City Attorney Gets Low Marks in a Survey of Staffers

Los Angeles City Atty. Rocky Delgadillo needs to spend less time trying to get in front of news cameras and more time taking care of his employees -- that’s the view of many of the lawyers who work for the city’s top prosecutor.

The union that represents 480 deputy and assistant city attorneys conducted a survey in preparations for contract talks, and the 139 lawyers who filled out the questionnaire had some fairly unflattering things to say about their boss.

About 80% of the attorneys said they “strongly agree” with the statement that “the current city attorney administration places too much importance on generating favorable media coverage.” Another 11.5% of the attorneys said they agree somewhat with the statement.

When asked whether the current administration “cares about the well-being of its deputy city attorneys,” 75.5% of respondents said they “strongly disagree” and 12.2% said they disagree somewhat.

Nearly 9 out of 10 said they do not think Delgadillo’s administration “fairly considers the merits of all attorneys” in awarding promotions and raises. Most also said there are not enough attorneys to effectively represent the city.

The survey was completed in April, before the City Council adopted a budget that includes no money for pay raises for the city’s lawyers.

The survey also might reflect some internal resentment that Delgadillo has higher political ambitions. Pundits say Delgadillo’s future could include the office of mayor or state attorney general.

Still, Delgadillo ought to take the survey as a warning sign, said Bob Hunt, general counsel for the Service Employees International Union, Local 347, which conducted the poll with the City Attorneys Assn.

“There are problems,” Hunt said.

As for the notion that Delgadillo puts too much emphasis on positive publicity, Hunt said that’s probably not a surprise to many.

“He is a political official,” Hunt said. “It’s human nature if you are a politician.”

Responded Matt Szabo, a Delgadillo spokesman: “The attorneys in this office do an outstanding job for the people of Los Angeles and they deserve every bit of the positive media coverage they get.”

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Angelides Brings Own Hollywood Cast on Tour

Fighting celebrity with celebrity, state Treasurer Phil Angelides invited his own Hollywood cast along for a jet-setting tour of California college campuses last week to attack Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s proposed fee increases and limits on student enrollment.

Angelides, who has said he intends to be a Democratic candidate for governor in 2006, sought to match Schwarzenegger’s show-biz appeal by inviting along Randy Jackson, one of the three judges on the television show “American Idol”; Lawrence Bender, producer of the films “Pulp Fiction” and “Kill Bill, Vols. 1 and 2”; and Arianna Huffington, an author, political commentator and former gubernatorial candidate.

Schwarzenegger’s people say enrollment limits were adopted by the Legislature before Schwarzenegger took office and the cuts made this year are part of an agreement that promises an increase in state funding for colleges next year.

But at appearances on college campuses in San Diego, Santa Barbara and Hayward, Angelides said the enrollment cuts and fee increases “not only hurt students and the quality of our colleges, but also damage the long-term economic prosperity of California.”

But it was left to his celebrity supporters to offer the sound bites of the day.

Quipped Huffington: “We were going to have all three judges of ‘American Idol’ today but Arnold cut the other two.”

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Bush, Kerry Campaigns Gearing Up in California

The presidential election in November has two veterans of California politics going head-to-head. No, not George W. Bush and John Kerry. The directors of their California campaigns.

Bush hit the ground first, naming Deborah McCall of West Los Angeles as executive director of his campaign in California.

McCall was director of operations for the California Republican Party’s Victory 2000 campaign before spending the 2002 election as national victory director of the Republican National Committee.

“Gov. Schwarzenegger’s leadership lends momentum to our effort, and we are 40,000 California volunteers strong and growing,” McCall said. “We are working hard to communicate with California voters about the clear choice they will face in November between the president’s pro-growth policies and commitment to winning the war on terror and John Kerry’s backward vision.”

Last week, Kerry appointed Sky Gallegos as head of his campaign in California.

Gallegos was the state director of Al Gore’s presidential primary campaign in 2000, and was the deputy political director for the Clinton-Gore campaign in California in 1996. More recently, Gallegos was national political director for North Carolina Sen. John Edwards’ presidential campaign, and afterward joined EdVoice, a nonprofit group seeking to promote education reform in California.

Gallegos said California, with its 55 electoral college votes, is a key state and she is hopeful it will vote Democratic again despite last year’s recall election that swept out a Democratic governor and replaced him with Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger.

“I think most Californians have a very independent opinion about President Bush, regardless of how they feel about other Republican figures, and I don’t think it’s a very high one right now,” Gallegos said.

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San Bernardino County Official Pushes Limits

Has San Bernardino County officially endorsed George W. Bush for president?

It might seem that way by the looks of a recent news release issued by county Supervisor Bill Postmus. The release touts the millions of people who have contributed to Bush’s campaign, including Postmus, who heads the county’s Republican Party.

Postmus noted that he has raised at least $50,000 for the president, earning him the official title of “Maverick.” Bush supporters who raise at least $100,000 are called “Pioneers” and those who raise at least $200,000 are called “Rangers.”

In the release, Postmus criticizes presidential hopeful John Kerry for raising “hundreds of millions of dollars in liberal special-interest money.”

The attack on Kerry appears on a news release that is emblazoned with San Bernardino County’s official seal and the words “Board of Supervisors County of San Bernardino” in old English type, the same letterhead used on official county documents.

A Postmus spokesman said the news release violates no laws and was paid for by the supervisor’s reelection fund.

County Counsel Ronald Reitz conceded that the county has no law against using the seal for campaign-related material, but he noted that the county does have a policy that says the seal can be used only for official county business.

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Points Taken

* When the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors agreed to ACLU demands last week to remove a cross from the county seal, Los Angeles city officials watched nervously. Look closely at the Los Angeles seal and you will see that it is bordered by rosary beads, said Councilwoman Janice Hahn. The councilwoman, whose father, Kenneth Hahn, designed the county seal, opposed removing the cross. She disputed civil libertarians who said it is a violation of the separation of church and state. ACLU officials said they had no plans to challenge the city seal, noting it is not readily apparent to the casual viewer that the border is a religious symbol.

* Rep. David Dreier (R-San Dimas) flew over Simi Valley this week without leaving the ground. The congressman piloted an unmanned aerial surveillance vehicle as part of a demonstration of the innovative drones being used by the military in Iraq and Afghanistan. Dreier worked remote controls on the drone under the guidance of its maker, Monrovia-based AeroVironment Inc., which plans to make 10 of the ultralight airplanes a day under a new Defense Department contract.

* Sack lunches filled with peanuts were served on the lawn of the state Capitol to Assemblywoman Jackie Goldberg (D-Los Angeles) and other supporters of judicial reform measures last week. The point was that a proposal to cut sack lunches for prisoners on weekends and holidays will save peanuts compared with other changes. Goldberg, for example, wants to raise the maximum level for petty theft crimes from $400 to $800, accounting for inflation. The Coalition for Effective Public Safety, which is made up of activists who believe there are too many people being sent to prison, also wants to relax parole revocation laws, including an end to the practice of sending parolees back to prison if they miss a meeting with their parole officer.

You Can Quote Me

“I know the governor is popular, but I can’t imagine there are a lot of $16,000 cough drops floating around out there.”

EBay spokesman Hani Durzy, commenting after someone bid $15,099 on the Internet auction site for a cough drop that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger purportedly put into his mouth before tossing it into the trash, where someone retrieved it.

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Columnist Patt Morrison is on assignment. Contributing this week was Hugo Martin.