Hahn, Villaraigosa in Each Other’s Sights

After congenially campaigning to be mayor for months, City Atty. James K. Hahn has dramatically sharpened his tone and turned much of his new energy on former Assembly Speaker Antonio Villaraigosa--moves that reflect a growing sense in the two campaigns that they expect to face each other in a June runoff.

A day after the city attorney accused Villaraigosa of contributing to the state’s energy crisis during his time in Sacramento, Hahn said Friday that Los Angeles police officers would not respect Villaraigosa because of a 1996 letter he wrote to the White House on behalf of a convicted drug trafficker.

Also on Friday, a forceful Hahn took on the Bush administration, demanding that officials release data that would show the number of people not counted in the newly released 2000 census.

Villaraigosa, meanwhile, shot back at Hahn, saying the city attorney was “negligent” and guilty of a “willful failure of leadership” in not helping to head off the Rampart police corruption scandal.

That conviction that the contest for mayor has been reduced to a two-man race was flatly rejected by other contenders, who offered polling data to suggest that they also have a chance of finishing in the top two in the April 10 election.

Though Hahn has long been perceived as the front-runner, with considerable name recognition and hefty campaign contributions, Villaraigosa is apparently closing the gap, bolstered by a flurry of endorsements. The two are leading the race to raise money, and a number of polls have shown them at the head of the field of candidates.

Kam Kuwata, a consultant for Hahn, acknowledged that Villaraigosa is “emerging as a challenger to Jim.”

“Without a doubt, the race is beginning to focus on two candidates, much more so than in previous weeks,” Kuwata said. “We’re not going to take the charges about avoidance of responsibility sitting back.”

Ace Smith, campaign manager for Republican businessman Steve Soboroff, said Hahn’s changed manner reflects the city attorney’s anxiety about getting into the runoff.

“He’s rattled,” said Smith, who predicts Soboroff will face Villaraigosa on June 5. “He’s had a bunch of soft support, a mile wide and an inch deep. Antonio is sucking it all up on the left and we’re sucking it up on the right.”

City Councilman Joel Wachs dismissed that notion.

“That’s dead wrong,” said Wachs at the opening of a $20.6-million senior citizens housing development in North Hollywood on Friday afternoon. “We have polling showing that we are doing exceptionally well among people with a history of voting in city elections.”

Often taciturn and unremonstrative, Hahn appeared almost angry during a Friday morning news conference in which he accused the Bush administration of withholding statistical sampling data that would show how many Los Angeles residents were missed by the census.

“They’re hiding the ball from us, and in addition to hiding the ball, they’re taking money away from people here in Los Angeles,” he said.

Calling a census undercount in Los Angeles “the biggest civil rights issue in the country,” Hahn said the census did not reflect at least 100,000 people living in the city--a smaller number than those missed in 1990, but still a potential loss of $240 million in federal and state funding over the next decade.

“Whether or not we get credit for these people in Los Angeles, we still have to provide services for them,” Hahn said. “Our tax dollars are going to go somewhere else because of this undercount.”

On Friday, attorneys representing the city argued in federal court that the Bush administration should be compelled to release data that would show an undercount. After hearing arguments from both sides, a federal judge took the city’s suit under submission.

Hahn’s stepped-up rhetoric began earlier in the week, when he blamed Villaraigosa for supporting energy deregulation that led to the state’s current power crisis. The former Assembly speaker conceded that he voted for deregulation but added that he also voted to exempt the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power.

Later Friday, an unruffled Villaraigosa fired at Hahn, charging him with ignoring the warning signs of the Rampart scandal, “the most important crisis of confidence facing this city.”

“Jim Hahn has been the city attorney who has failed to provide the leadership to protect the taxpayers of this city, to engage in the reform effort that we need to put this scandal behind us and to restore the trust and confidence in the Los Angeles Police Department,” said Villaraigosa during a news conference after a reception honoring the birthday of Cesar Chavez at the Watts Health Foundation clinic.

“I know Mr. Hahn has been a recent convert, a born-again reformer, if you will,” he added. “He represented the officers with the police misconduct all those years. What did he do? Why didn’t he see the patterns?”

During a telephone interview, Hahn defended his record, saying he has been a strong proponent of police reform and worked to develop the federal consent decree. Villaraigosa has “no credibility whatsoever on law enforcement issues,” he added.

“We are in the last 10 days of the campaign and I think the people ought to know who the people are and what they stand for. They can contrast someone with 20 years of law enforcement experience as a prosecutor and someone who is writing letters for crack cocaine dealers,” Hahn said, referring to the 1996 letter Villaraigosa wrote to the White House on behalf of convicted dealer Carlos Vignali after a request from his father Horacio, a donor and friend.

“It’s enormously important for the Police Department to have confidence in the person leading them, and I don’t think they will ever have respect for someone with that record,” Hahn added.

Villaraigosa has since apologized for writing the letter for Vignali, whose sentence was commuted in January by President Bill Clinton after he received letters of support from numerous Los Angeles leaders.

Parke Skelton, a consultant for Villaraigosa, said his quick apology neutralized any possible criticism about his role in the case.

“I think the way Antonio handled the Vignali situation brought credit to him,” Skelton said, adding that Hahn is “on a tirade.”

“He’s clearly in desperation mode out there,” he said.

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Times staff writer Karima A. Haynes contributed to this report.