2 Mayoral Camps Focus on L.A. Crime

Los Angeles Mayor James K. Hahn picked up the endorsement Thursday of former Assemblywoman Paula Boland, who accused challenger Antonio Villaraigosa of being soft on gang criminals and child abusers.

Villaraigosa disputed that criticism after he visited Granada Hills Charter High School on Thursday to discuss education. The city councilman, in turn, said Hahn was not being open with the public in refusing to release his appointments calendar, as Villaraigosa has.

Boland, a San Fernando Valley Republican, cited half a dozen bills aimed at gang members and child abusers that she said Villaraigosa opposed when he was in the Assembly.

Standing with Hahn in front of the Van Nuys Police Station, Boland noted that she was chairwoman of the Assembly Public Safety Committee when Villaraigosa was vice chairman.

“My vice chair of public safety was protecting gangs and gang crimes,” Boland said. “Antonio and I were friends in Sacramento, and I’d love him to be my next-door neighbor and have barbecues with him, but I don’t want him in charge of my Police Department or Fire Department.”

Hahn said he differs from Villaraigosa because he supports tougher laws on street gangs, including a citywide gang injunction that he recently proposed. Villaraigosa has said he was open to that idea, but Hahn questioned his sincerity.

“The question always is: Which Villaraigosa are we talking about? The Villaraigosa who was in the Legislature who voted against tougher penalties for gang members, or the person now running for mayor who is trying to appeal to moderates saying, ‘That was then; this is now,’ ” Hahn said. He was joined by 30 Valley homeowner activists and union members.

Boland criticized Villaraigosa for voting against bills to increase penalties for gang crimes, allow judges to require gang members convicted of crimes to register with local law enforcement, allow the seizure of assets from gang members convicted of crimes, and increase the penalty for those convicted of child abuse resulting in death.

Ace Smith, Villaraigosa’s campaign manager, listed eight bills the ex-assemblyman supported that stiffened enforcement against gang crimes and 13 that cracked down on child abuse. “The bottom line is that the Hahn campaign has taken a few votes out of context,” he said.

Villaraigosa focused Thursday on his support for education reform, visiting a school that claims to be the nation’s largest charter school. He praised charter campuses, calling them “incubators for innovation.”

Within hours, Hahn campaign spokeswoman Julie Wong had accused Villaraigosa of voting against a 1995 bill to authorize as many as 300 charter schools statewide. Villaraigosa spokesman Nathan James responded that Villaraigosa brokered a compromise to pass a 1998 bill to expand charters.

Meanwhile, Villaraigosa reacted to Hahn’s decision not to release his past schedules, demanding that the mayor make his calendar public.

Hahn defended his decision, saying city security experts thought it could jeopardize his safety. “It’s really based on my assessment in talking to my security detail,” he said.

When asked how a schedule from three years ago could threaten his safety today, Hahn said, “I don’t want to go into it any more than that.”

All of the state’s top elected officials have released their calendars, as have some other big-city mayors.

Scoffed Smith: “If the governor of the state of California ... one of the most recognized people in the world, can release his schedule without citing security, one would think that Jim Hahn could do the same thing.”