2 Who Helped Oust Binkley Seek Aid to Pay Legal Fees : Police: Commanders submit bill for $17,306.28. The city is not likely to pick up the tab, so a fund-raiser may be held.

Two Long Beach police commanders who were instrumental in the firing of former Chief Lawrence L. Binkley now face more than $17,000 in attorney fees and are looking for someone to pick up the tab.

Cmdrs. John Bretza and Alvin Van Otterloo have submitted their attorneys’ bill for $17,306.28 to the city, but the prospects of City Hall digging into its own coffers appear slim. So now, the commanders are contemplating holding a $50-a-plate dinner fund-raiser, with City Manager James C. Hankla--once one of Binkley’s biggest boosters--as one of the guest speakers.

“Yes, it’s very unorthodox,” said Bretza, whose complaints about Binkley led to an investigation of the former chief that ended with his ouster in January.

“(But) we don’t feel they are our fees. They are fees incurred to do the city’s job,” Bretza said. “We needed attorneys to protect our jobs and to protect ourselves. We were dealing with a politically powerful chief.”

Attorneys Thomas M. McIntosh and Thomas Morningstar billed the two commanders at $150 an hour for advice about how to bring the complaints against Binkley. Among the charges were legal research, meetings with the commanders and telephone calls, including conversations with reporters.

Bretza and Van Otterloo submitted a claim to the city March 23, saying their attorney fees should be reimbursed because they placed their professional careers on the line by criticizing Binkley’s iron-fisted style of management to city officials.

Although Assistant City Atty. Bob Shannon said his office is still reviewing the claim, the commanders said they have been advised that city officials don’t want to set a precedent and will likely deny the request. That leaves the commanders with two options: to sue the city or try to come up with the money, McIntosh said.

Hankla, the city manager, said that he would support a fund-raiser and would speak at the event, along with Chief William Ellis. “I would be happy to participate in a celebration of a new beginning for the Police Department,” Hankla said, adding that his personal involvement does not translate to a city endorsement.

Asked whether the event could be interpreted as a banquet honoring the two men most responsible for Binkley’s firing, Hankla insisted that he views a possible fund-raiser--dubbed “A New Beginning”--as a celebration of unity in a department that has often been at war with itself.

The Police Officers Assn. Board of Directors, at a meeting Wednesday night, voted against lending the union’s name to the event.

“The POA is not going to get involved in sponsoring it,” said President Paul Chastain, noting that Bretza and Van Otterloo are not union members. “It’s not our responsibility.” He said, however, that the union “might purchase a table or two” at the event.