Local News in Brief : Bernson Seeks Fund for Campaign in ’94
Los Angeles City Councilman Hal Bernson, a Republican, 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 has scheduled a fund-raiser Feb. 22 at the Sheraton Universal in Universal City, 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 the 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.
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