South Bay : Mayor Shifts Pen Pals: It’s Wilson

Hawthorne Mayor Larry Guidi, who earlier this year launched a correspondence with President Clinton about his city’s financial woes, has put pen to paper again--this time chastising Gov. Pete Wilson for declining to hold a town hall meeting in the city.

Guidi wrote Wilson in July asking the governor to come to Hawthorne sometime in the coming months and address a consortium of local city leaders on such issues as crime and education in California.

Wilson’s office wrote back saying the governor was too busy to attend such a meeting but would be happy to send one of his staff members, Guidi said. It wasn’t exactly the response Guidi had hoped for.

“Quite frankly, Mr. Governor, if we wanted a staff person to speak we would have requested them by name,” Guidi wrote.

Carol Whiteside, Wilson’s director for intergovernmental relations, said she doubts Wilson’s busy schedule will allow him to attend such a meeting any time soon. “The presidential race and running the state has put a huge demand on his time,” she said.

In February, with his city $10.5 million in the red, Guidi wrote to Clinton for financial assistance.

The President assured Guidi that he was “following the progress of this matter” but sent no money.