Lockyer Says Weiss Mailer Distorts Truth About Hayden

State Atty. Gen. Bill Lockyer stepped to the defense of Los Angeles City Council candidate Tom Hayden on Friday after rival 5th District contender Jack Weiss sent out a mailer accusing Hayden of being soft on street gangs.

At the same time, Hayden accused Weiss, a former federal prosecutor, of doing nothing about constitutional violations in the Rampart scandal.

Hayden, a former state senator, and Weiss, the leading fund-raiser in the contest, are locked in a tight race with nine other candidates vying in the April 10 election to represent the 5th Council District, which extends from Westwood to Van Nuys.

In a mailer that hit district households this week, Weiss said that Hayden “thinks the media and the middle class are being unfair to gangs and gang members.”

The mailer quotes a Times article that said Hayden had decried what he sees as “persecution” of gangs by the media and the middle class.

“Tom Hayden. Feeling sorry for gang bangers,” the Weiss mailer read, contrasting that statement with Weiss’ prosecution of gang members as an assistant U.S. attorney.

Hayden spokesman Steve Gray-Barkan said Hayden’s public comments have been against the demonization of all at-risk youth, not just gang members, with concern that it creates the kind of climate that led to the Rampart scandal, where young men were beaten and framed by officers.

Lockyer, who has endorsed Hayden, denounced the mailer as outrageous.

“It’s a mailer that simply distorts the truth,” Lockyer said. “I worked with him in the state Senate, and there is no one who is more committed to stopping gang violence.”

The top state prosecutor said Hayden wrote laws to increase penalties against gang-related crime.

Hayden’s campaign said it was unfair to attack him for gang intervention efforts that included orchestrating a truce between two Westside gangs.

Hayden fired his own salvo at Weiss this week. In a message to supporters on his Web site, Hayden said Mayor Richard Riordan’s endorsement of Weiss is cause for concern to residents.

“Along with the endorsement of the downtown Chamber of Commerce, the Riordan endorsement makes Weiss the chosen candidate of the business establishment,” Hayden said, adding the interests of Riordan and the downtown chamber are “contrary to the interests” of neighborhood residents.

“Riordan is responsible for the overzealous ‘law and order’ policies and lack of oversight that led to the Rampart scandal,” Hayden wrote. “Weiss’ record as a prosecutor is compatible with Riordan’s narrow agenda. Though Weiss claims to fight ‘public corruption,’ as a federal prosecutor he did nothing about the rampant federal constitutional violations of the Rampart scandal.”

Weiss responded by saying he was not assigned to investigate the Rampart allegations, but that one of the reasons he is running for council is to pursue reform.

“It sure looks like Hayden is getting a little desperate early,” Weiss said.

Meanwhile, the final campaign finance reports filed before the election showed the 5th District race has become an expensive one.

Weiss remained the leading fund-raiser in the 11-person race, bringing in $330,000 in contributions and matching funds, the maximum candidates can spend in the race.

Hayden made a $150,000 personal loan to his campaign during the reporting period, increasing total funds raised so far to $288,256, and ending the reporting period with $91,000 in the bank.

Because Hayden made a large loan to his campaign, the limit on individual contributions to other candidates was raised from $500 to $7,000. West Los Angeles businessman Steve Saltzman reported several large contributions, including $6,500 each from Internet bookseller Catherine Ashe and retiree Michael Bishop.

In the West Valley’s 3rd Council District, the Los Angeles Police Protective League has launched an independent expenditure campaign backing union director Dennis Zine, spending $13,277 on mail to promote Zine’s candidacy.

Francine Oschin, a deputy to Councilman Hal Bernson, remains the leading fund-raiser in the 3rd District race, having brought in $237,000 in contributions and city matching funds as of March 24.