Van de Kamp Forwards Complaint Against Democrats to D.A.

SACRAMENTO —  Atty. Gen. John K. Van de Kamp has asked the Orange County district attorney’s office to review allegations that Assembly Democrats used public funds to register voters in Orange County last year.

Van de Kamp, in a letter to Assembly Republican Leader Ross Johnson of La Habra, who made the allegation, said such a referral is standard procedure whenever the state Justice Department receives a complaint about a possible local violation.

Van de Kamp said Orange County Dist. Atty. Cecil Hicks would decide whether to investigate the incident as a violation of a state law prohibiting the private use of public resources.

Johnson’s allegation stems from a flyer that was distributed widely at the state Democratic convention on Feb. 11 and 12. The flyer, published by the Democratic Party of Orange County, said the Assembly Office of Majority Services participated in a voter registration drive aimed at increasing the party’s strength in the 72nd Assembly District.

The flyer was issued as part of the local Democratic Party’s effort to win state Democratic support for a campaign to recall or unseat Assemblyman Curt Pringle (R-Garden Grove), whose successful 1988 campaign included the use of uniformed security guards to monitor Latinos as they went to the polls in heavily Latino precincts in Santa Ana.

County Democrats have since said the flyer’s reference to the Office of Majority Services was in error and should have referred instead to the Assembly Democratic Caucus and the caucus’s privately funded campaign committee.

The Office of Majority Services is a taxpayer-funded arm of the operation of Assembly Speaker Willie Brown (D-San Francisco) and cannot legally participate in partisan political activity.

Michael R. Capizzi, chief assistant district attorney, said Tuesday that he had not yet seen Van de Kamp’s letter forwarding the complaint. Capizzi said the complaint would be reviewed by the deputy district attorney in charge of special assignments.