Molina Rejects $50,000 Limit on 1st District Fund Raising

An attempt to establish a voluntary campaign spending limit among candidates for the 1st District seat on the Los Angeles City Council has apparently failed, as Assemblywoman Gloria Molina has rejected a $50,000 limit as “unrealistic.”

Molina, along with the other three candidates in the special Feb. 3 race, met in a forum Wednesday night in Chinatown.

The candidates expressed similar views on virtually every issue, from crime to traffic to land planning. After the forum, however, candidate Paul D. Y. Moore, a businessman, called a meeting with Molina and the other candidates, Larry Gonzalez, Los Angeles school board member, and Leland Wong, a community planner.

The four are running in the newly drawn 1st District, created in response to a Justice Department lawsuit calling for increased voting strength for Latinos in Los Angeles City Council elections.

Moore proposed limiting spending by each candidate to $50,000. The ceiling, Moore said, “will . . . reduce the influence of special interests. It will assure the voters that the election will be determined on the basis of issues and qualifications, not on the basis of flashy campaign brochures or expensive advertising budgets.”

But Molina, looking at a sample budget breakdown provided by Moore, said his $50,000 estimate is “not reasonable (and is) . . . unrealistic.” She said she is willing to discuss “a figure to be negotiated” that is “effective and enforceable.”

Molina said earlier that she expects to raise $300,000 for the special election but said later that $200,000 would be enough because there are only 36,000 registered voters in the district, which has a population of 200,000.

Molina said she has already raised $68,000 and was to hold a $250-per-person fund-raiser Thursday night.

Gonzalez and Wong had tentatively agreed to the limit, but only if all four candidates agreed.

Moore said he will abide by the limit anyway. “We can’t raise that much because we won’t raise that much,” he said. “We won’t go to the special interests.”