Donations to Hedgecock Fund Limited to $250

Mayor Roger Hedgecock cannot collect more than $250 from each donor to defray expenses from his recent criminal trial because his legal defense fund falls under the city’s strict campaign financing ordinance, the city attorney said Tuesday.

City Atty. John Witt argued in a legal opinion that the defense fund was created to keep Hedgecock in office and thus was legally a campaign fund. If the mayor is convicted of a felony during his new trial, he will be required by state law to vacate his office.

Witt’s opinion was yet another blow to the mayor and his supporters, who last December established Californians for the Future to gather contributions of $1,000 or more to help defray costs of the mayor’s defense in his perjury and conspiracy trial, which ended in a deadlocked jury Feb. 13.

When Witt raised questions about the legality of the fund in mid-January, organizers voluntarily halted fund raising. At that point, the committee had collected $7,000 and had received one pledge for $25,000 and another for $10,000.

The defense committee’s attorney, Leo Sullivan, said he will go to court to challenge the city attorney’s interpretation of the campaign ordinance.

Sullivan said he agrees that the defense fund should meet reporting requirements. But he argued that to apply the city campaign limits to a legal defense fund would be a violation of Hedgecock’s constitutional rights.

“It’s just not fair that the government on one hand can bring a case against the mayor and then deprive him of the right to defend himself,” Sullivan said.

Witt said in response, “We’re not actually limiting his ability to defend himself. . . . No one has an absolute constitutional right to hold office.”

Hedgecock has been charged with 15 felony counts and one misdemeanor count for allegedly illegally funneling tens of thousands of dollars into his 1983 campaign for mayor. A Superior Court jury deadlocked 11 to 1 for conviction on 13 of the felony counts, and the district attorney’s office plans to retry him.

Fund-raiser Nancy MacHutchin said she and the mayor established the fund to defray legal expenses estimated “in the tens of thousands of dollars.”