City on Tuesday editing and writing an introduction to a book titled “The Zapatista Reader, a Literary Anthology,” which is due out in October. The book examines the culture and politics of the 1994 Zapatista peasant rebellion in Chiapas, Mexico.

Spokesman Rocky Rushing said Hayden has no plans to ask for a recount in the council race, and is not considering a run in either of two other districts whose seats will be on the ballot in September and January.

After finishing the Zapatista book and possibly writing a second one on Los Angeles street gangs, Hayden, 61, will probably “reemerge with a better idea of the direction he wants to take,” Rushing said.

In the statement, Hayden called for more city action on violence prevention, the needs of senior citizens, after-school programs and an “environmental renaissance” in Los Angeles.

Hayden, who spent 18 years in the state Legislature, lost races for governor in 1994 and for mayor in 1997. His wife, actress Barbara Williams, said he had a tough time with the council results because he invested so much emotionally in the election.

“It’s been kind of a difficult period, but it also is hard to let go because of the irregularities and the closeness of the race,” she said from her Brentwood home.

Hayden did support the demands of some homeowner leaders in Laurel Canyon and elsewhere for an investigation into the alleged irregularities, which he said included a last-minute change of polling places that might have kept some of his supporters from voting.

Frank Martinez, executive officer for the city clerk, said a review found that the city did take appropriate steps to direct voters to new polling stations after owners of some preliminary locations withdrew their use in the days before the election.

Meanwhile, even as he ripped into City Hall, Hayden offered to help Weiss settle into the office being vacated by Michael Feuer, who lost a bid for city attorney.

“I congratulate Jack Weiss for a hard-fought, exhausting campaign,” Hayden said. “I offer my assistance to him in any way that may be beneficial as he undertakes the task of stewardship.”

Weiss challenged Hayden’s grim view of City Hall, noting that six new council members will take office by next month, and two more will join them in the months ahead to give the panel a majority of freshmen.

“What I have seen in the past two weeks is a sea change at City Hall, with a new generation of leadership taking hold,” Weiss said. “I am optimistic about the ability for us to make sure it is not business as usual.”