Wachs War Chest Has Big Lead in Council Race : School Board Candidates Close in Fund Efforts

Two of the seven candidates for a West San Fernando Valley seat on the Los Angeles Board of Education are close to a tie in raising funds as the April 14 election approaches, and two others are not far behind, campaign reports showed Monday.

The two leaders have raised more than $31,000 each, and three others have raised from $17,000 to $25,000.

In City Council races, Councilman Joel Wachs, running for reelection in his almost entirely new northeast Valley district, has raised more than $171,000--four times more than his three opponents combined. Councilmen Hal Bernson and John Ferraro, both of whom are up for reelection in Valley districts, also were far out in front of their opponents in raising funds.

The reports, required by state law, cover fund raising from Jan. 1 through March 28.

2 Years Left in Term

In the school board race, seven candidates are running to fill the remaining two years of a term begun by David Armor, who resigned last year to take a job with the Department of Defense in Washington. After Armor’s departure, the board appointed Tom Bartman to represent the district until this year’s election. Bartman, the West Valley representative from 1980 to 1985 when he decided not to seek relection, chose not to run for the post this year.

Bunny Field, who has worked as a professional fund raiser for East Valley school board member Roberta Weintraub, led the field with $33,668. George St. Johns, a former aide to Sen. Ed Davis (R-Valencia), was a close second with $31,296.

Barbara Romey, who worked on Armor’s campaign, raised $24,908. This included $5,000 loaned by Romey to her campaign.

Julie Korenstein, coordinator of a student volunteer program at Chatsworth High School, raised $23,692. She also loaned her campaign $5,000.

Lawyer Douglas J. Wolf raised $17,622, including $10,000 in loans from himself.

Marilyn Mayer Neville, a private-school teacher, raised $261.

No fund-raising report for March was available for Mark Isler, a public school teacher, who had raised $2,013 through the end of February.

Runoff Would Be in June

If no candidate receives more than 50% of the vote in the April 14 election, the top two vote-getters will meet in a June 2 runoff.

In the City Council’s 2nd District, which takes in all of Sunland-Tujunga and parts of Van Nuys, Sepulveda and Panorama City, Wachs raised $171,894. Wachs’ leading opponent, Jerry Hays, raised $37,698, and Georgetta Wilmeth, who is also running against Wachs, raised $2,500.

No fund-raising report for March was available for Wachs’ other opponent, Jack E. Davis, who reported raising $974 through the end of February.

Wachs is headed into the final days of the campaign with $557,678 in available funds, thanks to a huge surplus carried over from last year. Hays reported having $11,245 in unspent funds.

Loophole Helps Incumbents

Incumbent council members enjoy an advantage over their challengers this year, thanks to a loophole in the city’s campaign reform law approved by voters in 1985. The law allows council members up for reelection this year to use the thousands of dollars they amassed before the law took effect on July 1, 1985.

However, all City Council candidates, incumbents and challengers alike, must obey the $500-per-source limit on contributions received after the law took effect on July 1, 1985. There is no limit on school board candidates.

Contributors to Wachs include the Los Angeles Police Protective League, which represents police officers; Occidental Petroleum Corp.; the Municipal Election Committee of Los Angeles, a gay rights organization; the Los Angeles Dodgers; Valley Cable TV and developers Richard H. Dunn & Associates, Nathan Shappell and Alexander Haagen Co.

Hays received contributions from a number of fellow conservative Republicans, including campaign committees controlled by County Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich, County Assessor John Lynch and former Los Angeles County GOP chairman Richard Gulbranson. City Council candidates by law run for office without party designations, but Hays contends that Wachs, who is also a Republican, is too liberal for the district.

The Apartment Owners Assn. of Los Angeles failed in a drive to get landlords to contribute to the campaign by Hays, a rent-control foe, against Wachs, the council’s leading rent-control proponent. Hays reported receiving only about half a dozen contributions from landlords and apparently received only a few thousand dollars from that source.

Besides the $171,894 raised by his reelection committee, Wachs raised $90,022 in contributions over the $500-per-donor limit.

Cannot Spend on Campaign

Council members can legally raise funds in excess of the $500-per-donor limit, but are forbidden to spend it on their reelection campaigns. Wachs said he plans to use these funds to sponsor two initiative drives--one to strip the City Council of its power to change council districts and give the authority to an independent commission, and the other to prohibit council members from voting on issues affecting contributors.

One of Wachs’ biggest contributions was $5,000 from Gene Autry, who recently won City Council approval to build a Western museum in Griffith Park.

Wachs reported spending his money on operations of his campaign office, including staff, and for billboards and political mailers.

In the northwest Valley’s 12th District, Bernson raised $199,165, whereas his opponent, Richard K. Williams, collected $1,879.

No report covering fund raising through March was available for Councilman John Ferraro, seeking reelection in the 4th District, which includes Toluca Lake and parts of North Hollywood and Studio City. Ferraro had reported at the end of February that he had nearly $266,000 in available funds. His challenger, Sal Genovese, reported raising $2,537.