D.A., State Probe Bradley Campaign Funds : City Hall: Records are being analyzed to determine whether fund-raising carnivals were used to make illegal contributions. The city attorney’s office turned over the records.

State and local investigators are reviewing about $80,000 in contributions to Mayor Tom Bradley’s reelection to determine whether fund-raising carnivals were used to make illegal campaign donations, The Times has learned.

Officials with the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office and the state Fair Political Practices Commission said Wednesday they are analyzing Bradley campaign documents related to the carnivals. The materials had been sent to both agencies Monday by the city attorney’s office.

City Atty. James K. Hahn, in a letter to City Council President John Ferraro, said his office had determined that “possible violations of the law beyond my jurisdiction” should be reviewed by the district attorney’s office and the FPPC. He also suggested that the district attorney’s office, which prosecutes felonies, should consider taking the matter before the county Grand Jury.

Sandi Gibbons, a spokeswoman for Dist. Atty. Ira Reiner, said the referral from the city attorney included copies of checks and numerous other documents. Other sources said the documents related to a series of carnivals organized in 1987 and 1988 by Long Beach businessman Allen Alevy, a Bradley fund-raiser. Gibbons said the district attorney had not yet decided whether to open a formal investigation.

The Times reported last month that the carnivals may have violated state and local election laws because they may not have been clearly identified as political fund-raisers, the true source of the carnival donations may have been concealed and a $200 city limit on anonymous donations may have been exceeded.

The material turned over to the district attorney was discovered during an ongoing audit of Bradley’s 1989 mayoral campaign by the city clerk’s office. It includes copies of two large batches of $500 money orders and cashier’s checks apparently delivered directly to Bradley, said sources knowledgeable about the records.

Also referred to the district attorney were handwritten notes that the mayor sent with the checks to his campaign accountant, Jules Glazer, the sources said. The notes indicate that the carnivals should be treated as “small donations,” meaning the names of the donors did not have to be disclosed, said one source who asked not to be named.

The Times reported that some of Alevy’s carnivals were held on city-owned land without approval, while Bradley was intervening with city officials to help Alevy purchase two surplus parcels of city land.

Two of the carnivals were held on city land and later purchased by Alevy--a disclosure that drew criticism from some council members. Use of city land for political purposes is prohibited by city policy.

“The council has a valid concern as to the monitoring and supervising of city land in respect to the mayor’s fund-raising carnivals,” Hahn said in his letter to Ferraro.

It was previously reported that at least $20,000 was raised through the carnivals--and that perhaps much more was actually raised by Alevy. The Bradley campaign had reported receiving $164,000 in 1987 and 1988 in the form of small contributions from unidentified donors--an unusually large amount.

Through a spokesman, Bradley declined to comment, but repeated an earlier statement that he relied on his campaign attorneys and accountants to determine how the carnival funds should be reported.

Alevy could not be reached for comment.

The carnivals--which sources said were coordinated by Westside public relations consultant Mary Anne Singer and her one-time client, Alevy--became a major source of funds for Bradley as he was gearing up for a tough reelection race against Councilman Zev Yaroslavsky.

Alevy, unlike other Bradley fund raisers, was not subject to the normal checks and balances that were part of the mayor’s fund-raising operation, Bradley campaign officials have told The Times. Alevy brought the donations directly to the mayor’s office, one official said.

The mayor then wrote notes to his campaign staff describing the source of the funds, the campaign official said, and this led the campaign to report the carnival contributions as miscellaneous small donations.

A key question for investigators is the role Alevy, Singer or their associates played in raising and delivering the carnival money.

“He (Alevy) could have been the actual donor, which must be reported, or an intermediary, which must be reported as well,” said one source familiar with the records and the law.

While Alevy was collecting tens of thousands of dollars for the campaign from the carnivals, the Bradley campaign has only reported receiving about $7,000 from him personally and his companies in recent years.

Times staff writer Glenn F. Bunting contributed to this report