May 13, 2011

Los Angeles City Councilmember Janice Hahn
Janice Hahn for Congress campaign (by email to Dave Jacobson, campaign manager)

We are very disappointed to see mailers your campaign sent out attacking Secretary of State Debra Bowen in the Special Election for the 36th Congressional seat, in which you accuse her of not being trustworthy in opposing oil companies.

As you know, the Sierra Club has endorsed Debra Bowen for this election, based on her record and positions on environmental issues. Many of her votes, and bills she has authored, have been in opposition to the positions of big oil companies.

The Sierra Club has endorsed Debra Bowen every time she has run for public office since 1992. In her time in the California Assembly and Senate, she was widely recognized as a leader on environmental issues. She was Chair of the Assembly Natural Resources Committee for two years. As Chair of the Senate Energy, Utilities & Communications Committee, she worked to enact renewable energy laws. From 2003 to 2005, the Sierra Club California Legislative Report Cards show her voting for the environment 24 out of 25 votes.

According to the California League of Conservation Voters (CLCV), she achieved a career voting record of 96% on key environmental votes in the California Assembly and Senate from 1992 to 2006.

Quickly reviewing campaign contribution records, it is apparent that you have also received significant campaign contributions from oil companies and oil company executives, and in at least some cases from the same companies which you are highlighting as having contributed to Debra Bowen’s campaign in the past. This record demonstrates the hypocrisy of your attack mailer.

In our endorsement of Debra Bowen, we avoided saying anything negative about you and your record. We respect you for your leadership in reducing air pollution related to the Port of Los Angeles, and endorsed you when you ran for re-election to the Los Angeles City Council. We also appreciate your pro-environment positions on a wide variety of issues. However, we endorsed Debra Bowen for this election, for the reasons listed above.

Please stop these attack mailers.

Al Sattler
Political Chair
Palos Verdes-South Bay Regional Group
Sierra Club