Countywide

The Democratic Party chairman for San Diego County and two others filed suit Wednesday in Superior Court in an attempt to force the Board of Supervisors to collect almost $16,000 owed by President Reagan’s 1984 reelection campaign.

The suit alleges that the county’s decision not to pursue the delinquent bill amounts to an illegal gift of public funds to the Reagan-Bush campaign. It was filed by party chairman Tom La Vaut, central committee member Kathleen Harmon and Chicano Federation Chairman Jess Haro.

The money is owed the county for services and lost employee time in connection with an October, 1984, rally the Reagan-Bush campaign held outside the County Administration Center on Pacific Highway. Campaign officials paid part of the costs but refused to pay the remaining $15,969, arguing that those costs were the result of the U.S. Secret Service’s order to evacuate the building for three hours.

The county attempted to collect the money, but the Board of Supervisors voted to abandon the effort Oct. 2 after county attorneys said the cost of collecting the debt could exceed the amount collected.

The three supervisors who voted to let the debt go--Paul Eckert, George Bailey and Brian Bilbray--are Republicans. Democrat Leon Williams dissented on the vote. Susan Golding, a Republican, was absent.

Eckert, Bailey, Bilbray and former Chief Administrative Officer Clifford Graves are named along with the county and the campaign as defendants in the suit.