Hahn Campaign Absolved of Blame

Several Jewish civic leaders have dropped allegations that Mayor James K. Hahn’s reelection campaign improperly used their names or forged their signatures on endorsement cards.

Rabbi Steven Weil of the Orthodox Beth Jacob Congregation in Beverly Hills attributed the disputed endorsements to “overzealous” Jewish volunteers. Irving S. Lebovics, chairman of Agudath Israel of California, an Orthodox communal organization, accepted an apology from the campaign and called the case “closed.”

“Hahn’s campaign is absolutely, positively innocent on this issue,” Weil said in a telephone interview. “There were some volunteers who weren’t part of the campaign that got a little overzealous. It’s clear the campaign was totally aboveboard.”

Weil was one of three Jewish leaders who last month assailed Hahn’s campaign for allegedly forging their names on cards indicating they supported the mayor’s reelection. The Hahn campaign said it used those cards, given to them by volunteers, to justify listing the names in ads in Jewish newspapers.

The Jewish vote is an important niche in Los Angeles politics. A Times poll shows Hahn would draw only 26% of that vote to Villaraigosa’s 62%.

Weil said campaign staff members had met with him and showed him the cards. His signature “absolutely was a forgery,” he said, “but it was not done by anyone associated with the Hahn campaign.”

The Jewish Journal, which has been following the issue closely, reported last week that five other Jewish civic leaders, making a total of eight, had said their names were forged or used improperly in ads. The ads listed 111 names under the headline “We support the reelection of our Mayor Jim Hahn.”

The Jewish Journal carried news of Weil’s exoneration of the Hahn campaign on its website late last week.

It isn’t clear whether “endorsement-gate” will cost Hahn votes in the May 17 mayoral run-off against City Councilman Antonio Villaraigosa.

Weil, who declined to say whom he plans to support in the election, said he doubted that the incident would hurt the mayor because “the facts are clear that it was not done by his campaign.”

Hahn campaign manager Kam Kuwata said last month that the campaign received the endorsement cards from Joseph Klein, a prominent member of the community who died in August. Attributing the problems to a man who could not answer for himself had upset several Jewish leaders.

“There are more important issues, such as fixing the potholes on my block, safety and security and affordable housing,” said Stanley Treitel, the brother-in-law of Klein. “At this point, he’s not here,” Treitel said this week in a telephone interview about Klein. “At this point, let’s leave it alone and get on to much more important issues at hand.”

Kuwata said the Hahn campaign has been “reaching out” to Jewish leaders to explain how the problem occurred.

Lebovics said he had received a letter and phone call from Hahn, who he said “apologized if there were any misunderstandings.” He said he accepted the apology and considered the issue closed.

“The mayor did what he should have done in the beginning when this started,” Lebovics said. “My concern was that an individual who was a special person was brought into this.”

Lebovics said he supported former Assembly Speaker Bob Hertzberg in his failed primary bid last month.

Lebovics and Treitel are backing Villaraigosa. They are among those who are sponsoring a breakfast for him Sunday at a kosher restaurant.