Baca, Wearing Kid Gloves, Debates Block

Lee Baca pushed the county’s powerful sheriff to the brink of defeat in June’s primary election. But in the first debate of the fall campaign Baca refused to criticize Sherman Block on any topic, and even failed to defend himself against darts lobbed by his former boss.

Prompted repeatedly by host Warren Olney--who moderated the debate on his KCRW-FM (89.9) public radio show “Which Way L.A.?”--Baca wouldn’t comment on Blocks’ handling of issues ranging from brutality to problems in county jails.

“I myself have not been critical; the sheriff knows that,” Baca said when Olney asked him what was wrong with the way Block has handled the department.

Baca also declined to discuss the demise last week of inmate Danny Smith, who died after what several inmates described as a vicious beating at the hands of deputies in the mental health unit of the Twin Towers jail.

“I do not intend to make that an issue,” Baca said. He similarly declined to comment on a $23-million judgment stemming from excessive force during a raid of a bridal shower in 1989.

Baca, who retired as a regional chief of field operations for the department in order to run against Block, challenged the four-term sheriff last spring. Baca won 32% of the vote in the primary--just 4 percentage points less than Block’s 36%.

During the campaign, Baca alternately attacked and praised the sheriff, and is widely perceived to have a good chance at election in November.

But on Wednesday, he refused to compare himself with Block.

The sheriff, on the other hand, attacked Baca’s management skills, saying the challenger was a “procrastinator” who once was more than two years behind in handling grievances filed by deputies.

“Lee Baca has a great reputation for procrastinating, doesn’t like confrontation, doesn’t like to face serious issues,” Block said.

He also reminded listeners of a furor during the primary campaign in which Baca first admitted, then denied, offering Block a sweetheart deal in Baca’s administration if the 73-year-old sheriff would drop out of the race.

Still, Baca refused to take the bait Wednesday.

Finally, Olney asked Baca, “Why are you the man to do this instead of the sheriff who’s been in place for 18 years?”

“I don’t really have an answer to that,” Baca said. “But I think we need to look for new ideas.”

The challenger said during the debate as well as after that his program for the department was more important than slinging mud.

“I don’t believe it’s necessary to go on attack mode to get my message across,” Baca said in an interview after the program ended.

His plans for the department, he said, include eliminating the fear of gangs in county neighborhoods and instituting a regional computer system for tracking crime.

Both candidates were asked to respond to a list of woes cited by Olney, including the Smith and bridal shower cases, and concerns by the U.S. Department of Justice over the treatment of mentally ill patients in county jails.

Baca continued to refrain from criticizing the department or Block, but said more personnel are needed. New York City jails house the same number of people as those in L.A., he said, but have three times the money available to them.

For his part, Block reacted defensively to Olney’s question. He blamed the county Department of Mental Health and the Los Angeles Police Department for mishandling the Smith case, and bristled at Olney’s statement that the inmate was “apparently beaten to death.”

“Who said he was beaten to death?” Block asked testily. “No one said he was beaten to death. The only people talking about beating are some other inmates.”