Motive Questioned : Bernson Seeks Contributions for 1994 Race

Los Angeles City Councilman Hal Bernson has begun soliciting $1,000 contributions for a possible bid for lieutenant governor in 1994. But a political reform group has questioned whether he is sincerely raising money for a race two elections away or skirting a $500-per-donor limit on contributions to council members.

Bernson, who will hold a fund-raiser Feb. 22 at the Sheraton Universal Hotel, can legally solicit $1,000 contributions so long as he does not spend the money to campaign for a city office.

But Walter Zelman, California director of Common Cause, said Bernson is using a loophole in state law “to raise more money from people who want something from him.” Bernson, who chairs the council’s Planning and Environment Committee, has sent dinner invitations to developers and lobbyists who must come before his panel for approval of their projects.

Public Suspicion Cited

“The fundamental concept behind all these laws is that the public is uncomfortable with elected officials taking large amounts of money from people who want something from them,” Zelman said Wednesday. “He apparently does not care about the public concern.”

Lt. Gov. Leo McCarthy is considering running for governor in 1990. But Bernson ruled out a run then for McCarthy’s spot, even if the office is vacant. “I am not interested in 1990 because I have a lot of unfinished business here at the city level,” he said. Bernson said he plans to seek reelection in 1991 in his northwest San Fernando Valley district before deciding whether to run for statewide office.

“I haven’t seen anybody declare for an office five years in advance,” Zelman said in an interview. “Even if he is sincere, he ought to recognize that politics is a game not only of realities but of appearances . . .. What he is really doing is causing all sorts of doubts in all people as to his willingness to abide by the law.”

“We’re operating within the law,” responded Bernson’s chief deputy, Greig Smith. Bernson said he is serious about a possible campaign for lieutenant governor.

Bernson added that the fund-raiser will enable him to pay for things he is unable to finance out of his city political fund because of tougher restrictions under the city campaign reform law.

Under that law, Bernson is limited to accepting $500 per donor for his 1991 council race. But under state law, he can raise $1,000 per contributor every year. He is, however, barred from spending the money on a city race.

Bernson spent more than $150,000 in political contributions between June and December of last year on such things as donations to community groups and political causes, including $250 to the Oliver North Defense Fund, gifts to supporters and trips to Hong Kong and Paris, according to statements on file at City Hall. The councilman plans to use some of the money he raises at the Feb. 22 dinner to send earthquake preparedness booklets to all Los Angeles residents, Smith said.

Law Circumvented

This is not the first time that Bernson has been accused of trying to get around the city’s campaign reform law, which was overwhelmingly approved by voters in 1985.

Shortly after the law went into effect, Bernson and a number of council colleagues established political action committees so that they could raise money in excess of $500 per contributor. Bernson said he established a PAC to continue many of the activities that he had financed from his city campaign fund before the city law went into effect, such as contributing to community groups in his district.

Bernson recently reported having about $115,000 left in his PAC. However, Proposition 73, a state campaign reform initiative approved by voters last June, threw a cloud over how he and others could spend the PAC money.

The proposition requires candidates to declare both an office and an election before raising money. It also put a $1,000 cap on unregulated individual contributions.

Bernson must use the money he raises for a possible lieutenant governor’s bid on purposes related to his candidacy for the statewide office, said a spokesman for the state’s Fair Political Practices Commission.

Zelman said that if Bernson, 58, is interested in running for lieutenant governor, he will spend his campaign contributions all over the state.

“He needs votes in Modesto,” Zelman said. “Let’s see how much money he spends there.”

Councilman Ernani Bernardi, who authored the city’s campaign reform law, said of his colleague’s fund-raising: “It’s legal, and whether I like it or not doesn’t make any difference.”