The Greening of Compton : Once-Modest Campaign Coffers Swell With Cash From Firms That Work for City, Benefit by Development

There is a new downtown shopping center, an upscale hotel rising beside the freeway and--where slum housing once stood--the first major single-family home construction in four decades.

But the drive for redevelopment in Compton has made still another mark, this one on the city’s political landscape: Over the past two years, dozens of builders, bankers, attorneys and businesses have been filling City Council campaign coffers at a record rate.

Drawing a modest $14,400 a year for their part-time public service, council members had historically maintained campaign funds of a few thousand dollars at most.

Yet a Times study shows that since 1985 about $262,000 has been received by or on behalf of the three officials who consistently form the decision-making majority--Mayor Walter R. Tucker, Councilman Robert L. Adams and Councilman Floyd A. James.

The same contributors, meanwhile, have given virtually no money to veteran Councilman Maxcy D. Filer, a frequent critic of redevelopment firms, and nothing at all to Councilwoman Jane D. Robbins, even though she usually sides with the majority. Filer and Robbins are up for reelection next month and expect to campaign on contributions of less than $4,000 each.

Tucker and James did not return calls seeking their comment over the last two weeks. Adams said flatly that campaign contributions have never influenced his council vote, although he recognizes that some givers “do lobby for what they want. They have ulterior motives. Some of them would want us to look favorably on them, developers and others.”

But, Adams continued, “The voters put you in office, and the majority of voters in Compton, they’re not able to give large contributions . . . My decisions on the City Council are made on behalf of 90,000 people (who live in the city). I do not deal with special interests.”

Adams said he, Tucker and James may have attracted some financial support because “this city has improved so greatly” in recent years.

“The people who are in business and participating in this community, I think that they feel they owe it to us for good government,” Adams said. “There was over 1,000 homes boarded up in this city. We had a boarded-up downtown area. Now, it seems to be a city on the move, and this is one of the reasons they are contributing to us.”

Robbins said she is disturbed by the heavy contributions and sees no need to build a large campaign fund. Robbins said she does not hold the kind of testimonial fund-raisers held by Tucker, Adams and James. “The other council people, if that’s what they want to do that’s fine. But as far as I’m concerned, I don’t think the people in this city can stand these kinds of things, and I don’t think we should spend that kind of money on an election.”

Filer said he hopes that no council member has ever been influenced by a campaign contribution, but “from a circumstantial evidence standpoint of how they (Tucker, Adams and James) vote, you would have to think that . . . Just look around and see what (some contributors) have gotten, that’s all you have to do.”

The Times study, based on state-required campaign finance reports and economic interest statements prepared by the council majority, tallied approximately 300 contributions from 160 firms or individuals. But more than half the money came from a few dozen contributors who either hold long-term city contracts or have benefited from the redevelopment that Tucker, Adams and James have championed.

The records also show that council members have paid sizable amounts of contribution money to friends or relatives employed in their campaigns and sometimes pooled their funds on a scale unusual for Compton, where the cost of city politics has risen faster and farther than in neighboring cities of similar size.

The largest contributors to the three council members include:

- AFCOM, of Seal Beach, which combined with board chairman William Dawson to give $30,049. The firm developed 291 units in Compton’s Sunny Cove town house project with the backing of $22 million in city-sponsored mortgage revenue bonds, records show. The council also helped AFCOM pay the commitment fee needed to obtain the bonds by loaning the firm nearly $1 million in 1984.

The AFCOM-related contributions include $6,500 to Tucker, $9,826 to Adams and $13,723 to James.

“Obviously,” Dawson explained, “it’s because they’ve been supportive of our cause in the main. And I don’t mean to exclude the others (Filer and Robbins) from that. I believe these people sincerely, over the six or seven years we’ve been (in Compton), have made a real effort at turning this city around and have accomplished a great deal. We think we’ve accomplished a great deal” at Sunny Cove by “turning what had been a ghetto into a shiny new family neighborhood.

“Frankly, I think every other developer who has done business in Compton has received more breaks,” Dawson concluded. “We didn’t have the advantage of being in a redevelopment district.”

- Watt Industries Inc., of Santa Monica, which combined with sister firm Compton Commercial Redevelopment Co. and partner Danny Bakewell to give $27,000. One of the largest home builders in Los Angeles County, Watt and its affiliate teamed with Bakewell and Lonnie R. Bunkley in 1981 to build the $23-million Compton Towne Center, the city’s largest shopping plaza. As a redevelopment incentive, the city sold them the 17-acre shopping center site for $500,000, although it was appraised at $1.4 million. The council also suspended the first payment for five years and agreed to make more than $1 million in property improvements.

The Watt-related contributions include $7,500 to Tucker, $10,000 to Adams and $9,500 to James. (Watt gave $1,500 to Filer when he campaigned for mayor in 1985, at the same time Bakewell was giving $2,500 to Filer’s opponent, Tucker.) Judith Leimert, Watt’s senior vice president and general counsel, did not return calls seeking comment.

- Western Waste Industries, of Gardena, which combined with president Kosti Shirvanian to give $15,550. The firm holds the city’s commercial and industrial trash-hauling contract, which includes an “evergreen” clause requiring the city to give several years notice before it can cancel. City records show that the firm is paid about $215,000 a month.

The Western Waste-related contributions include $6,000 to Tucker, $3,250 to Adams and $5,300 to James. Shirvanian did not return calls seeking comment.

- Bancroft, O’Connor, Chilton and Lavell Inc., of Century City, which combined with partner James Chilton to give $14,700. The investment banking firm, now known as Chilton & O’Conner, has helped the council--in its dual role as the city redevelopment agency--issue $65.3 million in bonds since 1984. In turn, the firm has received $2.4 million in underwriting fees, according to city records.

The Bancroft-related contributions include $6,020 to Tucker, $3,500 to Adams and $5,180 to James. Chilton did not return calls seeking comment.

- Dalton Properties Inc., of Las Vegas, which combined with a sister firm and president Evan Williams to give $12,680. Last August, Dalton’s Compton affiliate, Dalton Construction Co., won a $2.6-million contract to build a city Fire Department substation and training facility.

The Dalton-related contributions include $3,500 to Tucker, $5,000 to Adams and $4,180 to James. Williams did not return calls seeking comment.

- Murcole Inc., of Compton, which combined with president John Mgrdichian to give $7,187. The firm holds the city’s long-term residential trash-hauling contract for which it is paid about $141,000 a month, city records show.

The Murcole-related contributions include $4,187 to Tucker, $2,100 to Adams and $900 to James. Mgrdichian did not return calls seeking comment.

- Brett Mitchell Chevrolet, of Compton, which combined with owner Brett Mitchell to give $7,000. When a car dealership in the city-sponsored Alameda Auto Plaza went bankrupt in 1984, the city purchased the property for $2.4 million and turned it over to Mitchell in 1985. The council, again sitting as the redevelopment agency, gave Mitchell a subsidized five-year lease that required him to pay $200 a month rent for the first year, then $3,000 a month thereafter--still at least $2,000 less than what a neighboring dealer paid.

The Mitchell-related contributions include $5,000 to Tucker, $500 to Adams and $1,500 to James. “I contribute because I support the redevelopment process,” Mitchell said.

- Grigsby & Associates, of San Francisco, which combined with a related firm, Fiscal Funding Co., and president Calvin B. Grigsby to give $5,250. For a $25-million tax allocation bond issue in 1984, Grigsby was retained as the “prime investment banking consultant” to the city’s redevelopment agency.

The Grigsby-related contributions include $500 to Tucker, $1,250 to Adams and $3,500 to James. Grigsby could not be reached for comment.

The Times survey found smaller givers such as the architectural firm of Edward C. Barker & Associates, of Los Angeles. The Barker firm won a $210,760 contract last year to design a multipurpose transit center in the city. Four months before landing the contract, the firm gave $500 to Tucker; over a 10-month period after obtaining the contract, the firm gave $1,680 to James and $750 to Adams. Barker officials did not return calls for comment.

Other contributors included firms that acted as consultants in some of the city’s redevelopment projects. Last spring, the council--again as the redevelopment agency--sold $11.025 million in certificates to essentially refinance some 1974 civic center bonds. When the transaction took place:

- The agency’s consultant was Dinkelspiel, Belmont & Co. Inc., of San Francisco, which along with partner Paul Dinkelspiel had given $1,000 contributions the year before to Adams and James, and $1,500 to Adams last fall. Dinkelspiel did not return calls seeking his comment.

- The agency’s special counsel job was filled jointly by the firm of Simmons, Ritchie, Segal and Stark, of Los Angeles, and the firm of Johnnie L. Cochran Jr. The year before, Simmons partner Graham Ritchie gave $500 to Tucker, $500 to Adams and $250 to James. Cochran, similarly, gave $1,000 to Tucker, $1,025 to Adams and $2,000 to James during their reelection campaigns.

“I’ve gotten to know them over the years,” Ritchie said of the Compton council members, “and they’ve asked (for contributions). They’re good people.” Ritchie said he has limited his Compton contributions to a “very modest” level, explaining that “I just have a feeling that it is not a good idea to give money out of proportion to the (political) race. I think $1,250 is a handsome amount for a council race.”

“I don’t think that the kind of contribution that I’m willing to give, to buy a pair of tickets and show up at somebody’s testimonial dinner, is going to buy me anything with the council,” Ritchie said. “I don’t expect that I’m getting anything in exchange for that.”

Cochran said that campaign contributions probably give his firm “some additional access” to council members. But he said he had been doing business with the city for several years before he made his contributions and continues to have an interest in Compton because he owns property in the city. Cochran said the city’s “rebirth” in development may, indeed, explain the increased contributions.

Some of the political funds have ended up in the hands of relatives and friends who have worked in the officials’ campaigns, according to the records.

Son’s Business Involved

A business registered to Laurence H. Adams, son of Councilman Adams, received payments of at least $12,500 from all three incumbents for producing campaign material during the 1985 race. And after a fund-raiser last year, a reelection committee formed on the councilman’s behalf paid his son $2,775 for professional management and consulting services and reported owing him another $5,003.

(After the 1985 election, city administrative officials appointed the younger Adams to a staff position despite an outcry from Filer that it constituted nepotism.)

The mayor’s son, Walter R. Tucker III, was paid $3,610 for professional services while working as assistant director of his father’s campaign in 1986. The son in December, 1986 received an interest-free loan of $3,528.

The comparatively heavy flow of political funds may have “had something to do with the Congressman (Mervyn M. Dymally) getting involved” in the 1985 council election, Councilman Adams said. When Dymally (D-Compton) backed two challengers against Adams and James, the bitter political fight that ensued turned out to be the most expensive in city history. The race, which both incumbents won, ended with Adams spending what would have been a record $63,564 if not for James spending $89,362.

James’ opponent, Patricia A. Moore, received $15,000 in loans from Dymally. But James still outspent her more than 2 to 1. Adams’ opponent, Emily Hart-Holifield, received no Dymally money and was outspent by Adams 3 to 1.

(The race also had legal repercussions. James has since pleaded no contest to an election fraud charge of illegally mailing a political notice to voters during the campaign. He is scheduled to be sentenced April 16, and could be stripped of his office.)

Other City Examples

Neighboring cities of similar size also have seen the cost of political contests recently rise. But no increase has been as dramatic as Compton’s.

For example, after last spring’s election in Downey--with 41,414 registered voters to Compton’s 37,698--the council considered placing a limit on campaign spending because two candidates together ran up $34,231 in expenses--slightly more than half of what Adams had spent the year before.

And in Norwalk, with 34,678 registered voters, Councilman Cecil N. Green won reelection after raising $38,023--four times as much as that city’s previous record, but still less than the $55,184 that James amassed the year before in Compton. (James finished his campaign $30,042 in debt.)

The contributions to Tucker, Adams and James also depart from Compton tradition in that they have continued to flow long after the incumbents won fresh four-year terms. All three officials have had fund-raising dinners between campaigns to pay past campaign expenses, rally support for a full-time mayor referendum or pay other costs.

“This is the first time I’ve seen what’s going on now,” said Filer, a councilman since 1976 and a city observer long before that. “In past years, no one raised any money after elections.” And no other candidates ever accumulated a serious campaign debt.

Method Has Changed

The method of fund-raising also has changed, Filer said. “We’re now bringing in all these public relations people to do something we used to do ourselves . . . Before, most of the people did not go to the (city’s) vendors” to solicit contributions.

The council majority has shared campaign funds in a way that is unusual for Compton. While it is common for candidates everywhere to occasionally pass relatively small sums to political party colleagues or causes, Tucker, Adams and James did it on a major scale in the fall of 1985 after setting up the Mayor Tucker Tribute Committee.

The committee was primarily formed to support a November referendum in which voters were to decide if Tucker should be made full-time mayor and given a $59,000 pay increase. The measures failed decisively, but not before the three officials built a $63,800 war chest, boosted by $5,000 contributions from AFCOM, Watt, the Bancroft firm, Western Waste, Mitchell and a few others. The money was spent this way, according to a campaign statement filed a few days before the balloting:

- $8,410 paid for a fund-raising dinner, featuring prime rib, at the Los Angeles Airport Hilton Hotel.

- $1,515 paid for entertainment, flowers, music, photographs, printing and minor expenses.

- $7,500 went to the Inglewood political consulting firm of Wright, Lester & Associates (Partner Roderick Wright also advised James during his 1985 campaign and subsequently pleaded no contest to the same election fraud charge that the councilman now faces. Wright was sentenced to probation.)

- $13,375 remained in committee coffers.

- And $33,000 was split evenly among the personal campaign committees of Tucker, Adams and James.

“It was a three-way agreement that we would pay off the indebtedness in Councilman James’ and my campaign,” Adams said of the referendum contributions.

James continued to conduct off-year fund-raising events even after retiring his previous campaign debts, according to his 1986 financial report. From January to July of that year, James received $15,700 from contributors including AFCOM, Watt, the Bancroft firm and Grigsby. Out of that, he listed in his campaign reports $11,800 to attorney Cochran for professional management and consulting services. At the time, Cochran was representing James in the criminal election fraud case.

Legal Permission Obtained

Cochran said in an interview last week that the money was for early expenses in defending James. He said campaign officials were told by the state Fair Political Practices Commission that the expenditure was permissible and was cleared by state legal officials. N. Eugene Hill, a deputy attorney general, confirmed last week that his office approved the use of campaign funds because the legal expenses were related to the campaign.

Also, on Sept. 25 of last year, a $90-a-plate testimonial dinner in James’ honor--with Cochran as guest speaker--raised $11,750. Out of that, James paid $2,460 to a restaurant at Ports O’ Call Village in San Pedro, $1,500 to Lynwood realtor Iris Pygatt for general operation and overhead expenses and $3,947 in other costs.

A similar dinner held on Adams’ behalf last October raised $33,736. But according to the committee report filed by the councilman’s son, Laurence, $13,144 of the money went to Paul H. Richards, a Compton assistant city manager, in the form of an interest-free two-year loan.

At the time, Richards was campaigning for election to the City Council in neighboring Lynwood. Last November, he won and now presides as Lynwood mayor while still holding his city administrative job in Compton. Campaign reports show that Richards spent $31,687 on his campaign--a Lynwood record.

TOP CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTORS IN COMPTON Builders, attorneys, bankers and businesses that have dealings with City Hall are contributing to Compton City Councilmen in increasing numbers and in increasing amounts. Most of the money is going to three council members--Walter Tucker, Robert Adams and Floyd James--who generally vote together. The three have received about $262,000 since 1985; in that same period, those contributors have given virtually no money to the two other council members.

WHERE THE MONEY COMES FROM: More than half of contributions to councilmen came from firms that either hold long-term city contracts or have benefited from the drive for redevelopment that council members James, Adams and Tucker have championed. Among the largest contributors are:

CONTRIBUTOR: AFCOM and President William Dawson LINK TO CITY: City’s largest home builder. TOTAL CONTRIBUTIONS 1/85-3/87: $30,049 MONEY TO TUCKER: $6,500 MONEY TO ADAMS: $9,826 MONEY TO JAMES: $13,723 CONTRIBUTOR: Watt Industries, Compton Commercial Redevelopment and Danny Bakewell LINK TO CITY: Developers of city’s largest shopping center. TOTAL CONTRIBUTIONS 1/85-3/87: $27,000 MONEY TO TUCKER: $7,500 MONEY TO ADAMS: $10,000 MONEY TO JAMES: $9,500 CONTRIBUTOR: Western Waste and President Kosti Shirvanian LINK TO CITY: Holds the city contract for commercial garbage hauling. TOTAL CONTRIBUTIONS 1/85-3/87: $15,550 MONEY TO TUCKER: $6,000 MONEY TO ADAMS: $4,250 MONEY TO JAMES: $5,300 CONTRIBUTOR: Bancroft, O’Connor, Chilton & Lavelbl Inc., and Partner James Chilton LINK TO CITY: Investment bankers who sell city redevelopment bonds. TOTAL CONTRIBUTIONS 1/85-3/87: $14,700 MONEY TO TUCKER: $6,020 MONEY TO ADAMS: $3,500 MONEY TO JAMES: $5,180 CONTRIBUTOR: Dalton Properties and President Evan Williams LINK TO CITY: Construction firm that won contract to build fire station. TOTAL CONTRIBUTIONS 1/85-3/87: $12,680 MONEY TO TUCKER: $3,500 MONEY TO ADAMS: $5,000 MONEY TO JAMES: $4,180 CONTRIBUTOR: Murcole Inc. and President John Mgrdichian LINK TO CITY: Holds the city contract for residential garbage hauling. TOTAL CONTRIBUTIONS 1/85-3/87: $7,187 MONEY TO TUCKER: $4,187 MONEY TO ADAMS: $2,100 MONEY TO JAMES: $900 CONTRIBUTOR: Brett Mitchell Chevrolet LINK TO CITY: Holds city-subsidized lease in Alameda Auto Plaza. TOTAL CONTRIBUTIONS 1/85-3/87: $7,000 MONEY TO TUCKER: $5,000 MONEY TO ADAMS: $500 MONEY TO JAMES: $1,500 CONTRIBUTOR: Grigsby & Assoc., Fiscal Funding Co. and President Calvin B. Grigsby LINK TO CITY: Investment banking consultants to city’s redevelopment agency. TOTAL CONTRIBUTIONS 1/85-3/87: $5,250 MONEY TO TUCKER: $500 MONEY TO ADAMS: $1,250 MONEY TO JAMES: $3,500 Source: Campaign finance reports on file with Compton city clerk. Figures for contributors include money given by individuals and firms with which they are associated. SHARING THE MONEY Contributing to the majority block of the Compton City Council has become a streamlined affair. The three--Walter Tucker, Robert Adams and Floyd James--sponsored a fund-raiser last fall that is a case in point: At the time, Mayor Walter Tucker--backed by Adams and James--sought voter support for a referendum to increase the mayor’s salary and make his job full-time. A dinner was arranged at the Los Angeles Airport Hilton. The three council members agreed to split the proceeds among themselves and the referendum campaign. Contributers paid into the “Mayor Tucker Tribute Committee.” Total collected: $63,800. The committee held onto $13,375. Expenses of $8,410 went to the hotel, $7,500 to a political consultant, and $1,515 paid other costs of the dinner, flowers, music and incidentals. The rest was split: $11,000 to the individual re-election committees of Walter Tucker, Robert Adams and Floyd James. Where the $63,800 Went EXPENSES: Hotel $8,410 Consultant $7,500 Music, Flowers, Etc. $1,515 PAY TO THE ORDER OF: Tucker Committee $13,375 PAY TO THE CAMPAIGN OF: Walter Tucker $11,000 PAY TO THE CAMPAIGN OF: Robert Adams $11,000 PAY TO THE CAMPAIGN OF: Floyd James $11,000