Developers Lead City Hall Lobbying : Politics: Ethics Commission says real estate interests and firms doing business with L.A. government paid large majority of $1.5 million spent in three months.

Developer and business interests, funneling much of their money to a small cadre of well-connected consultants, dominated Los Angeles City Hall’s multimillion-dollar lobbying industry in recent months, according to an Ethics Commission report released Wednesday.

Nearly 40% of the $1.5 million spent on lobbyists from July through September came from real estate and developer interests, the study found. Other corporations, many with contracts, leases and city business interests, paid another 30% of the lobbying fees.

The new report revealed that the largest amounts were paid to lobbyists seeking a huge trash container contract, a downtown commercial development, a multimillion-dollar furniture contract and an oil company lease in the Port of Los Angeles.

The study, the second released by the watchdog panel that was created last year, offered new details and analysis of lobbying activity in the nation’s second-largest city. It is one in a series of reports planned by the commission on ties between special interest money and public business.

Commission officials said the reports do not suggest illegality or impropriety but are merely an effort to shed new light on how business is done at City Hall.

“We’re just saying this is the reality,” said Lee Ann Pelham, the ethics agency’s associate director. “The commission wants to provide information . . . that makes sense to the public.”

Developers have long been the leading City Hall campaign contributors. News that they also spend the most on lobbying is disturbing, though not surprising, neighborhood leaders and government reform advocates said.

“It’s unfortunate that neighborhood (representatives) . . . have to compete with that kind of spending,” said Bill Christopher, a coordinator for a new association of homeowner groups from San Pedro to Chatsworth. “There’s really no way to level the playing field.”

But top-paid lobbyists contend that the large expenditures by developers and other interests often are needed to counteract grass-roots lobbying campaigns by homeowner groups. “The most effective lobbyists in City Hall are homeowners groups,” said Howard Sunkin of Cerrell Associates, who represents airport and harbor contractors and ranked third in recent earnings at $116,843.

Some neighborhood leaders “spend more time in City Hall than I do. They’re there protecting the property value of their homes. . . . They should be required to register.”

Sunkin and the top tier of lobbyists, many of them former city officials, are raking in much of the lobbying money, the new report shows.

Nearly one-third of the lobbyist earnings, or $475,000, went to former Chief Legislative Analyst Ken Spiker and former Public Works Commission President Maureen Kindel and their associates. Just 10 of the 300 registered lobbyists collected more than half of the total earnings.

“The public is right to be concerned. It means there are a selected few who are wielding enormous influence in City Hall,” said Lisa Foster, executive director of California Common Cause, a watchdog group.

Spiker, a leading adviser to City Council members until 1984, was the top-paid lobbyist in the three-month study period, earning $201,230. His clients included the biggest single lobbying spender, Otto Industries. The firm has a $22-million contract to provide city residents with trash bins, and is seeking tens of millions more in contracts as an ambitious curbside recycling program expands. Other clients included P.C. Crown Hill, which is seeking added development rights for downtown acreage, and the city police garage association, which is trying to turn back efforts to open up members’ lucrative monopolies to competitive bidding.

Spiker’s son and daughter, who assist him, earned an additional $57,000, the report showed.

Kimberly Spiker, vice president of Ken Spiker & Associates, acknowledged that her father’s special knowledge of City Hall is a “very valuable” asset. “It’s just knowing the ins and out and knowing the people and knowing who to call,” she said.

She said the firm provides information to decision makers and city staff, but also performs administrative work for clients that does not constitute City Hall lobbying. “Lobbyists kind of get a bum rap. People think we’re out there buying votes. That’s not how it works,” she said.

Kindel, a chief political confidante and leading campaign fund-raiser for Mayor Tom Bradley, collected $157,778 from clients that included Otto Industries, developers, entertainment industry firms and a furniture company seeking a $3-million city contract, the Ethics Commission reported. In the previous three-month period, she ranked first in earnings with $160,250.

Kindel could not be reached for comment. Bradley told reporters Wednesday that he saw nothing wrong with Kindel’s activities. He said she gets no special treatment from his office, and her access to him is “no more than anybody else.”

“I don’t think you can say because somebody earns X number of dollars as a lobbyist that there is some kind of undue influence, or special treatment or favors that they are getting,” Bradley said.

Sunkin is the leading city lobbyist in the firm headed by veteran political consultant Joe Cerrell, who has advised and contributed to Bradley and other city officials. His recent lobbying has included an $85-million reconstruction of a Shell Oil terminal in the middle of the Port of Los Angeles, and a multimillion-dollar city franchise in the San Fernando Valley for Checker Cab.

Sunkin said he has no objection to the lobbyist studies. And he figures, despite public perceptions, they may get him clients. “I think the public has right to know what we are doing. . . . People like to be associated with winners. . . . So it it is good for business.”

Lobbying Fees

Here is a summary of lobbying earnings by category as reported by all Los Angeles city lobbyists for July-September, 1991:

CLIENT TYPE LOBBYIST FEES REPORTED % OF ALL FEES REPORTED Real Estate/Development $554,809 37% Business--Corporate 455,500 30% Business--Other 110,841 7% Other (Incl. Individuals) 90,489 6% Entertainment/Media 72,951 5% Business--Transportation 52,108 3% Health/Medical 46,600 3% Business--Finance 31,063 2% Government 28,025 2% Trade/Profession al / Union 27,129 2% Education 15,100 1% Hotel/Restaurant 9,887 1% Religious/Church 8,325 1% Utilities 5,500 0% TOTAL 1,508,327 100%

SOURCE: Los Angeles Ethics Commission

NOTE: Figures have been rounded to the nearest dollar.

Lobbyists’ Top Clients

Here are Los Angeles’ top 10 contributors to lobbyists for July-September, 1991:

CLIENT LOBBYIST AMOUNT Otto Industries Inc. Michael Gagan $10,000 Maureen Kindel 28,085 Theresa McKinnon 1,000 Ken Spiker Jr. 2,500 Ken Spiker 105,710 Kimberly Spiker 5,000 TOTAL 152,295 P.C. Crown Hill Inc. Ken Spiker 40,300 Kimberly Spiker 21,700 TOTAL 62,000 Browning Ferris Industries Linda Bozung 4,050 Ernest Debs 750 Ira Handleman 8,500 Robert Katherman 8,500 Maureen Kindel 12,500 Theresa McKinnon 2,500 Lynn Wessell 500 Marcia Williams 800 TOTAL 38,100 Werner Scharff Mark Ryavec 35,917 TOTAL 35,917 Homestead Group Assocs. Mark Brown 15,462 Renee Meshul 15,462 TOTAL 30,924 Porter Ranch Dev. Co. Thomas Stemnock 4,500 Robert Wilkinson 22,500 Michael Woodward 990 TOTAL 27,990 Los Angeles County Clark Davis 10,762 Alma Fitch 10,762 Joel Miller 5,000 TOTAL 26,524 Elsmere Corporation Ken Spiker 25,000 TOTAL 25,000 Harper’s Michael Gagan 2,500 Maureen Kindel 22,500 TOTAL 25,000 Official Police Garage Assn. of Los Angeles Ken Spiker Jr. 11,250 Ken Spiker 11,250 TOTAL 22,500

SOURCE: Los Angeles Ethics Commission

Note: Figures have been rounded to the nearest dollar.