Financial Lines Clearly Drawn in Campaign on Amendment F

Los Angeles’ corporate elite is continuing to bankroll the campaign to reform the Police Department, and the opposition is relying heavily on loans from the police union, according to financial statements filed Friday.

The group backing Charter Amendment F--Citizens for Law Enforcement and Reform (CLEAR)--reported receiving $485,561 between March 18 and May 16. Developers, law firms, banks and corporations, including the Walt Disney Co. and BankAmerica Corp., contributed about half of the total.

The “No on Charter Amendment F” campaign raised $435,306--all but about $10,000 of it borrowed from the Police Protective League and used to pay for television and radio commercials that hit the airwaves this week, according to its financial report.

A spokesman for the police union, Charter Amendment F’s leading opponent, blasted CLEAR’s reliance on corporate funds.

“CLEAR is not grass-roots--unless you call ‘grass’ concrete and steel,” said police union spokesman Geoffrey Garfield. “In their case, grass-roots is an alias for downtown business interests, just as their call for reform is an alias for political control of the Police Department.”

Corporate donations to CLEAR have been credited to the efforts of Warren Christopher, the lawyer and statesman who headed the Christopher Commission’s review of the Police Department after the beating of Rodney G. King. The commission recommended the charter changes on the June 2 ballot.

“Our campaign contributions show a diverse range of interests . . . and stand in stark contrast to the sole contributor of our opposition,” said CLEAR spokesman Fred McFarlane. “The thin blue line is really the big blue wallet of the ‘No on F campaign.’ ”

CLEAR officials have decided against producing television commercials, although some political observers believe they can be critical to success in the Los Angeles market.

Instead, about three-fourths of CLEAR’s contributions were spent on radio commercials, phone bank operations, campaign flyers and Democratic and Republican slate mailers, according to the report.

The campaign to defeat the measure, which received only about $4,500 in contributions from law enforcement organizations and individual LAPD officers, paid $15,920 to New York-based political consultant Austin Sheinkopf.

The financial report showed that the police union loaned the “No on F” campaign $278,670 to pay for television and radio commercials produced by Sheinkopf’s firm.

But the union’s first television commercial hit a snag its first day out when two television stations refused to air what they called an “inflammatory” political advertisement featuring footage of the beating of trucker Reginald O. Denny during the Los Angeles riots.

Yielding to complaints from the stations and elected officials, police union President Bill Violante said the footage will be replaced with less controversial material.

Separately, a citizen campaign against the measure called Citizens for Integrity and Viability in the City Charter (CIVIC) raised $18,026. Most of the contributions came from small-business owners and residents.

The measure would limit a police chief to two five-year terms, allow the mayor to select a chief and provide civilian review of officer misconduct by adding a citizen member to disciplinary panels.

In other local races, a challenger to Dist. Atty. Ira Reiner continued to outstrip the incumbent in fund raising, according to campaign finance reports obtained Friday. Gil Garcetti, a former chief deputy to Reiner, raised $239,299 between March 18 and May 16. Reiner raised $174,885 during the same period. Bob Tanenbaum, a former New York City prosecutor and Beverly Hills mayor, raised $112,600. A third challenger, Sterling Norris, raised $12,491.

In the 2nd District supervisor’s race, ex-Supervisor Yvonne Brathwaite Burke narrowly led her chief rival, state Sen. Diane Watson, in total fund raising. Burke has raised $482,348 since declaring her candidacy last fall for the seat being vacated by Supervisor Kenneth Hahn. Watson has raised $440,875.

Times staff writer Richard Simon contributed to this story.