Friday, February 10, 2012
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Carmen Trutanich Formally Enters Race for District Attorney
By KENNETH OFGANG, Staff Writer
Los Angeles City Attorney Carmen Trutanich yesterday made the long-awaited announcement that he is running for district attorney.
“I love my job as City Attorney, but I can’t do my job to protect residents—nor can our local police and sheriffs—without a crime fighting partner in the DA’s office,” Trutanich said in a statement.
He cited entreaties from Sheriff Lee Baca and other law enforcement professionals as the reason for his candidacy.
The Trutanich campaign tacitly acknowledged that the city attorney’s apparent reversal of a promise in his 2009 city attorney campaign not to seek higher office will be an issue in the race, by releasing a statement from Baca that said:
‘Positive Opportunity’
“The prospect of an experienced City Attorney as a candidate for District Attorney is a positive opportunity for the voters of Los Angeles County. City Attorney Carmen Trutanich, a strong leader, is the only candidate for District Attorney that has sought and received the approval of the voters. Experience counts.”
The claim that Trutanich “pledged” to serve his entire term in office, Baca said, “ is merely a diversion from the real fact and that’s who’s best qualified to serve as District Attorney for the County of Los Angeles. That’s Carmen Trutanich.”
Trutanich said that Baca and state Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson will serve as honorary co-chairs of his campaign. The main issues, he said, will be gang violence and crime prevention, including support for mentoring and training at-risk youth.
Million-Dollar Candidate
The announcement of his candidacy was generally regarded as a matter of when, rather than, if, since he has raised more than $1 million—more than all of the other candidates combined, his campaign advisor noted yesterday—since filing with the Fair Political Practices Commission as what he called an “exploratory” candidate.
The campaign of another candidate, Deputy District Attorney Alan Jackson, released a tongue-in-cheek response saying it had “designed and submitted a full page newspaper advertisement for placement in every major daily newspaper in Los Angeles as per the terms of Trutanich’s [2009] signed and sworn ‘Pledge to Serve.” It added that the order for the ad “was submitted and requested that the bill be mailed to Carmen Trutanich,” although the campaign said it was providing the copy gratis.
It noted that the “pledge,” which Trutanich offered in his runoff campaign against then-Councilman Jack Weiss, “stipulates that the advertisement must be a full page, have a picture of Trutanich, a copy of the pledge and use large print with the words ‘I AM A LIAR.’”
Broke His Word
Jackson strategist John Thomas, who worked for Trutanich in that race, commented:
“Even though he broke his word to the people of Los Angeles, I’m sure Trutanich plans to honor his sworn and signed pledge by purchasing the ads but we thought, ‘why not make this easy for him.’”
Also running for district attorney are Chief Deputy District Attorney Jacquelyn Lacey and Deputy District Attorneys Bobby Grace, Danette Meyers, Steve Ipsen, and Mario Trujillo. The filing deadline is March 9 and the primary is June 5.
Copyright 2012, Metropolitan News Company