Supporters of Riordan Seek Funds to Defeat Hayden

Attempting to oust a potential mayoral candidate before he even enters the race, a trio of prominent San Fernando Valley business leaders have asked supporters of Mayor Richard Riordan to pump money into the fledgling campaign of a Republican challenger to state Sen. Tom Hayden.

In a letter sent last month to about 2,100 contributors to Riordan’s 1993 campaign, Police Commissioner Bert Boeckmann, his wife, Jane, and United Chambers of Commerce President Gary M. Thomas declare that the mayor will be reelected in April but that a Hayden mayoral bid would “polarize our community.� They describe Hayden’s senatorial opponent, Scott Schreiber, as a “superb, energetic candidate� and a “simple alternative� to the wealthy 1960s icon.

“Now, fellow Riordan supporter, this is where you come in. Scott Schreiber needs your financial assistance,� states the missive, sent on the letterhead of “Los Angeles Community Leaders for Sensible Government,� a group formed solely for the mailing. “Let’s spare our great city the certain ugliness of a Hayden for Mayor campaign by finally retiring Hayden from public office this November.�

Hayden, a Democrat who is running for his final Senate term, formed a committee earlier this year to explore a mayoral bid so he could begin raising and spending money on the effort, but has not announced whether he is a candidate. He recently moved from Santa Monica to Los Angeles.

Political scientists and campaign consultants said the letter indicates a surprising level of concern by the Riordan camp over a Hayden mayoral bid. But Boeckmann and Thomas insisted that it was simply a shrewd fund-raising tactic.

“It’s politics,� Thomas said. “You use whatever angle you can use.�

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Boeckmann, who owns one of the nation’s largest Ford dealerships and is a major backer of Republicans, said that the letter was not his idea and that he simply reviewed it before signing his name.

“The more pressure put on Hayden, the better,� he said. “I don’t think Hayden belongs in politics. It’s his right to run. It’s my right to try to get rid of him.�

Schreiber and his campaign manager said Riordan gave his permission for the mailer. Riordan, however, said he “didn’t know anything about it,� adding that “anybody can send a letter.�

But Raphael Sonenshein, a Cal State Fullerton professor who has written a book about Los Angeles politics, described the letter as an “outrageous attempt to avoid an electoral opponent.�

“It’s such an odd and disturbing attitude toward the electoral process,� Sonenshein said. “The general sense you get is that to oppose Riordan is to divide the city.�

In addition to long-standing rumors that Hayden would challenge Riordan, City Hall has been abuzz over the past week with speculation of a Hayden campaign to fill the City Council slot in the 11th District, where Hayden lives, since veteran Marvin Braude’s recent announcement that he will not seek reelection. Hayden said Friday that he is concentrating on the Senate race and has not yet decided what other offices he might seek.

Hayden attributed the Schreiber solicitation letter to a long-standing feud between himself and Boeckmann over housing development in the Santa Monica Mountains, which Hayden opposes.

“I don’t know what they’re afraid of--I don’t even know who ‘they’ are,� he said. “This is the time of year when stealth campaigns are triggered . . . let ‘em come, but they should come out of the closet, come onto the field of battle into the visible arena of politics. Let’s have a debate.�

Schreiber, who walked precincts for Riordan in 1993, said that there is an obvious nexus between himself and Riordan, and that it is natural for them to seek money from the same pots.

“Many of the people that are friends of the mayor’s have been friends of mine as well,� said Schreiber, an entrepreneur who quit his business to make his first political run. “If I wasn’t a candidate they felt strongly about, they wouldn’t have done the letter under any circumstances.�

Allan Hoffenblum, a Republican political consultant, said the letter is a routine fund-raiser.

“You find whatever kind of button you can push,� he said. “They just got a list, so they’re trying to motivate people to whip out their checkbook. Money, money, money, money, money.�

Other political experts, however, said the letter was designed more to damage Hayden than to help Schreiber, who analysts believe has little chance of ousting the incumbent. Paid for by Schreiber’s campaign, it serves as a preemptive strike against Hayden as a mayoral candidate.

“It’s never too early to start tearing down your opposition,� said Sherry Bebitch Jeffe of the Claremont Graduate School’s Center for Politics and Economics.

Larry Berg, a political scientist who recently left USC after 26 years to form his own consulting business, said the letter “gives credence to� Hayden’s potential mayoral bid and “strikes me as surprisingly dumb.�

“What’s surprising to me is the mayor and the people around the mayor saying, ‘I’m concerned about Hayden’s candidacy, so let’s ward off Tom Hayden,’ � said Harvey Englander, a veteran Democratic consultant. “Riordan apparently believes that Hayden is a threat to him.�

But Bill Wardlaw, the mayor’s top political advisor, insisted that the letter does no such thing.

“Dick Riordan’s going to be reelected mayor whether Tom Hayden decides to run or not,� he said. “Tom Hayden can do what he wants to do: He’s not going to be the next mayor.�

Times staff writer Hugo Martin contributed to this story.