Irvine Co. Ranks as Top Corporate Political Contributor

The Irvine Co., the giant real estate developer that owns a sixth of the land in Orange County, was the top corporate contributor to California legislators and constitutional officers in 1985.

Although it was a non-election year, the Newport Beach-based company gave Sacramento politicians $182,029, showering Democrats and Republicans from all across the state and the political spectrum.

According to the Fair Political Practices Commission’s annual report on campaign contributions, the Irvine Co.’s 1985 donations to legislators and state officers ranked it first among California businesses and fourth overall--trailing only the “political action committees” that donate on behalf of trial lawyers, doctors and the insurance industry.

Still, public records show those contributions were a mere fraction of what the wealthy company, Orange County’s largest landowner, spent to influence governments at various levels.

- Political parties, independent committees and local candidates received another $134,000 in Irvine Co. benevolence, according to “major donor” reports filed with Secretary of State March Fong Eu.

- U.S. Senate and congressional candidates not subject to state campaign reporting requirements got another $28,791.73.

The firm’s political donations thus totaled $344,820.

Not included in that figure was the $225,739 the company spent wining and dining influential capital staffers and employing a small army of lobbyists--three separate firms--to make its wishes known to Sacramento lawmakers and the Administration in power.

For all that money, corporate officials and legislators insist that the firm gets little more than “a foot in the door”--ready access to law- and policy-makers who can affect their varied business interests. Indeed, the firm has a reputation here for quietly affecting decisions and winning votes, but rarely twisting arms and applying pressure.

“They’ve never lobbied me on a bill,” said Assemblyman Gil Ferguson (R-Newport Beach), who received $6,350 from the firm last year, although the company spent $30,000 trying to defeat him a year earlier.

“They are gentlemen even when they oppose you,” Ferguson added.

“They have rather low visibility in Sacramento,” echoed state Sen. Marian Bergeson (R-Newport Beach), who received a modest $850 last year but has received $16,900 from the company during the past five years.

“It is rare that we actually hear from them,” Bergeson added.

One Senate committee consultant, who asked not to be identified, said the firm’s chief lobbyist here, William Geyer, “is never clear which client he is here for.” Geyer, who declined to be interviewed by The Times, is more apt to say a bill that he is pushing, or a concern that he is raising, is for “my client” or “ ‘well, you know, the company,’ ” the consultant said.

Only if virtually cross-examined, the Senate panel consultant said, does Geyer say he is representing the Irvine Co.

“It is hard sometimes to tell where the Irvine Co. is on issues,” said Paula Carrell, lobbyist for the Sierra Club, an environmental group. Although she has “had some differences with them in the past,” as with most developers, Carrell said the Irvine Co. sometimes sides with environmentalists. “They don’t have the monomania about their land management,” Carrell said. “They are not into condominiumizing every square inch.”

Mike Stockstill, the company’s corporate affairs director, said the low-key approach is “a matter of style,” dictated in part by the company’s size and the unique and diverse nature of the firm’s business. While some developers may have a key project that is the subject of legislation “for a session or two,” the Irvine Co.’s vast holdings--68,000 acres--ensures “. . . we are going to be developing well into the next century.”

A loss on a particular issue is just not devastating for the Irvine Co., with its far-ranging interests in agriculture, transportation, water and rental housing, as well as land development, Stockstill said.

“We are unique. . . . There are just not that many people sitting on 68,000 acres,” he said. “ . . . If you contrast us to a bank or a trade association that has a limited outlook, our outlook is almost limitless.”

Last year, the firm puzzled people in Sacramento by backing several competing school construction bills. Some of those bills, lawmakers say, favored school districts in new areas that are growing, while others favored districts in older areas with empty school buildings.

The simple explanation, Stockstill said, is that there are school systems of both types within the Irvine Co.’s vast territory. The firm is now supportive, he said, of a school construction package being pushed by the Deukmejian Administration after the governor vetoed the key school construction legislation passed by the Democrat-controlled Legislature last year.

$3 Billion in Holdings

With its vast holdings, valued by Orange County Assessor Brad L. Jacobs at $3 billion, the Irvine Co. has long been among the state’s top political contributors.

The firm made front-page news in 1984 when it made the largest single campaign contribution in Orange County history--a $100,000 check to back an unsuccessful sales tax measure for transportation improvements. The contribution, said Newport Beach political consultant Mark Howell, solidified the opposition’s already-existing plan “to get the impression out that developers were backing this thing because it was going to make them rich.”

The check was a mere down payment on $290,000 that the company eventually donated to the transportation tax campaign.

Also in 1984, the firm made headlines when the Orange County Grand Jury criticized “a loophole” in the county’s campaign finance ordinance that allowed Irvine Co. Chairman Donald Bren to make personal and corporate contributions, which taken together exceeded the allowable limit.

‘No Choice’

Although the size of the company’s gifts vary, few state legislators have escaped the Irvine Co.’s generosity in recent years. Those in positions of power--such as party leaders and chairs of key committees--have predictably received most.

“We have no choice,” said Stockstill, who added that real estate development is “the most regulated in the California business sector.”

Among California politicians last year, Republican Gov. George Deukmejian received the most from the firm--$40,000.

Two powerful Democrats who lead the majority caucuses in both houses of the Legislature, Assembly Speaker Willie Brown of San Francisco and state Sen. David A. Roberti of Los Angeles, got the second and third largest amounts, receiving $15,000 and $8,500 respectively.

Fourth among politicians was Assemblyman Pat Nolan (R-Glendale), the Republican leader in the lower house, who got $6,600.

‘Republican Outlook’

Republican Assemblyman Ferguson and Democratic Assemblyman Richard Robinson of Garden Grove got the most among Orange County legislators, garnering $6,350 and $6,000 respectively. The two local legislators are frequently at odds in Sacramento.

Although the company, like most large businesses, has a “basically Republican outlook,” Stockstill said it donates to both parties because the company is more interested in problem-solving than ideology.

“We are pretty much interested in supporting people that are willing to tackle problems,” he said. “Obviously, the Democrats have control of both houses. . . . We are pragmatists. We are very long on results. . . .”

Unlike the political season four years ago, when the company gave generously to both Deukmejian ($32,250) and Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley ($19,250), Stockstill said “the company is going to be 100% with the governor this time.”

Democrat Directors Bought Out

The change, Stockstill said, is not because Deukmejian has a commanding lead in polls this time, but “is a reflection of the (company’s) ownership,” noting that Irvine Chairman Bren has bought out former directors who were Democrats and strong backers of Bradley.

But in the hotly contested 4th District supervisorial race in Orange County, the firm has given all three candidates $1,500. The candidates are former Congressman Jerry M. Patterson, Orange Mayor James H. Beam and Anaheim Mayor Don Roth. They are running to replace Supervisor Ralph B. Clark, who is not seeking reelection.

The race, Stockstill said, “is one of those happy circumstances where we would be happy to see any of them elected.”

Assemblyman Nolan Frizzelle (R-Huntington Beach), a staunch conservative whom the Irvine Co. opposed in two elections, said the firm seems at times to give money to candidates least likely to support the company on issues.

Many ‘Don’t Forget’

Last election, the company gave Frizzelle $1,000 but $27,000 to his opponent. “Many of us don’t forget what they’ve done in the past,” Frizzelle said.

“I think they back the wrong horses in some circumstances. . . . The fact that they contribute $20,000 or $50,000 or even $100,000 to Willie Brown is not going to make Willie Brown do anything differently,” he said. “The only difference is they can see him when they want to see him.”

But Republicans, natural allies with business interests, resent some of those large contributions to Democrats, he said. “Elephants don’t forget easily.”

TOP 10 CONTRIBUTORS TO STATE OFFICIALS IN 1985

California Trial Lawyers PAC $393,606 California Medical PAC $362,100 Insurers PAC $239,750 Irvine Co. $182,029 Atlantic Richfield Co. $147,150 Beer Wholesalers Community Affairs Fund $147,090 California Dental PAC $144,535 California Optometric PAC $138,721 California Correctional Peace Offices PAC $133,750 California Teachers Assn./ Assn. for Better Citizenship $133,575

Source: Fair Political Practices Commission.

TOP RECIPIENTS OF IRVINE COMPANY POLITICAL CONTRIBUTIONS IN 1985

Gov. George Deukmejian $40,000 Californians for a Better Business Climate $24,500 Assembly Speaker Willie Brown (D-San Francisco) $15,000 California Republican Party $13,386 Orange County Republican Party $11,000 Sen. David A. Roberti (D-Los Angeles) $8,500 Senate President Pro Tempore 1986 Committee $7,500 Senate Republican Leaders Committee $7,500 United for California* $7,500 Assemblyman Pat Nolan (R-Glendale) $6,600 Assemblyman Gil Ferguson (R-Newport Beach) $6,350 Assemblyman Richard Robinson (D-Garden Grove) $6,000 State School Superintendent Bill Honig $5,000 Tort Reform Coalition $5,000 Senate Republican Political Action Committee $5,000 Assemblyman Gray Davis (D-Los Angeles) $4,092 California Democratic Party $3,500 Assemblyman Gerald N. Felando (R-San Pedro) $3,500 Total Irvine Co. contributions to political parties, committees, and state and local candidates: $316,029

*A political action committee for many large corporations in California. Source: Secretaty of State Office