Deputies’ Group Backs Hahn in City Atty. Race

Los Angeles City Atty. James K. Hahn, who was stung last fall when his opponent garnered endorsements from the city’s police union and county Sheriff Sherman Block, announced Monday that he has the support of the Assn. of Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs.

Hahn, a 12-year incumbent, has also been endorsed for the April 8 election by nine of the 15 members of the Los Angeles City Council, the county probation officers’ group and the California Organization of Police and Sheriffs.

“I have committed myself to making the streets of Los Angeles safer for the people who live here,” Hahn said in a news release. “The deputy sheriffs recognize that I have worked to make this community safer, and with their support and assistance we will continue this work in the next four years.”

But Hahn’s opponent, Encino lawyer-developer Ted Stein, said the endorsement is irrelevant because the deputies do not patrol in the city of Los Angeles. He and his campaign consultant, Harvey Englander, both called the endorsement “payback” for decades of work by Hahn’s father, former county Supervisor Kenneth Hahn.

“[The association] has nothing to do with the city of Los Angeles, period. Zero. Nothing,” Englander said. “Not one of those people protects the safety of the citizens of Los Angeles. Jimmy had to leave town to get endorsements.”

Association President Peter Brodie said the organization, which represents 7,000 officers, endorsed Hahn because “he asked,” and because “he’s been good to us and our people.” Asked how Hahn had helped, Brodie said he did not know and referred questions to association Vice President Doug McLellan.

“He’s a candidate we’ve worked with in the past,” McLellan said. “He shares our perspectives and our values on the best ways to fight crime and make our neighborhoods safer.”

Pressed for examples, he said: “Nothing I can put my finger on specifically.”

The endorsement places the deputy sheriffs opposite their boss, Block, who has tangled publicly with Hahn in the past and stood next to Stein in September when he officially launched his campaign. Stein also won the backing of the influential Police Protective League, which represents the Los Angeles Police Department’s rank-and-file officers.