Hahn Steps Up Campaign to Justify Stance on Parks

Jolted by angry reaction to his opposition to Los Angeles Police Chief Bernard C. Parks’ reappointment, Mayor James K. Hahn has stepped up his public appearances and embarked on the unusual mission of trying to convince residents that their city is becoming more dangerous--and therefore that the LAPD needs new leadership.

Hahn and his staff also are working behind the scenes, trying to win the support of the city’s opinion makers. His schedule has been rearranged because of the controversy, and Hahn has set aside time to try to reassure longtime backers--especially leaders of the city’s African American communities and churches.

As a result, the state of the Los Angeles Police Department and the question of who should lead it have dominated the mayor’s public message and commanded more of his attention than any other issue since he took office in July, aides and others close to Hahn said.

“Early in every administration, you get to a point where you’re challenged, and that point is where many chief executives are then defined,” said political consultant Bill Carrick, who ran Hahn’s mayoral campaign. “Jim’s leadership is being defined by this.”

Hahn’s approach to the controversy has ramifications beyond the issue of Parks’ selection: By concentrating on the city’s crime problem, Hahn may strengthen the arguments of secession advocates, who say Los Angeles is too big to be governed effectively and that a smaller city would better address residents’ needs.

Faced with intense public reaction, particularly among African Americans, the mayor also has been forced into an odd campaign against a prominent official of his government. Parks has appeared almost daily on local television and radio to defend his performance, and Hahn is regularly asked to respond.

Hahn’s decision to oppose the chief has won him some admiration for forcefulness, but so far his efforts to explain his move have not always been effective, according to some of the city’s political experts. They say the mayor missed the opportunity to raise questions about the chief’s performance before Parks declared his intention to seek a second term. Since then, Hahn has failed to rally others to his position, the mayor’s critics contend.

“I don’t think the mayor has yet found a cohesive message that resonates throughout the city on the Parks issue,” said political consultant Harvey Englander. “The way it’s been handled has not been with the greatest political finesse.”

In an interview, Hahn said he is not focused on the political implications of his decisions, and insisted that he is talking about public safety issues around the city because he is worried about the recent jump in crime. In the last two years, violent crime has increased 17%.

“The timing has really been generated by the fact that we’ve seen a recent upsurge in the city,” he said. “January was a terrible month for us in terms of increased homicides.” But Hahn acknowledged that his message about crime and LAPD staffing highlights the reasons he gave for opposing Parks’ reappointment.

So concerned is Hahn over the LAPD’s priorities, aides said, that he met with the city’s chief administrative officer for two hours last week to discuss reshaping the Police Department’s budget. Parks was not present for that meeting.

Since Hahn declared his opposition to Parks, the mayor has held a series of events around the city to make his case for change at the LAPD. On Monday he met with residents in Boyle Heights to lay out a community policing plan.

In every case, Hahn avoided talking about the chief, and changed the subject when others brought up the issue.

Even when Hahn has tried to turn to other issues, he has been interrupted by the debate over Parks’ future.

Two weeks ago, Hahn was working his way through a series of long meetings with department heads over next year’s tight financial situation.

Hahn’s schedule was cleared for the meetings, and the mayor was expected to stay out of public sight for several days. But by midday on the second day, aides pulled him away from the budget conferences to respond to a group of black clergy accusing Hahn of trying to buy their silence on Parks by giving their churches $25,000 city grants.

For more than 30 minutes, Hahn stood behind a lectern in a City Hall media conference room, defending himself against the charges.

The next day, during a visit to a North Hollywood elementary school to commemorate expansion of the after-school program LA’s BEST, Hahn asked reporters to limit their questions to those concerning the program.

But after a few minutes, a television reporter asked the mayor how he felt about the black ministers ripping up their checks from the city. Hahn sighed. “Any more questions about LA’s BEST?” he asked, surveying the gaggle of cameras surrounding him.

No one spoke.

Despite the criticism, Hahn has stood resolutely by his decision to oppose Parks’ reappointment. That has won him praise in some quarters, as backers say it has demonstrated his command.

“Putting aside the decision itself, I think the effect of it is to reflect another dimension to the mayor, that there is a toughness about him and a decisiveness and an independence that many people were not aware of,” said attorney George Kieffer, a longtime confidant of the mayor.

Hahn said he has paid a price for his determination.

“I don’t expect even my friends to agree with me all the time, but certainly there are times that it saddens me to see the level of rhetoric,” Hahn said in another interview. “I hope the people that know me know I am just doing what I think is right.”

The mayor’s public campaign to explain his decision and to raise questions about the LAPD has been matched by private efforts to assuage the anger some backers have voiced.

In mid-February, he met with Ken Lombard, business partner of basketball star and entrepreneur Earvin “Magic” Johnson. He is scheduled to meet with Johnson in the coming week.

Both men were among a dozen African American activists and leaders who tried to negotiate an agreement between the mayor and the chief before Hahn decided to oppose Parks’ reappointment.

Lombard said his recent conversation with Hahn convinced him the mayor is genuinely upset that so many of his supporters are disappointed in him. But Lombard, who supported Hahn in the mayor’s race, said he continues to feel betrayed by him now.

“Despite the fact that we obviously like Mayor Hahn,” he said, “I think it is going to be extremely hard to rebuild that trust.”