Hahn Backer Sought Tribal Funds for Ads

A longtime political supporter of City Atty. James K. Hahn helped persuade a Riverside County Indian tribe to spend $100,000 on campaign mailers that sharply attack Antonio Villaraigosa’s record on crime, according to records and interviews.

The actions by Hahn supporter and contributor Daniel Weinstein raise questions about whether the tough anti-Villaraigosa mailers are truly an independent action of the Soboba Band of Mission Indians, or were coordinated by the Hahn campaign, in possible violation of the city’s campaign laws.

In addition to its implications for the mayor’s race, the case of the Sobobas also demonstrates, once again, the growing political pugnaciousness of California’s Indian tribes--often powered by casino revenues and not shy about striking back at perceived political enemies, including Villaraigosa, who tangled with the tribes several years ago over restrictions on Indian gaming.

Postcards that claim Villaraigosa voted to go easy on sexual predators and rapists began arriving in 120,000 homes Tuesday--paid for by a tribe that has no obvious interests in the Los Angeles mayoral race. The two top officials of the tribe said in an interview that they agreed to pay for the attacks on Villaraigosa after a conference call last week.

On one end of that phone conversation were the leaders of six Indian tribes, huddled for a meeting at the Coco’s restaurant on the Morongo Indian reservation in Southern California’s low desert. At the other end of the line was Weinstein, a consultant with long ties to labor unions and Hahn, who suggested that each of the tribes contribute $100,000 to an anti-Villaraigosa campaign, the Indian leaders said.

“Mr. Weinstein assured us it was not a smear campaign,” said Scott Cozart, vice chairman of the Sobobas. “He said he did not want to get into that and that Mr. Hahn did not want to get into such a campaign--that [the mailer] was only reflecting Mr. Villaraigosa’s record.”

Weinstein could not be reached for comment, and the Hahn campaign said it had no advance knowledge of the Sobobas’ attack mailers. Officials at the campaign said they did not authorize Weinstein to represent the Hahn campaign and did not know of the conversation between Weinstein and the Indian leaders.

Los Angeles’ campaign finance rules limit contributions to citywide candidates to $1,000 under most circumstances. But the system can be circumvented by donors who contribute to other groups separate from the campaigns themselves, and who therefore are not bound by the city limits. Those efforts are allowed only if they are genuinely independent and not linked to the candidates or their campaigns.

So-called “independent” expenditures and communications by political parties and unions--on behalf of both mayoral candidates--have increasingly stymied efforts by the Los Angeles Ethics Commission to control spending leading up to the Tuesday election. Weinstein’s alleged actions are the clearest indication yet of what public interest groups have long suspected: that individuals at least nominally attached to the campaigns help control the supposedly independent outside spending.

$200,000 in Radio Ads

Some of the spending on Villaraigosa’s behalf has alarmed local ethics officials. In particular, large contributions by some of Los Angeles’ richest men have flowed to the state Democratic Party in recent months, as the party has spent lavishly on the mayor’s race. But none of those contributors have been shown to have coordinated their efforts with the Villaraigosa campaign.

In addition to the Sobobas, another of the Mission Indian bands, the Morongos, spent $200,000 on radio advertisements just before the April 10 election sharply criticizing Villaraigosa for the letter he wrote on behalf of a convicted cocaine trafficker and blaming him for the state’s energy crisis.

The Sobobas’ first mailers land just a week before the runoff election, which will decide whether Hahn or Villaraigosa becomes mayor.

Villaraigosa’s relationships with California’s Indian tribes have waxed and waned since his days in the state Assembly.

Some Indian leaders still recall he moment in the wee hours of the night during the 1997 legislative session when they celebrated with Villaraigosa a vote that defeated a plan to increase regulation of reservation gambling. One tribal leader recalled that Villaraigosa stood in a hallway outside the Assembly chamber and burned a stalk of white sage--a ceremonial offering of brotherhood with the few Indian leaders who remained in the hall at that late hour.

But in 1998, the Assembly speaker helped push through a pact that regulated the use of Las Vegas-style slot machines on reservations and also required California tribes to allow collective bargaining by employees. Villaraigosa was particularly intent on winning labor negotiating rights for reservation workers, many of whom were reported to be working in substandard conditions and for minimum wage.

The so-called Pala Compact, named for one tribe, infuriated many Indians as an unfair breach of their independence and livelihoods.

“As speaker of the house, he changed everything,” said Cozart, the vice chairman of the Soboba tribe, which runs a casino three miles east of the town of San Jacinto.

Animosity toward Villaraigosa among a few tribes was already evident by the time the mayor’s race rolled around this year. That became clear when the Morongos funded the April radio ads--although tribal leaders would say at the time only that they were disappointed in Villaraigosa’s leadership in Sacramento.

Then, on May 21, the Tribal Alliance of Sovereign Indian Nations gathered for its regular, twice-monthly meeting, this time at the Morongo Coco’s restaurant. The group discusses issues of concern to Southern California Indian tribes.

When the meeting’s agenda reached the topic of “other business,” Weinstein telephoned through and, on a speaker phone, explained to the assembled Indian leaders how they could help the Hahn campaign, said Cozart and Soboba tribal Chairman Robert Salgado. Salgado was not in the room, but said he was briefed on the meeting afterward.

Weinstein joined in as some of the tribal members discussed how “Villaraigosa was showing his contempt for Native Americans,” Cozart said. Weinstein explained that, in the past, he had worked for both candidates and “liked them both but felt that Hahn was the better choice,” Cozart said.

Weinstein instructed the gathering on how they could participate in the mail campaign. “He said this is how we could do it, to wire [the $100,000] to AMS Communications,” said Cozart, referring to the San Francisco consulting firm of Ambrosino, Muir & Hansen, which specializes in political mail.

The tribal leaders left the meeting and returned to their reservations. “I think everybody left with the attitude that they would go back and make the decision from their own reservation” about whether to participate in the mail campaign against Villaraigosa, said Cozart.

Mailers on 2 Subjects

The Soboba leaders said they decided that Villaraigosa’s past actions on Indian gaming, and the belief that Hahn would provide “a better voice” for the many Native Americans living in Los Angeles, were reason enough to become involved in the distant mayor’s race.

Three days later, on May 24, a notice of a $100,000 “independent” expenditure on behalf of Hahn was faxed to the city Ethics Commission. It described mailings of 120,000 pieces each on two topics--”sex crimes” and “child pornography.” The document gave the Sobobas’ address and phone number in San Jacinto, but it also bore a fax notation indicating that the document had been sent to the tribe by Weinstein’s firm, Beverly Hills-based Wetherly Capital Group.

Soboba Chairman Salgado said he knew little about the subject matter to be included in the mailers. He said he first learned about the provocative nature of the postcards while watching the 11 p.m. news one night last week.

Although he was not entirely comfortable with the subject matter, Salgado said, he became convinced that Villaraigosa had a poor record on crime. “If the shoe fits, put it on, you know what I mean?” Salgado said. “If it doesn’t, then I guess we’ll have to live with it.”

Although the tribe did not see the mailer before it was sent by the San Francisco firm, Cozart said Tuesday: “Whether we are shown it before it goes out or not, I am comfortable it will be done properly.”

None of the other tribes involved in the conference call have revealed an intention to help the Hahn campaign. Leaders of two tribes did not respond to calls from The Times. A third, the Pechanga Band of Luiseno Indians, said it decided not to contribute to the mail campaign.

“This is a highly individual decision for each tribe,” said Mark Macarro, tribal chairman of the Pechangas. “My tribe feels strongly about not participating in peripheral campaigns where there is not a direct issue of relevance for our tribe.”

One Hahn aide said Weinstein has helped raise money for the mayoral campaign; another called him a longtime friend and supporter of the city attorney. Records show that Weinstein has given $1,250 to Hahn’s campaign and made a much smaller donation when Hahn was running for city attorney. His wife has given a total of $1,500 to Hahn.

The answering machine for Weinstein’s Beverly Hills company also gives a caller the option of connecting with Julio Ramirez, who has been assisting with the Hahn campaign as a volunteer and was paid a nominal fee in the last six weeks for providing “campaign paraphernalia.” Ramirez is a well-known political professional who a decade ago served as a special assistant in Hahn’s office.

State law requires that independent expenditures of $1,000 or more be disclosed within 24 hours of being made. According to the state Political Reform Act, expenditures are not independent if “made with the cooperation of, or in consultation with, any candidate or any authorized committee or agent of the candidate.”

Lawrence Woodlock, senior counsel to the state Fair Political Practices Commission, said the issue often comes down to what constitutes “coordination.”