Tar Baby Blues - Is Hahn Already Circling the Drain?
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Perhaps the dead website and defensive, directionless first debate performance aren't really signs of a man already preparing to give up the mayoralty, but Jim Hahn's political capital seems to be circling the drain ever faster, propelled by simultaneous pay-to-play probes on several facets of his administration and 2001 campaign.
District Attorney Steve Cooley's investigators and the City Ethics Commission have begun scrutinizing some $30,000 in contributions to Hahn's 2001 campaign fund from a pair of Beverly Hills real estate partners whose business imploded last year amid allegations they were skimming millions of dollars from inflated mortgages on homes and real estate in L.A.'s richest neighborhoods, the Times reports today.
He has another chance to redeem his image in tonight's debate at LACMA (6 p.m. on KABC-7 and LA36, to be rebroadcast on KABC-7 Sunday at 11 a.m.), but certain things are starting to smell pretty ripe:
Three associates told The Times that Abrams repeatedly asked employees and their relatives to write campaign checks to Hahn and others and then reimbursed them with cash, a practice known as contribution laundering that is banned by state and local election laws.
The district attorney's inquiry is a first step in a process that could lead to criminal misdemeanor charges and felony conspiracy charges, said Deputy Dist. Atty. David Demerjian, head of the office's public integrity division.
Meanwhile - and this should come as no surprise - apparently Hahn staged a news event - talking points and all - to pump his tax-hike-for-more-cops plan on the Nov. 2 ballot.
James Nash reports:
Mayor James Hahn's office drummed up support for his latest tax-hike plan to hire more cops by orchestrating a news event with community groups and providing talking points for their speakers, according to documents obtained by the Daily News under a public-records request.
Hahn's role in staging the event -- which was attended by victims-rights and anti-crime groups -- drew criticism Monday from his mayoral rivals, who accused him of staging the event to help his re-election campaign that is centered on reducing crime.
Opponents of raising taxes said the effort looked more like "AstroTurf" than a true grass-roots campaign.
"(Hahn) is really in a gray area here," said Kris Vosburgh, executive director of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, the largest single contributor to the campaign against a countywide police-tax initiative on the Nov. 2 ballot.
Meanwhile, Hahn spent Monday trying to patch things up with Valley VOTE, after unceremoniously (and rightly, I might add) crushing their bid to have the San Fernando Valley secede from Los Angeles:
"To me, Valley VOTE had an important message," Hahn told about 50 members of the group at their monthly meeting at Galpin Ford. "It was a message that they weren't getting the services they deserved or wanted.
"It was a message I told people at City Hall we had to listen to. And, while I didn't support secession, I did support getting you and getting people involved in government. We work for you. That's one of the messages from Valley VOTE."
Apparently, more than a few ValleyVOTE members swallowed it:
"I thought he did about as well as he could," said Norm Hufferblum, a Valley VOTE member. "I'm just glad he was here and seemed to be listening to us."
Hallie Kemper of the Greater Valley Glen Neighborhood Council said she appreciated Hahn's appearance and looked forward to hearing more.
"Yes, he gave us some political answers, but I admire that he came here," Kemper said.
Never let it be said that L.A. holds dull mayoral elections ...
Posted by: mack_reed on Tuesday, December 21, 2004 - 09:37 AM
