Anaheim Mayor Is Also Sanchez’s Right-Hand Man

ANAHEIM — Tom Daly has made a career in this city as a discreet Orange County Democrat, building bridges with powerful Republicans in the name of nonpartisanship. But now Anaheim’s mayor is taking sides, just as he considers his first run for countywide political office.

Since January, Daly has been quietly running the California office of Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-Garden Grove), drawing a $30,000-a-year salary to build the new congresswoman’s political operation from the ground up.

The move by Daly--which Sanchez advisors say has been critical to her political survival--has drawn criticism from colleagues and political opponents who say his new job conflicts with his duties as mayor.

Republicans are now jumping to brand Daly as a liberal, seeking to weaken what could be a strong candidacy in 1998 for the Board of Supervisors seat held by William G. Steiner.

Daly has led Orange County’s second-largest city through a boom as the region’s top sports and entertainment moneymaker and has long been one of the few prominent Democrats here to resist Republican pressure to change affiliations. And he has long supported Sanchez behind the scenes. Indeed, Sanchez credits Daly with persuading her to run for Congress.

But in his public roles, first as councilman, then mayor, Daly has scrupulously maintained ties with local Republicans who dominate Orange County politics, garnering major contributions to his campaigns from conservative business owners. He led majority council votes that kept the California Angels in the city, brought the Mighty Ducks hockey franchise to Anaheim and made possible a billion-dollar expansion of Disneyland and the Anaheim Convention Center.

“Tom historically has not had a partisan nature,” said former Assemblyman Tom Umberg, an Orange County Democrat who ran President Clinton’s 1996 reelection campaign in California. “He has the integrity to know who he is, but he’s more of a problem solver than a politician. That’s why he has been able to attract support on both sides of the aisle.”

But if Daly downplayed his Democratic roots in the past, those days are gone. As special projects advisor to Sanchez, a vaguely defined title that gives him broad authority, Daly is in the thick of “basically anything that we’re doing,” said Sanchez chief of staff Steve Jost. The job technically is part time, but the Anaheim mayor has been working for Sanchez from early in the morning until late at night. He has done everything from finding office space and equipment for Sanchez’s local operation to hiring a district representative and support staff.

With former Rep. Robert K. Dornan contesting the election, Sanchez has been unable to rely on the customary cooperation afforded a new officeholder by a predecessor, making it particularly critical that she have an experienced hand at the helm of her local operation, Daly said.

Most importantly, Daly is helping Sanchez network among her newly won constituents. He has created advisory committees for Sanchez made up of county leaders in business, education and public safety, and acts as political advisor for her relatively inexperienced staff on a host of issues.

“He’s like our window into local politics. We rely on him to give us information about what’s happening locally,” said Nancy Ramirez, whom Daly hired as district director. “He knows all the players, and he’s been great in giving us background.”

Anaheim City Atty. Jack White said he doesn’t see a conflict with Daly working for Sanchez. Although city offices in California are technically nonpartisan, local politicians are not prohibited from working with political parties. And it is not uncommon for local officeholders to work for county or federal officials while they are in office.

But other Anaheim officials say privately that they worry Daly’s job with Sanchez could preclude him from voting on some city matters. And some local Republicans, among them Anaheim Councilmen Bob Zemel and Lou Lopez and Republican consultant Frank Caternicchio, have been quick to criticize Daly.

“His role with Mrs. Sanchez . . . has been so very close, so very close, and [she] is the definitive liberal Democrat arena of today’s Orange County politics,” said county Republican Party Chairman Tom Fuentes. “You have to wonder where his allegiance lies.”

Last week Daly’s job put him in an uncomfortable spot when city leaders attacked Sanchez after she reserved her support for a federal program in the city.

At issue was the fate of a 6-month-old U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service program to identify illegal immigrants booked into the Anaheim City Jail, which is scheduled to end in June. While two Orange County Republican congressmen joined other lawmakers to introduce legislation extending the program, Sanchez refused to support the bill. Instead, she asked for an independent audit of the program’s effectiveness.

At a news conference Wednesday attended by the four other Anaheim council members, Councilman Zemel charged that Sanchez had left Anaheim hanging.

Daly was absent as his colleagues took turns at a City Hall podium to push for the program. He was at Sanchez’s office--meeting with her advisors.

“I think it’s bad for his boss if he goes against her while he’s wearing his hat as mayor,” said Zemel, who is contemplating a run for Sanchez’s seat next year. “But how can he wear that hat? Whose agenda is he going to put first? The city’s? Or Loretta’s?”

Daly says Zemel’s charges are baseless.

The news conference “was scheduled without my knowledge. I was not told about it,” Daly said.

Still, even Daly supporters say they are mystified by the mayor’s decision to help his old friend Sanchez just as he appears to be launching a countywide political career.

A decision by Daly on whether to seek the 4th District supervisorial seat held by Steiner is many months away--the election is not until November 1998. But Daly said he is “leaning” toward running.

The district includes Anaheim and some smaller central and north county cities. Other potential candidates include Zemel and Lopez.

Daly said he is prepared to run for supervisor. But, seated in Sanchez’s district office, he said his first commitment is to the congresswoman.

“She is an Anaheim native as I am,” Daly said. “She’s a product of the local public school system in Anaheim as I am. She’s a friend and she asked me for help. It’s as simple as that.”