Mayor James K. Hahn's reaction to the indictment of a public relations executive charged Thursday with fraud for allegedly overbilling two city departments was swift and unequivocal.
"The city of L.A. is a victim," the mayor said at a debate after the federal grand jury issued its indictment. "And when somebody steals from the government, they should be punished severely."
With the investigation into city contracting under Hahn's administration yielding its first indictment, Hahn responded with a vigorous defense of his long-standing reputation for integrity.
Nearly seven weeks before voters head to the polls in the mayoral election, Hahn's opponents have seized on the investigation as a way to question his leadership.
And now that probe is no longer just an abstraction. It has led to criminal charges against a top local official with Fleishman-Hillard, a firm that had a close relationship with the mayor's office.
"This issue isn't going away. It's going to dominate the campaign," said Ace Smith, the campaign manager for Councilman Antonio Villaraigosa, who is challenging Hahn for the second time.
But Villaraigosa and Hahn's other challengers could also find that voters, whose concerns tend to be about such issues as crime and traffic, are uninterested or even turned off by the candidates' repeated attempts to tarnish Hahn with the investigation.
"Whether this indictment will have any impact in the race at all is really impossible to know," said Darry Sragow, a political strategist who is not affiliated with any mayoral candidate. "Voters may feel there is no relevance to the mayor's race. Voters, in fact, could wind up angry with one of Hahn's opponents, if they feel the opponent has used this development inappropriately."
The strategy of the mayoral candidates is to suggest that Hahn, a former city attorney, is responsible for an administration that has been lax in monitoring contracts and faces an investigation into whether political contributors were illegally awarded contracts.
"There is a pay-to-play element in this that goes right to the mayor's office," Smith said.
On Friday, the mayor's challengers also took the opportunity to point out that Fleishman-Hillard executives have been major donors to the mayor and his political causes.
Since 2000, Fleishman employees have contributed at least $31,200 to Hahn's mayoral campaigns. The public relations firm has also donated $4,725 to Hahn's campaigns for mayor and his officeholder account.
