Unions’ Donations Lift Cap on Spending

Mayor James K. Hahn and his opponent, Councilman Antonio Villaraigosa, can spend an unlimited amount of money on their May 17 runoff election because the cap was lifted Wednesday when two unions with close ties to Hahn reported spending $320,000 to support his reelection.

Hahn has so far benefited from $402,632 in independent spending, primarily from unions, while Villaraigosa has benefited from $121,865, less than a third as much.

There are no limits on independent expenditures, but spending more than $200,000 for or against a candidate removes the $1.8-million cap on how much candidates can spend.

Villaraigosa campaign strategist Ace Smith said the city councilman, who raised $1.8 million by last Sunday, would collect as much as he can.

“Jim Hahn ran one of the sleaziest campaigns in American history four years ago,” said Smith, referring to the June 2001 matchup in which Villaraigosa lost to Hahn. “We know we are going to need every dollar possible to respond.”

Hahn campaign strategist Kam Kuwata said that “all the money in the world cannot cover up” Villaraigosa’s “very shaky record” in public office.

Hahn and Villaraigosa, meanwhile, spent the day attacking each other’s records on crime and education.

The mayor charged that Villaraigosa would make former Police Chief Bernard C. Parks, whom Hahn forced out, his top law enforcement advisor. Villaraigosa responded that Hahn is making unfounded claims “in a desperate act to resuscitate a floundering campaign.”

Perched on a chair in the living room of a home in Canoga Park, Hahn told a group of neighbors that a vote for Villaraigosa is a vote to “go backward instead of forward in this city.” He also said it was clear to him that Villaraigosa would rely on Parks for law enforcement advice.

“Do we want to go back to the Villaraigosa-Parks ways of making our city safer? ... The Villaraigosa way of no gang injunctions, no community policing, the Parks way of not involving the community, of seeing a rise in crime rates?” Hahn asked. “Or are we going to continue the momentum that I’ve developed with Chief [William J.] Bratton? That’s the question. That’s what at stake in this election.”

Villaraigosa was endorsed last month by Parks, who is now a councilman and who came in fourth in the first round of the mayoral election. But Villaraigosa has also voiced strong support for Bratton, which he did again Wednesday.

“We will be great partners in fighting and reducing crime in the city of Los Angeles,” Villaraigosa said at a news conference outside City Hall. “In fact, I’ll be a better partner. Jim Hahn promised Bill Bratton that he’d give him 1,000 new cops. He’s been unable to deliver on that promise.”

Parks also took umbrage at the mayor’s comments.

“Unless he’s a peeping Tom, he’s never been where Villaraigosa and I have been,” Parks said, adding that he and the councilman talk more about the budget and housing.

On Wednesday, the Service Employees International Union, Local 434B, which represents home care workers, reported to the city Ethics Commission that it had spent $50,000 for commercials to support Hahn. That was quickly followed by United Firefighters of Los Angeles, which reported $270,000 in independent spending for campaign literature.

The home care workers local is headed by Tyrone Freeman, a Hahn appointee to the city Fire Commission. The firefighters union is headed by Pat McOsker, the brother of Tim McOsker, Hahn’s chief of staff.

Later in the day, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees union reported $19,500 in independent spending for a consultant to oversee canvassing operations and a phone bank on Hahn’s behalf.

Also on Wednesday, the two mayoral campaigns dueled over education.

“Antonio Villaraigosa isn’t fooling anybody when he says he fixed our schools when he was [Assembly] speaker,” Hahn said in a statement distributed by his campaign. “That is a fantasy in his own mind and our low per-pupil spending and test scores prove it.”

Villaraigosa, meanwhile, held a news conference in which he listed a litany of education accomplishments.

“If he wants to compare his record with mine on education, let’s do it,” Villaraigosa said, touting his work in the Assembly to pass a $9.2-billion school bond and many other initiatives.

Times staff writer Jessica Garrison contributed to this report.