HAHN FINGERPRINTS ON TAX-PLAN EVENT ANTI-CRIME GROUPS GIVEN TALKING POINTS.Byline: James Nash Staff Writer 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 according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. 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 Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association helped sponsor Proposition 13, the property tax-cutting initiative in California in 1978 which slashed property taxes by fifty-seven percent and initiated a national tax revolt. It was founded by California republican Howard Jarvis. , the largest single contributor to the campaign against a countywide police-tax initiative on the Nov. 2 ballot. ``It probably wouldn't be so bad if this were the only gray area surrounding this mayor. But there has been a consistent policy of him, if not stepping across the line, at least stepping very close to the line.'' Hahn spokeswoman Shannon Murphy said the mayor's top priority is reducing crime and that Hahn is reaching out to neighborhood councils Neighborhood councils are governmental or non-governmental bodies composed of local people who handle neighborhood problems. They can be found in many cities throughout the world. and business groups to advance that goal. ``Victims of crime agree that we need more cops,'' Murphy said. ``To say that these mothers of murdered children are supporting Mayor Hahn's push to hire more cops for any other reason is insulting and outrageous.'' The county ballot measure would have expanded the 9,200-officer Los Angeles Police Department "LAPD" and "L.A.P.D." redirect here. For other uses, see LAPD (disambiguation).  This article or section is written like an . by about 1,200 officers and added sheriff's deputies and police in other cities through a half-percent increase in the sales tax sales tax, levy on the sale of goods or services, generally calculated as a percentage of the selling price, and sometimes called a purchase tax. It is usually collected in the form of an extra charge by the retailer, who remits the tax to the government. . It fell short of the two-thirds margin it needed to pass. Since its defeat, Hahn has pushed for a half-percent city sales-tax increase to hire more officers. He has made reducing crime the centerpiece of his re-election campaign. Two of Hahn's campaign rivals, Richard Alarcon and Bernard Parks, criticized the mayor's role in organizing the Dec. 8 press conference and feeding six ``talking points'' to speakers. The talking points, which were obtained under the California Public Records Act, did not mention Hahn by name but spelled out his position on expanding the Police Department through a tax measure. ``Given that this is not formally a campaign, I still believe it's wrong for the mayor to use his office staff to promote what could become a campaign issue for the mayor,'' said Alarcon, a Democratic state senator Noun 1. state senator - a member of a state senate senator - a member of a senate from Van Nuys. ``To use city staff on the taxpayers' dime to essentially promote a ballot measure is wrong.'' Parks, a city councilman forced out as police chief by Hahn, said the mayor acted improperly in staging the event and should seek other ways to expand the LAPD 1. LAPD - Link Access Procedure on the D channel. 2. LAPD - Los Angeles Police Department. rather than campaigning for a new tax. ``If you have an outgrowth of concern or interest in the community, that's totally different from you having an idea and busing in people to support your point of view. That's a news conference that's manufactured as opposed to an outgrowth of community concern.'' Campaigns for Hahn's other major rivals, Antonio Villaraigosa Antonio Ramon Villaraigosa (born Antonio (Tony) Ramon Villar, Jr. on January 23, 1953) is the mayor of Los Angeles, California. He is the first Latino mayor of Los Angeles since Cristobal Aguilar in 1872. and Robert Hertzberg Robert Myles Hertzberg was born on November 19, 1954 in Los Angeles, California, was an attorney and businessperson, and served in the California State Assembly from 1996-2002. , did not respond to requests for comment Monday. Speakers at the Dec. 8 press conference included representatives of Women Against Gun Violence, Mothers Against Drunk Driving Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) is a nonprofit organization with more than 600 chapters nationwide. MADD seeks to find effective solutions to the problems of drunk driving and underage drinking, while also supporting those persons whose relatives and friends have been killed by drunk , Loved Ones Victim Services, the Domestic Abuse Center and Rainbow Services Inc., which provides services to victims of domestic violence. Tina Pasco, executive director of MADD's Los Angeles chapter, was among the speakers at the press conference and the only one to respond to requests for comment Monday. Pasco said she spoke in response to a request from Hahn's Criminal Justice Planning Office but spoke only to advance the idea of expanding the LAPD, not Hahn's political fortunes. ``That's the only thing anybody spoke about, and that was increasing the size of the Police Department to make this a safer community,'' Pasco said. ``Whenever politicians have come to us to ask for our support, we tell them that we support issues but not individuals. We see the devastating dev·as·tate tr.v. dev·as·tat·ed, dev·as·tat·ing, dev·as·tates 1. To lay waste; destroy. 2. To overwhelm; confound; stun: was devastated by the rude remark. consequences of crime.'' James Nash, (213) 978-0390 james.nash(at)dailynews.com |
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