BLOCK CALLS EX-BOSS A LIAR.

Byline: Lee Condon Daily News Staff Writer

The quiet feud between Los Angeles County Sheriff Sherman Block and former Sheriff Peter J. Pitchess exploded in public Monday, with Block calling his predecessor a liar and Pitchess calling Block's account of events ridiculous.

Block called a news conference to denounce statements the 86-year-old Pitchess made in a story in Monday's Daily News. Pitchess expressed regret over picking Block to replace him when he retired in 1982.

``He's jealous of the success I've had,'' Block said. ``He could not stand the fact that he was no longer sheriff.''

Block denied he was Pitchess' handpicked replacement and shot back that the former sheriff has been bad mouthing him behind his back for years.

``It's really sad my predecessor Peter Pitchess has felt it necessary to recycle a grievance in the heat of this campaign,'' Block said. ``For 16 years, I've refrained from saying anything negative about him.''

In Monday's paper, Pitchess said his endorsement of Block was ``the biggest mistake I ever made.''

Block said his relationship with Pitchess soured the day Block took over as sheriff, primarily because he refused to let Pitchess keep his county car and stable his horses on Sheriff's Department property.

Block said when he declined Pitchess' request, the retiring sheriff became enraged. ``His answer was to take the car keys and throw them across the room and hit the undersheriff,'' Block said.

``That's utterly ridiculous. I turned in my county car the day after I retired,'' Pitchess said in an interview late Monday from his Orange County home. He also denied taking part in the key-throwing incident or asking Block to keep his horses on county property.

During the news conference, Block said Pitchess has been criticizing him to associates in the department for years, but ``up until now, it hasn't been a public statement. It hasn't been in the media,'' Block said.

Block called Pitchess a liar for saying he retired early on the condition that the Board of Supervisors appoint Block, giving him the advantage of incumbency.

But Pitchess stood by his claim that he, like other sheriffs before him, had picked his successor. ``He was appointed when I retired at my request. All you have to do is look at the record,'' Pitchess said.

The Daily News and other newspapers reported at the time that Pitchess had agreed to retire a year early as long as the Board of Supervisors picked Block to replace him.

Facility renamed

Block said Pitchess had been so unpopular with the Board of Supervisors that Block had to convince them it was the right thing to do to rename Wayside Honor Rancho after the former sheriff.

``They disliked him so much they didn't want to do it,'' he said.

Pitchess said it was an honor he never requested.

``I didn't want it. Why should I have a jail named after me?'' Pitchess asked.

Block said Pitchess left because he had a business deal going that would create a conflict of interest, opening a card club in Commerce but failed to get the license he needed.

``That's ridiculous,'' Pitchess said. ``I have no comment on it.''

Block, 73, is facing perhaps the toughest challenge of his political career this spring as he attempts to secure a fifth term.

His challengers have hammered him about a series of embarrassing scandals involving the county jail system and have raised concerns about his health, including his three-times weekly dialysis treatments.

Block deflected questions about his health Monday, saying voters should be satisfied with the one-page note issued by his doctor two weeks ago saying he is healthy enough to serve as sheriff for four more years.

``I don't need to release my medical records,'' Block said. ``If they don't accept my answer and don't accept what my doctors say, then so be it.''

Whether or not Block was anointed by Pitchess is an issue because the current sheriff's opponents have accused him of only wanting a fifth term so he can quit and then influence the choice that the Board of Supervisors makes to replace him.

Critics say the new sheriff should be chosen by the voters and that the tradition of sheriffs choosing their successors should end.

Challengers speak out

While Block on Monday gave Los Angeles a new perspective on Pitchess, who was one of Los Angeles' most popular politicians and served for 24 years, two of Block's challengers in the race, Chief Lee Baca and Bill Baker, a retired chief of detectives, say they are both still seeking Pitchess' endorsement.

``This organization made its greatest strides under Peter J. Pitchess,'' Baker said.

``Peter took the Sheriff's Department from the cowboy kind of semi-horse-and-buggy operation to the point where we were highly respected. We were no longer in the shadow of the Los Angeles Police Department,'' Baca said.

Baca said releasing his complete medical history would put the issue behind Block if the records truly show he is healthy.

``Rather than let it fester as an issue, my advice is to bring out the records, and if there's not a problem, the issue will go away,'' Baca said.

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2 Photos

Photo: (1) Block

(2) Pitchess