Incumbents Lead Fund Raising

PASADENA — Incumbent Rick Cole has more than a 9-1 fund-raising lead over his City Director challenger, and incumbent Kathryn Nack has raised better than twice as much money as her opponent in the March 5 elections.

According to initial campaign finance reports, Sally Mosher leads four opponents in fund raising in the open District 1 race. And District 4 Director William Paparian has put together a sizable war chest despite running unopposed.

The reports filed late last month showed that Cole had raised $28,466 from supporters ranging from developers to labor unions. Nack boosted her coffers with $18,035, much of it from engineers and business owners.

Both amounts were substantially above those raised by their opponents. Ed Bryant, who is seeking Cole’s District 2 seat, garnered only $3,144. Paul Hrabal, Nack’s opponent for the District 6 seat, collected $8,370.

In the crowded District 1 race--where incumbent John Crowley is not seeking reelection--Mosher led the field with $18,425, of which $16,000 was from her own personal loans.

Isaac Richard, considered by many to be a leading District 1 candidate who would get support from the black community, raised $3,244.

Meanwhile, Paparian, whose only opponent withdrew at the last minute, raised $15,912. Paparian nonetheless spent $12,361 to promote his incumbency and send a get-out-the-vote message.

The initial reports covered July through Jan. 19. More reports are due in late February.

Among the contributions in the District 2 race:

* Cole, who is seeking a third four-year term, listed 94 contributors who gave $100 or more, many of them developers. Those giving $500 include The Stitzel Co., developers of the $70-million One Colorado project in Old Pasadena; the John Alle commercial leasing real estate company; Houk Development Co., owners of Pasadena Playhouse; Janss Corp., the Santa Monica-based company building the $50.5-million Marengo block project; Channing Johnson, co-owner of the Lake Washington development in Northwest Pasadena; Babaeian Transportation Inc., the sole taxicab company operating in Pasadena; the Ralph M. Parsons engineering company in Pasadena; Buchanan Perkins Ltd., the partnership that formerly owned the Raymond Theater; Vroman’s Bookstore owner Joel Sheldon, and two unions: International Union of Operating Engineers and International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.

* Bryant’s $3,144 in contributions included 13 donors giving $100 or more. The largest amount, $500, came from Billie Williams, owner of Berry & Sweeney Pharmacy in Northwest Pasadena. Another $250 came from Besse Licher, owner of Licher Direct Mail and a longtime Pasadena political activist who has aided Republican and conservative candidates.

District 6 contributions included:

* Hrabal reported raising $8,370, with $2,000 of his own money and a $500 contribution from his grandmother, Marie Hrabal. Help from the Republican Party is expected, and the proceeds from a Tuesday fund-raiser also will boost his total, he said.

* Nack reported 66 contributions of $100 or more. Among them are $500 from the Avery Dennison company, a label manufacturer in Pasadena; $250 from the company’s chairman, R. Stanton Avery; $500 from Joe Cornet, owner of Cornet Stores; $200 from Joseph Jacobs, chairman of Jacobs Engineering Group Inc.; $500 from Alice Thomas, a member of the city’s Parks and Recreation Commission, and $400 from John Kirman, owner of Kirman Plumbing Inc.

In the District 1 race, contributions included:

* Mosher listed 12 contributors who gave $100 or more. David Sturges, president of R. A. Rowan Co., a real estate firm, gave $500.

* Candidate Nicholas Conway raised $6,537. His contributors included $250 from Licher; $250 from Anne Lasell, a community activist from the Linda Vista neighborhood; $200 from Maureen Polich, who has worked with the Linda Vista Annandale Neighborhood Assn., and $500 from Graeme Henderson, co-founder of the Pasadena Century Club, a City Hall financial watchdog group.

* Richard’s $3,244 included $400 from himself and $200 from Dale Gronemeier, the attorney who represented various citizen groups in their public access lawsuit against Plaza Pasadena shopping center.

* Candidate Nina Chomsky raised $1,300, with $500 from Parks and Recreation Commissioner Thomas and $100 from Ann T. Hight, former president of the Pasadena Chamber of Commerce.

* Millie Lee White, who characterized her campaign as grass-roots, raised $230, with only one $100 contribution, from attorney Gronemeier.