Flores Begins to Fill Coffers for 1989 With Pricey Dinner

At a time when pols and pundits are looking to the elections of 1988, Los Angeles Councilwoman Joan Milke Flores threw a pricey barbecue on Tuesday night that gave her a $250,000 head start on her reelection campaign for 1989.

Five hundred supporters paid $500 apiece to attend the dinner at Casa Italiana in downtown Los Angeles, which featured, among other culinary delights of the sea, fresh barbecued swordfish, barbecued salmon and Pacific lobster.

Retired fishermen prepared the food on huge barbecues. The event, patterned after dockside dinners in the harbor area that Flores represents, was billed as the “San Pedro Harbor Legendary Fishermen’s Feast Anchored in Downtown Los Angeles.”

Expects to Raise $500,000

Along with the clout of Flores’ two-term incumbency, the money puts the councilwoman in an excellent position for the 1989 race. Bernie Evans, Flores’ chief deputy, said the Reelect Councilwoman Joan Milke Flores Committee expects to raise more than $500,000 for next year’s campaign, so Tuesday night’s dinner, which cost $8,000, put the committee nearly halfway toward that goal, with 10 months to go until the January deadline to file for the office.

“It’s early,” Evans said. “To be honest with you, most people do not focus on the council races until the end of the year. Most people are really involved with the state legislative races, the county supervisors races, the senatorial races and the presidential races. . . . Obviously, it’s helpful to already be this far along.”

Although Flores has not yet filed for reelection with the city clerk’s office, Evans said it is “fair to say the councilwoman is pretty enthusiastic about seeking another term.” She has filed a notice of intent to raise funds for reelection. So far, no one has come forward to oppose her.

Although Flores has $700,000 remaining in her coffers from the 1985 race--in which her only opposition was a write-in candidate who garnered less than 1% of the vote--a new city campaign finance code prevents her from using that money in a reelection campaign. She could use the money to promote an initiative or to run for another office, however.

The new law also limits individual contributions to $500 and requires candidates to return leftover money to the contributors or to donate it to charity.

Among the notables who bought tickets for Tuesday night’s dinner were California Angels owner Gene Autry and his wife and Los Angeles Dodgers owner Peter O’Malley.

Union Presence

Labor interests and the maritime industry were also well-represented. Officials of the AFL-CIO, the Teamsters Union and the unions representing city employees, police and firefighters were present, as were officials of Evergreen Marine Corp., Todd Shipyards and Southwest Marine Inc., among others.

Evans said Flores will hold a similar, but far less expensive--about $50 a person--feast in San Pedro and plans to hold other fund-raisers elsewhere in her district, which also includes Wilmington, Harbor City, Harbor Gateway and Watts. He said he expects those events to have more of a grass-roots, local feel than Tuesday’s fete.

“We don’t even invite everybody (to the downtown fund-raiser) because how would you like to get an invitation for $500?” Evans said. “It’s almost intimidating.”