Restaurants Dish Up Donations

Food for thought: At first, Betty Couch thought her installation as Monterey Park’s new mayor would be a simple punch-and-cookies affair.

That is, until Councilman Fred Balderrama came along.

A week before the Feb. 10 swearing-in ceremony, he drove Couch around town and hit some big-name restaurants--NBC Seafood Restaurant, Hawaii Restaurant, Cafe Mirage, Mexi-Catessen--and asked the owners to donate food for the party at Langley Senior Citizens Center.

“They’re all very good friends of mine,” said Balderrama, a former president of the Chamber of Commerce who said he saw no conflict of interest in the direct approach. “All we needed to do was ask. I don’t think anybody said no.”

Chui Lee, co-owner of NBC, said he believes giving food to the mayor’s party is part of his civic duty.

He added: “For us it was only about 20, 50 bucks. It doesn’t make any significant difference.”

Geoffrey Cowan, a public interest lawyer who helped draft the city of Los Angeles’ new ethics code, said the practice seemed “sloppy” but not unethical unless there was an issue before the City Council that affected restaurants.

The Chinese restaurants served up plates of dim sum and sweet and sour, while Mexi-Catessen gave taquitos. Combined with food provided by other groups, it was enough to feed the 300 members of the public who attended Couch’s installation.

* Spending critics: Pomona mayoral candidate Abe Tapia and council candidate Bob Jackson are poles apart politically. Tapia managed Councilman C. L. (Clay) Bryant’s campaign against recall last year while Jackson was among Bryant’s severest critics.

But acting separately, the two candidates in the March 5 Pomona election have gathered up city records and arrived at the same conclusion: Their opponents are extravagant.

The City Council last year raised its annual budget for conferences and other expenditures from $2,000 per council member to $7,500 and from $3,500 for the mayor to $8,500. Officeholders may now be reimbursed by the city up to $500 a month for such things as using their personal cars and home phones for city business. Mayor Donna Smith, whom Tapia is trying to unseat, and Councilwoman Nell Soto, who is opposed by Jackson, have spent nearly $5,000 each in the first seven months of this fiscal year.

The reported expenses are on top of salaries, which are $200 a month for council members and $400 monthly for the mayor, and do not include trips financed by other accounts, such as a visit to New York City by council members last year to meet with bond rating services.

City Administrator Julio Fuentes defended the council, asserting that members are careful to document expenditures and said their compensation is low for the hours they spend.

But Tapia said the council “is spending (city) money as if it were its own” in disregard of the city’s budget crisis. Jackson said the spending reports make him nostalgic for his old political enemy Bryant, who at least was frugal. Bryant’s expense reports one year totaled $25.

* A man for all ages: Tapia, listed as 56 years old in sample ballots mailed to registered voters for the Pomona city election, was reported in The Times Sunday to be both 57 and 60 years of age. Actually, he was born Jan. 20, 1934, which makes him 57.

* Short subjects: Supervisor Mike Antonovich, who is trying to get acquainted with his new constituents in his revamped supervisorial district, will speak at 7:30 p.m. March 11, in American Legion Memorial Hall at Finkbiner Park in Glendora. The program is sponsored by Glendora’s Future, a nonprofit civic organization. . . .Claremont Councilwoman Judy Wright has been elected to represent California on the National League of Cities committee on transportation and communications policy.