Donors Fund Inauguration

Developers, entrepreneurs and entertainment industry moguls are donating to the fund that Mayor-elect Antonio Villaraigosa has set up to cover the costs of the transition to a new administration and his inauguration.

With a little more than two weeks left before the July 1 inauguration, the fund has received about $20,000 toward the $200,000 goal, Villaraigosa spokeswoman Elena Stern said Wednesday.

Villaraigosa, who was elected on May 17 and raised $5.8 million for his election campaign, is not worried that financial support will fall short for his inauguration, Stern said. “We anticipated that a lot of the money would be geared to the inauguration so it will come in at the end,” she said. “We are on track.”

The inauguration of Los Angeles’ 41st mayor will include a gala event the night of June 30 at the Music Center, an 8 a.m. inter-faith service at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels on July 1, a walk to the south lawn of City Hall for the 10 a.m. swearing-in ceremony and an international festival.

Those who have contributed the $1,000 maximum that Villaraigosa set include:

* Howard Welinsky, a senior vice president at Warner Bros. and a Democratic Party activist.

* Frank Biondi, former chief executive of Viacom Inc. and Universal Studios Inc. who runs a private investment firm, and his wife, Carol.

* Paul Goldenberg, the president of Paul’s TV in La Habra.

* Donald V. Allen, a former hospital chief executive and Culver City resident who was national finance co-chairman of the John F. Kerry presidential campaign.

* George E. Moss, owner of Encino real estate development firm Moss Group.

* Robert A. Curry, president of California Cartage Co., which does trucking and warehousing business at the Port of Los Angeles.

* Simon and Daniel Mani, executives with the family-owned Mani Bros., whose holdings include 801 Tower, a 24-story pink granite office building at the southwest corner of Figueroa and 8th streets.

* Andrew Friedman, a Los Angeles attorney who also contributed $7,000 to Villaraigosa’s election campaign.

* LaeRoc Partners, a Manhattan Beach development firm that is involved in local projects, including a housing and retail development in Chinatown.

* The Los Angeles/Orange Counties Building and Construction Trades Council.

Goldenberg of Paul’s TV said he has known Villaraigosa for six years and has high hopes for the new mayor. “He is a very determined person and he’s going to be a great mayor,” he said.

Friedman, a city commissioner during Richard Riordan’s mayoral administration, said Villaraigosa will be the kind of activist mayor the city needs. Referring to Villaraigosa’s mediation of a hotel workers’ labor dispute, Friedman, who has a law practice, said: “Look what he’s done already and he’s not even mayor yet.”