Hahn Adds to Growing List of Endorsements

James K. Hahn continued to press the issue of public safety Wednesday, touting endorsements from Republican County Supervisor Mike Antonovich, the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce and crime victim advocates who said the city attorney will do more to promote public safety than his opponent.

Meanwhile, former Assembly Speaker Antonio Villaraigosa rolled out another piece of his traffic plan, touring the city’s clogged freeways by helicopter with Mayor Richard Riordan and announcing that he would appoint a “traffic czar” to head a strike team of different agencies to reduce gridlock.

After the mayoral candidates finished their official events, Hahn opened a new line of criticism of his opponent, scolding Villaraigosa for saying that he should not be expected to “sacrifice” his two youngest children by sending them to public school.

Villaraigosa made the comment Tuesday at a candidate debate in response to a question about why he sends his children to a private Catholic school in Pasadena. At the debate, the former teachers union organizer reiterated his commitment to public schools, even as he said he wants his children to have “the best education” they can get.

“I won’t sacrifice my children any more than I could ask you to do the same,” he told the audience at The Times, where the debate was held.

Hahn noted Wednesday that Mt. Washington Elementary School, where Villaraigosa’s children were once enrolled, is considered one of the better schools in the Los Angeles Unified School District. Villaraigosa’s daughter is still elementary school age. Hahn’s children attend a public school in San Pedro.

“I don’t disagree with his personal choice in deciding to send his kids to private schools, but . . . it seems to me that the implication is that anybody who does send their kids to public school is somehow sacrificing theirs,” said Hahn after a news conference outside the county Hall of Administration. “I don’t feel that way. I don’t think a lot of other parents feel that way, and I don’t think the public school teachers of Los Angeles feel that way.”

Ace Smith, a consultant for Villaraigosa, wouldn’t address why Villaraigosa used the word “sacrifice,” countering that Hahn was “on the attack.”

“It’s sad that Hahn has become so desperate that he’s now trying to drag Mr. Villaraigosa’s wife and children into this race,” Smith said.

Earlier, Hahn touted his endorsement from Antonovich, a longtime representative of the San Fernando Valley and other areas, saying it would help improve his standing in that region. Many moderates and conservatives from the Valley were left without their first choice for mayor when the April 10 election eliminated businessman Steve Soboroff and Councilman Joel Wachs from the race.

“The next mayor, Jimmy Hahn, will provide leadership for public safety to assure that the Police Department has the resources to deal with what they are responsible for--safe streets,” Antonovich said.

The two candidates have sparred over crime throughout the runoff campaign, with Hahn calling Villaraigosa’s voting record on crime “abysmal” and Villaraigosa accusing him of sacrificing public safety by backing a three-day police workweek to get the police union’s endorsement.

Villaraigosa consultant Smith said allegations that the former legislator is not tough on crime are “just completely untrue.”

“Antonio Villaraigosa wants to put more police on the streets to make it safe, and Jimmy Hahn wants to take police off the street because he cut a back-room deal with the police union,” Smith said.

Meanwhile, during a morning news conference with Riordan at Burbank Airport, Villaraigosa said he would appoint a traffic czar to coordinate efforts among the city’s Department of Transportation, Caltrans, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and other agencies.

Under the leadership of the traffic czar, a strike team would meet at least weekly to make sure that, among other things, construction projects stop during rush hour, the city implements reversible lanes and traffic lights are coordinated.

Riordan, who endorsed Villaraigosa last week, called his idea of creating a traffic czar position “a tremendous, tremendous step forward.”

Villaraigosa and the mayor started the morning with an aerial view of the slow-moving morning freeway commute.

Villaraigosa has been rolling out proposals to combat traffic congestion for the last few days, highlighting one of the three issues he has said he will emphasize in the remaining days of the race.