Bernson Accused of Campaign Abuses

A political watchdog group charged Tuesday that Los Angeles City Councilman Hal Bernson has violated campaign funding laws in his possible 1994 bid for lieutenant governor and called for his removal as head of a powerful council committee.

Walter Zelman, executive director of California Common Cause, said Bernson’s spending of $119,000 earmarked for a state race that is five years away “blatantly violates the letter and spirit of both state and city campaign finance law.”

Zelman alleges that Bernson is actually spending all of the money in Los Angeles and his north San Fernando Valley district to bolster his 1991 reelection campaign for City Council. The practice violates state law prohibiting candidates from using state campaign money on local races and city law limiting campaign contributions, Zelman said.

Common Cause wants Bernson removed from the council’s Planning and Land Management Committee, which considers development proposals citywide, because more than half of his 1994 state campaign contributions are from Los Angeles developers, real estate professionals and construction firms.

At a press conference later Tuesday at his Northridge field office, an angry Bernson lashed out at Zelman, calling the accusations a “personal vendetta” and “tactics of distortion” by a liberal Democrat who disagrees with his conservative Republican politics.

“Mr. Zelman’s job depends on his making waves, generating publicity and challenging the positive activities of others so he can gain publicity and raise funds for his group,” Bernson said.

The councilman said the only issue is whether it is “proper to seek support within the 12th District for lieutenant governor. The answer is that it is.”

Common Cause has asked for investigations by Atty. Gen. John Van K. de Kamp, the state Fair Political Practices Commission and City Atty. James K. Hahn.

Zelman said his group has arranged for attorneys to volunteer their time to investigate Bernson’s finances if government authorities do not.

Inquiry Under Way

The attorney general’s office is in the midst of an inquiry into Bernson’s campaign finances, prompted by a similar Common Cause request last March, soon after Bernson began soliciting funds for the lieutenant governor race, said office spokesman Alan Ashby.

“We will carry it through to a conclusion, which can result in a determination that there is nothing to worry about, that corrective action or litigation should be taken,” Ashby said.

Bernson has been cooperating with requests to provide records involving fund-raising, he said.

City Council President John Ferraro, who reappointed Bernson to the Planning and Land Management Council Committee, said he has no intention of removing the councilman from the panel, which Bernson chairs, because he “has done an excellent job.”

FPPC Found Nothing

The FPPC found no violations of state laws when they looked into Bernson’s lieutenant governor campaign records last spring. Officials with the commission and the city attorney’s office said they had not received the new Common Cause complaint, but said it would be reviewed to determine if there is need to investigate.

Bernson has raised $177,525 since January to explore the possibility of running for lieutenant governor, campaign disclosure statements show. His campaign committee has given $10,440 to 21 charitable and civic organizations in Los Angeles, including four in his north San Fernando Valley district.

The committee also paid for a campaign consultant, Bernson’s travel to a League of Cities conference in Washington and a video recorder, camera and two car phones.

Another $7,680 was spent on 32 “dinners with supporters” at fashionable Valley and Los Angeles restaurants, including a “dinner with City Council members and community leaders” that cost $1,638.

Times staff writer Gabe Fuentes contributed to this story.