Gallegly’s Flyers Take Some Flak : Franking: The Democratic challenger says mailers are a waste of money. A spokesman replies that the incumbent has supported reforms.

The Democrat challenging Rep. Elton Gallegly accused the incumbent of using taxpayer-supported mailers to strengthen his 1990 reelection campaign and of being among the biggest spenders in the House of Representatives on newsletters to constituents.

Gallegly (R-Simi Valley) spent $185,179 on mass mailings in 1989, which ranked him fifth among California’s 44 House members in 1989, a new study by a national taxpayers group says.

Richard D. Freiman, an Agoura attorney and TV writer opposing Gallegly in the November election, said the incumbent’s reported spending on five mass mailings in 1989 was a waste of money.

“These are puff pieces for Gallegly,” he said. “Most people throw them out because they don’t have any information that is important or necessary in them.”

Controversy surrounding the franking privilege, under which Congress spent more than $100 million last year on mailings, led to extensive reform in the U.S. Senate in 1989 and to less extensive restrictions in the House of Representatives.

A spokesman for the congressman said Gallegly supported those reforms, voting to reduce the number of mass mailings by House members from six to three a year beginning in 1990.

Gallegly also voted to limit the mail privilege--a popular congressional benefit since 1793--even though he remains convinced that the newsletters are useful tools in communicating with constituents, his spokesman said.

“The congressman believes it’s an important way of keeping in touch with the district,” said John Frith, Gallegly’s press secretary.

Frith said surveys have shown repeatedly that district residents like the newsletters and want them to continue. He said, however, that only about 10% to 15% of households in the district respond to such surveys.

Gallegly’s 21st Congressional District includes parts of western and northern Los Angeles County and southern and central Ventura County. The cost of his mass mailings was reported late last month by the National Taxpayers Union, a 200,000-member nonprofit group that lobbies for reduced government spending.

Bill Pierce, spokesman for the group, said the study shows that the average expense by a congressman on newsletters in 1989 was 31 cents per household. By comparison, Gallegly spent 71 cents for each household in his district, Pierce said.

Pierce said the figures in his group’s study are not precise because the exact spending of House members on mass mailings are confidential. But most, including Gallegly, confirmed the number of mailings from their offices. A minimum figure was derived from that.