A new attack ad by California Treasurer John Chiang accuses one of his Democratic rivals in the governor's race, Antonio Villaraigosa, of being a "failure" as mayor of Los Angeles and nearly driving the city into bankruptcy.
The attack comes with just weeks to go before the June 5 primary election. According to a Public Policy Institute of California poll released in April, Chiang was lagging in fifth place behind Villaraigosa, Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom and Republicans John Cox and Travis Allen.
"He was called 'a failure.' An 'embarrassment.' As mayor, Antonio Villaraigosa drove L.A. to the brink of bankruptcy," a narrator says in the ad. "Villaraigosa's recklessness threatened jobs, the economy and left no funding to test 7,000 rape kits, putting public safety at risk."
The ad then goes on to praise Chiang's political record when he served as state controller, saying he "helped save the state from financial disaster and refused to pay legislators when they didn't balance the budget."
But accusing Villaraigosa of nearly driving Los Angeles into bankruptcy during his two terms in office overlooks the fact that the city's financial woes came during the nation's worst economic downturn since the Great Depression.
City revenues plummeted during the recession, as they did for most cities and states across the nation.
Villaraigosa and the Los Angeles City Council did approve raises for city workers just before the recession. But Villaraigosa later negotiated concessions from the unions, and furloughed city workers to help make up for the budget shortfall.
As mayor, Villaraigosa and then-Los Angeles Police Chief William Bratton came under criticism for a backlog of rape kits waiting to be tested, which was eliminated in 2011 while he was still in office.
As controller, Chiang took steps to save the state money and protect its credit rating during the recession. But the controller has no formal role in state budgets, and negotiations over proposed cuts were between then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the Legislature.
Chiang refused to pay state lawmakers when they failed to pass a balanced budget on time in 2011. Angry legislators accused Chiang of political grandstanding.
