Cultivating, Nurturing Donors : Bradley’s Busy Social Life Pays Dividends in Politics

Harvey Bookstein couldn’t believe it when the mayor of Los Angeles showed up at his surprise 40th birthday party.

Neither could his friends. Initially, they marveled at how the celebrity impersonator standing on the front porch looked exactly like the mayor, right down to the tall, slender build, the bald spot and neatly pressed suit.

But this was no joke. The real Tom Bradley had arrived at Bookstein’s Tarzana home on a Friday night to wish Harvey a happy birthday.

“It really shocks me,” said Bookstein, who is not politically active and had met Bradley only briefly before. “I would think he could be meeting with presidents and other mayors and diplomats and wouldn’t waste his time with me.”

As a partner in the large Los Angeles accounting firm of Roth, Bookstein & Zaslow and chairman of Columbia National Bank, Bookstein is the kind of well-heeled, ideological young executive that politicians covet. On its own initiative, the mayor’s scheduling staff had arranged for Bradley to visit Bookstein’s accounting office last June 19 and attend his birthday party on Sept. 11.

The wooing of Bookstein did not stop there. Not long after the office visit, the mayor’s staff was on the phone asking Bookstein to solicit contributions from friends and relatives. Bookstein, who along with his wife had contributed the maximum $1,000 apiece to Bradley’s campaign last year, said he persuaded his father, his mother, his partner and his partner’s wife each to write $1,000 checks--and $4,000 more went into the Bradley fund. Bookstein also said he is eager to help the mayor in next year’s reelection bid for an unprecedented fifth term.

“I’ve always respected the mayor in the past, but never got to meet him (before last year),” Bookstein said. “I’m very impressed with what I’ve seen. He has won me over to his camp.”

Over the last 15 years as mayor, Bradley has made thousands of personal appearances at weddings, bar mitzvahs and other ceremonies, according to a study of his 1987 appointment calendar and numerous interviews with his campaign advisers. The mayor’s attendance at these events often attracts new supporters, such as Bookstein, to his political campaign.

The calendar, obtained by The Times through the state Public Records Act, shows that in a non-election year Bradley devoted between 10 and 20 hours per week to pancake breakfasts, picnics, weddings, parades, cocktail receptions and other social engagements. In all, Bradley attended 512 such events last year, including 38 black-tie affairs, 29 anniversary celebrations, 26 cocktail receptions, 19 grand openings and 13 birthday parties. He was on hand for the opening of a Pioneer Chicken and a Best Western, the reopening of a Baskin-Robbins and a promotional ceremony unveiling Cherry 7-Up.

The mayor says he makes his extensive rounds for reasons other than picking up a contribution or a vote. He likes stepping out, mingling with people and showing up unexpectedly at an intimate social affair.

“It is just something that I do because I enjoy it,” Bradley said. He cited as an example a neighborhood barbecue that he attended on Oct. 25 at the home of Bob Rose, a Bradley political supporter and a planning commissioner, in South El Monte.

‘I Enjoyed His Enjoyment’

“I showed up and I tell you, you’ve never seen a happier couple in your life than that man and his wife. And the whole family was there. . . . As we were out in the front yard chatting or taking pictures, everybody who drove by was honking and waving. It was important to him. He enjoyed that. And I enjoyed his enjoyment. I get a pleasure out of that. These kinds of things . . . have importance in the lives of those people. . . .

“I once spent a lot of time enjoying sports activities, watching the games, going to the theater. I don’t have time for it anymore because these (appearances) are some of the almost hidden kinds of things that very few people know about. But I know about them. I get a good feeling of satisfaction out of having an impact on somebody’s life.”

But there are other benefits. According to the mayor’s advisers, Bradley also has relied on his frequent visits to raise campaign funds, particularly since a 1985 law began limiting contributions to $1,000 per donor in citywide races. Under the new restrictions, politicians can no longer target five- and six-figure contributions from wealthy supporters. Instead, they must solicit small contributions from hundreds of newcomers to the political fund-raising process.

Bradley needs these first-time contributions to surpass the fund-raising efforts of Councilman Zev Yaroslavsky, his expected opponent in next year’s mayoral race. As of Dec. 31, Yaroslavsky had collected $801,726 for the mayoral campaign compared to $552,314 raised by Bradley.

Switched to Bradley

One newcomer to the Bradley camp, Allen Alevy, a registered Republican, said he voted against Bradley in the 1982 gubernatorial election. Alevy said he abandoned Gov. George Deukmejian in favor of Bradley in 1986 after he met the mayor at a small family gathering at his sister’s house.

“I knew very little about Bradley,” Alevy said. “I’m not really involved in politics. I didn’t pay much attention to him. After sitting down and talking with the guy for any length of time, I went from ‘I didn’t think much of him at all’ to ‘I think if I was hand-picking a vice presidential candidate, I’d pick him.’ ”

Shortly after Alevy met with Bradley, his sister asked him to contribute to the mayor’s campaign, he said. Alevy agreed to attend a fund-raiser and since then has given $5,200 to Bradley. In April, Alevy took his wife and children to a $125-per-family barbecue for Bradley at the San Fernando Valley home of Dr. David Levine. The event raised $20,000 for the upcoming mayor’s race.

“The mayor came in cowboy boots, jeans, cowboy hat and played the part,” Alevy said. “He got on a big, plastic horse (and) took pictures with people. The guy was a regular Joe. You wouldn’t know he was mayor of the city of Los Angeles. . . . If I wasn’t a supporter at that time, I would have become a supporter at that barbecue. Just watching him, honestly, he picked up 400 votes. I was just so impressed with it.”

123 Social Engagements

Bradley uses his numerous appearances to stay in touch with loyal, wealthy supporters who have contributed millions of dollars to the mayor. Last year, Bradley attended 123 social engagements that were sponsored by private and corporate individuals who gave $1.1 million to his campaigns in the last five years--much of it before the new limits on contributions were imposed, according to a comparison of the mayor’s campaign records and his appointment calendar.

Bradley also receives substantial voter support by appearing at these private gatherings, his political advisers report. They said that voters remember at election time how the mayor of the nation’s second-largest city made room in his busy schedule to visit their back yards, neighborhoods and parks. And they spread the word among friends and neighbors.

“If he appears at every school in the city and every senior citizen (center) and does all of the happy birthdays and something of the week or something of the month, then that puts those people in touch with him and that’s what’s going to get him reelected,” said Frances Savitch, a key Bradley adviser and political confidante for 14 years. “I think that is firmly fixed in his attitude. I think (the) staff is more concerned about how many votes are there (and) can we go back and hit ‘em for money. . . . Oh, I’m sure (Bradley) cannot be unaware of it. Everyone with whom there has been some contact is going to be on mailing lists. That’s the way it works. . . . He knows it’s happening and he doesn’t particularly like it.”

Bradley insisted in an interview that politics plays no part in choosing which of the approximately 40 social events he attends each month out of the estimated 400 invitations he receives. He said there is no deliberate strategy on his part to tap his many appearances for money or votes.

‘Some Political Benefit’

“Whenever any politician makes an appearance anywhere, obviously there is going to be some political benefit just by virtue of . . . being seen,” Bradley said. “. . . I don’t know anybody who calculates on that basis. I can tell you there is one who does not. That’s Tom Bradley.”

The mayor said he does not furnish his campaign staff with copies of his schedule to help target potential new contributors. And he frequently visits churches and fund-raising events on behalf of charity organizations such as the United Way and March of Dimes--appearances that Bradley maintains are not arranged to win any kind of political support. To support his point, Bradley recalled how he set aside time recently to reach out to a troubled young woman who was on the brink of suicide.

“She couldn’t believe I called her on a Saturday,” Bradley said. “First of all, she did not expect I would be working. Secondly, she did not expect I would call her up. But it was something in that case which I felt would be important to her that I call her (and) try to give her some emotional support. So she thanked me, (and) said, ‘My life is changed with this call to know somebody out there cared.’

“That is when I say you get emotional satisfaction. . . . You think that was calculated to get a vote?” Bradley asked a reporter.

Fund-Raising Operation

According to several current and former Bradley aides, the mayor does not understand his fund-raising operation very well.

“He doesn’t realize how much these little 50 bucks here and there add up to millions,” said Tom Houston, the mayor’s former chief of staff. “He just hates it so much. He just blocks it out of his mind. He is very strange that way.”

Theater magnate Bruce Corwin, Bradley’s campaign treasurer for the last decade, explained the fund-raising formula that has brought Bradley $13.6 million in contributions since 1983.

“We go back to people who have given before,” Corwin said. “That is where you start Where the problem is, since (Bradley) doesn’t (like to) ask for money, is trying to broaden that base to people who haven’t given.”

Enter Bradley’s many appearances.

“No. 1, he likes it,” Corwin said. “No. 2, he doesn’t have to make that call for fund-raising. Someone else can make that call and say, ‘He cared enough to show up at your party, bar mitzvah, barbecue, whatever it is and how about making a contribution?’ ”

11 Other Engagements

On the typically hectic weekend of Sept. 11-13, Bradley capped off a 10-hour Friday workday with his appearance at Bookstein’s party--and then proceeded to 11 other engagements ranging from two weddings to a lavish dinner-dance in Beverly Hills. Five of the events were given by supporters who had contributed a total of $82,330 to the mayor’s campaigns over the last five years.

Until The Times obtained his calendar, Bradley kept to himself the amount of time he devoted to social affairs and ceremonial events. His press office discloses only one or two events each day on the mayor’s news schedule. Bradley also keeps a private calendar that no one sees. This schedule contains doctor’s appointments, private dinners and other outings the mayor considers personal. He declined to provide the private calendar to The Times.

In New York, where demands on the mayor’s time are similar, Edward I. Koch staves off most requests for private parties and dinners. Koch was ordered by a state Supreme Court justice in January to release to the media his personal appointment calendars from 1982 through 1986. Few private affairs such as anniversaries or birthday parties appeared on Koch’s office or personal calendars.

“In a month’s time, he might go to two, three, four purely social events that would appear on the private calendar,” said Larry Simonberg, Koch’s assistant press secretary. “He is not a guy who likes to go to a lot of parties. Certainly, he does not like dinners. He will go when he thinks it is necessary and there is a legitimate reason why the mayor should appear.”

Bradley attends 10 times as many social functions as Koch, according to calculations by the two mayoral staffs, and does so willingly. He spends so much time at these events and so little time at home that his wife, Ethel, vented her frustration in a 1983 interview with The Times. “I love Tom, (but) no one owes this city 17 or 18 hours a day, seven days a week,” she said at the time. “. . . He doesn’t have enough time for himself . . . he doesn’t have enough time for me.”

Five years later, the story is the same at Getty House, the mayor’s official residence. Ethel Bradley said recently that she and her husband usually have dinner together only once a week. On most nights, Ethel Bradley said, she is asleep when the mayor arrives home after attending a social event or working late at the office.

Bradley maintains absolute control over his calendar and makes all decisions regarding whom he sees and where he goes. Last year, one in four engagements that the mayor attended was held by a political supporter.

Some of the most recognized names in Los Angeles, who also happen to be large contributors, appeared on the mayor’s calendar last year. Bradley presented a plaque to Gene Autry at a Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony, went to a black-tie party at the Beverly Hills home of millionaire oilman Marvin Davis and attended birthday parties for industrialist Armand Hammer and movie mogul Jerry Weintraub. Bradley also showed up at anniversary celebrations for Bank of America, United Parcel Service, Kaufman-Broad Co. and the law firm of Kelley, Drye & Warren.

A Kawasaki Bash

A lavish black-tie affair thrown by wealthy Beverly Hills merchant Reiko Kawasaki was among the several holiday parties on Bradley’s schedule. The Dec. 18 party, catered by Spago and attended by celebrities Phyllis Diller, Red Buttons, Olivia Hussey and Peter Graves, was the third Kawasaki bash that Bradley attended within a year.

Kawasaki, who owns a worldwide fastener company based in Japan, referred all questions regarding Bradley to her personal attorney, Joshua Barney. He said that Kawasaki enjoys Bradley’s company. “She always likes to invite him,” Barney said. “He is a real hit at the parties. . . . He is perfectly at home. He comes in, he stays late, he talks to everybody. . . .”

Eleven days after the party, Kawasaki gave Bradley three $1,000 contributions--two in the name of her Beverly Hills retail shops, campaign records show. She was first introduced to Bradley by Josette Banzet Roe, a Beverly Hills socialite. Roe is among the many Bradley supporters who scoffed at any suggestion that the mayor’s social appearances help bring contributions to his political campaign.

“We all want to help him, regardless (of) if he came to a party, because we happen to think he is a fantastic mayor and a wonderful man,” Roe said. “The whole town adores him.”

They Expect Him

But several longtime supporters who contribute generously to Bradley said they expect the mayor to come to their events. They said it is unlikely they would continue to pour money into Bradley’s campaign if he suddenly snubbed their private parties and favorite charities.

“We would be rather disappointed if, having supported him, he were inaccessible to us,” said builder Eli Broad, whose firm gave $17,000 to Bradley in the last five years. At Broad’s request, Bradley spoke to 4,500 guests at a Sept. 19 party to celebrate Kaufman & Broad’s 30th anniversary in the housing industry.

“It is not really a quid pro quo,” Broad said. “(But) there’s no question that . . . if someone . . . wants money for the campaign, and if you want to talk to them six months later and don’t hear from them, you just don’t give anymore. That is a slap in the face.”

Supporters such as Broad know that they may appeal directly to the mayor if his staff initially turns down their requests because of scheduling problems. In most cases, according to the mayor’s aides, Bradley will overrule his scheduling director to accommodate a longtime friend or loyal contributor.

When attorney Richard Riordan, a Bradley appointee on two city commissions, made a last-minute request on behalf of a friend for the mayor to attend a Dec. 30 charity event, the scheduling staff said Bradley was not available. Riordan, who lent Bradley $300,000 in the 1982 governor’s race and has since contributed $156,000 to the mayor, said he took his request to Deputy Mayor Michael Gage.

“It was a very, very special favor,” Riordan said. “. . . I called back and said it is very important. Mike went to the mayor and said the mayor definitely wanted to make it because I wanted it so badly.”

Did Riordan’s substantial backing help persuade the mayor?

“If he is a good politician, I would hope it would make a difference or he wouldn’t be in office,” Riordan said.

Perhaps no one enjoys closer access to Bradley than investment banker Ira Distenfield, a top Bradley fund-raiser who is married to Linda Distenfield, the mayor’s scheduling director. Over the last three years, Ira Distenfield has contributed $61,161 to Bradley. Yet in January Linda Distenfield rejected her husband’s last-minute request for the mayor to appear at a wedding anniversary party for one of his loyal supporters. Bradley was unable to attend the party, which was thrown by Distenfield, because of a scheduling conflict.

Many Invitations

“So much for access,” said Distenfield, who chose not to appeal his wife’s decision to Bradley. “I think if that says anything, it says that the mayor gets a tremendous amount of invitations. . . . I really think in all fairness to what exists, the mayor is continually meeting people who are not in the Fortune 500.”

Distenfield nonetheless acknowledged that he is one of a few key Bradley backers who are able to produce the mayor for a special occasion. A year and a half ago, Distenfield recalled, he “really pushed hard” for Bradley to attend a private dinner for his parents, who were visiting from Florida. To make the event, Bradley had to be driven straight to the Century Plaza Hotel from Los Angeles International Airport after an extended overseas trip.

“I asked the mayor if he would mind dropping by and just saying hello to my mom and dad,” Distenfield said. “It was just a personal thing and it was very important. . . . He said yes. Those are the kinds of things the mayor really stretches himself out for. What he is looking to hear is the word important. “

Times researcher Cecilia Rasmussen contributed to this article.