Artworks, Liquor, Trips, Dinners : City, County Officials List Their Harvest of Freebies

This is the week when, instead of the usual stream of dry reports and agendas, City Hall is treated to the juicy reading found in the yearly lists of gifts and free trips accepted by Mayor Tom Bradley and other Los Angeles elected officials.

The lists, which are required by state law, are where Bradley and the City Council reveal their take in fruit baskets, liquor and Christmas hams, often from lobbyists, and also disclose their outside income and free trips. The rule also applies a few blocks away at the Hall of Administration, where the county Board of Supervisors share in the bounty.

Bradley, for example, took more than $8,000 worth of free tickets from the Dodgers, Lakers and other sports teams last year, and he wasn’t alone. Nearly all officials said they took the free season tickets offered, and more than a few accepted a whole array of freebies, from the Joffrey and Bolshoi ballets to the Academy Awards show.

But every year the lists contain a few oddities, and this year’s honors for the most unusual listings could go to City Councilman Joel Wachs and Supervisor Pete Schabarum.

Wachs, who is something of an art connoisseur, was given a painting by New York artist Peter Halley valued at $15,000 and a $6,000 sculpture by New Yorker Andrew Lord. Both artists exhibited at a Westside gallery in recent years. Wachs also was given a photolithograph worth $1,000 by artist Sherrie Levine.

The councilman, who represents a large section of the San Fernando Valley, also took free tickets to U2 and Pink Floyd rock concerts, and seemed to spend a good bit of the year tasting the pleasures of some of the city’s trendiest restaurants. Wachs reported being taken to expensive dinners by gallery owners, a movie producer and a Municipal Court judge at Spago, Citrus, Trumps, The Ivy and many other upscale Westside eateries.

But like most of his colleagues, Wachs also took a more mundane case of beer offered around by the Anheuser-Busch brewery, and a turkey from Hughes Markets. Schabarum, generally regarded as the guiding force behind the conservative majority on the Board of Supervisors, reported his share of unusual gifts, including a $600 hearing aid and a $200 shotgun.

The reports, known officially as Statements of Economic Interest, also list free trips taken by the officials, as well as all income from outside sources. Schabarum reported the most trips, journeying on trade missions to Japan and Korea for the county Economic Development Commission and to Costa Rica as a guest of the government there. Schabarum, an avid hunter, also disclosed that he was taken on several hunting trips.

Deana Dana, a fellow supervisor, also went on a Japan trip with the county’s Economic Development Commission. Supervisor Ed Edelman listed taking $2,000 to speak at a symposium of public officials in London, and, incidentally, also accepted free memberships to the Beverly Hills Tennis Club and the Friars Club worth $3,900.

Bradley, whose report listed extensive investments, took the most extensive trip of the year. A museum, the International Society for Yad Vashem, paid $5,729 last April to send Bradley to Berlin. But he was not the only city official to take wing.

Recently elected Councilman Nate Holden went to Taiwan as a guest of the city of Taipei. The council president, John Ferraro, took free trips to Israel and was a guest of the city government of Buenos Aires on a trip to Argentina.

Ferraro, a former football star for USC and one-time insurance agent, is not known for his stylish clothing, but he received a $250 pair of shoes from DeFabrizio, a shop on West 3rd Street in Los Angeles where Hollywood stars go to have their feet swathed in custom leather.

The reports also show that Ferraro, who has been a strong supporter of Occidental Petroleum Corp. in its desire to drill in Pacific Palisades, owns stock in eight oil companies (not including Occidental) worth at least $44,000. The stock could be worth much more, but the lists only require officials to disclose a general range of value for their investments.

WHO GOT THE GIFTS

Records of gifts received during 1987 by members of the Los Angeles City Council, Mayor Tom Bradley and members of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors:

ELECTED OFFICIAL: VALUE OF GIFTS

Councilman Joel Wachs: $28,353

Councilwoman Ruth Galanter*: $20,392

Supervisor Pete Schabarum: $18,723

Mayor Tom Bradley: $17,592

Supervisor Ed Edelman: $10,605

Supervisor Deane Dana: $ 8,706

Councilman John Ferraro: $ 8,405

Supervisor Kenneth Hahn: $ 6,593

Councilman Marvin Braude: $ 6,423

Councilwoman Joy Picus: $ 4,945

Councilman Nate Holden**: $ 4,909

Councilman Hal Bernson: $ 4,602

Councilman Richard Alatorre: $ 4,400

Councilman Gilbert Lindsay: $ 3,955

Councilwoman Joan Flores: $ 3,494

Councilman Michael Woo: $ 3,389

Supervisor Michael Antonovich: $ 3,308

Councilman Zev Yaroslavsky: $ 3,304

Councilwoman Gloria Molina***: $ 2,551

Councilman Ernani Bernardi: $ 1,559

Councilman Robert Farrell: $ 462

* $18,413 of the total came from a security service donating its services after Galanter was attacked by an intruder in her home. Gifts are as of date of election, June 2, 1987.

** Gifts are as of date of election, June 2, 1987.

*** Gifts are as of date of election, Feb. 3, 1987.