Fund-Raising Advantage Goes to Incumbents : Politics: Firms have made healthy contributions to officeholders in Anaheim mayoral and council races, while giving almost nothing to the challengers.

Mayor Fred Hunter has received a sizable contribution to his reelection campaign from the Los Angeles Rams. So has Councilman Tom Daly, who is simultaneously seeking reelection and trying to unseat Hunter as mayor. The Rams have also been kind to the reelection bid of Councilman William D. Ehrle.

But the football team has not given a cent to the nine challengers attempting to upset the status quo.

The Rams, who refused to discuss the $5,000 they gave Hunter or the $1,250 each they gave Daly and Ehrle, are not alone, however. Several firms have made healthy campaign contributions to each of the three incumbents, while giving almost nothing to the nine non-incumbents on the Nov. 3 ballot.

While a big fund-raising edge for incumbents is common throughout Orange County politics, the Anaheim council and mayoral races are vivid examples of how heavily the system is weighted in their favor. With voting histories donors can rely on and contacts they have made in office, incumbents hold a major advantage in attracting campaign contributions.

Hunter and Daly, for example, are council foes and ideological opponents on some issues, who are waging a heated campaign for the two-year mayor’s post. Yet each is attracting financial backing from many of the same powerful interests because each is an incumbent.

“The incumbents are the people we have dealt with in the past and will likely deal with in the future because, face it, the odds are the incumbents will be reelected,” said Tom Kieviet, a partner at the Anaheim law firm of Farano & Kieviet.

The firm represents several clients before the council and has given $275 to Daly and $125 each to Hunter and Ehrle since Jan. 1. Since 1984, the firm, its partners and their spouses have given $44,105 to incumbents and $6,694 to challengers, according to city records.

“It’s our firm’s general policy to support only incumbents,” Kieviet said. “It’s a business call who gets donations--more than their ideology.”

According to campaign finance reports filed with the city clerk, 19 companies and executives, including seven developers and a top Disney officer, have given campaign contributions to each of the three incumbents since Jan. 1. Almost all of these donors have projects, licenses or rents that could be rejected, pulled or raised if the council desired.

But of those 19 donors, only two have given even one contribution in excess of $100 to any of the challengers. In fact, these 19 firms have given 26% of the $110,147 the three incumbents have raised since Jan. 1, while donating only 2.8% of the $13,775 the council challengers have raised during that period.

Challengers say it is a refrain they hear often: “We like what you say, but we only give to incumbents.”

“It is the unwritten game plan of these (donors) to give money to the incumbents, but not to anyone else,” said council candidate Keith Olesen.

The former chairman of the city’s Gang/Drug Task Force and a longtime central city activist, Olesen has given himself almost as much money as he has raised from others. Contributors have given him $1,920, while he has donated $1,870 to his own campaign.

“Part of what they are doing is playing the odds,” Olesen said. What candidates are most likely to win? The incumbents. But these donors are not only looking at the future, they are rewarding the incumbents for the votes they have made in the past.”

Even some of those who benefit from the system admit it is stacked in their favor.

“It’s wrong that they only give to incumbents,” said Hunter, who raised $12,050 between Jan. 1 and Sept. 30 from the 19 donors who have given to all three incumbents. The sum is about a third of the total he has collected.

“A lot of it has nothing to do with where we stand,” he said. “We’re incumbents. Why else would anyone give money to both Daly and me? We’re 180 degrees apart.”

Daly, however, said that on some issues he and Hunter have similar views. He said he can understand why some people would give to both.

“But you’ll have to ask the donors why they give to both of us,” he said. “I don’t see campaign contributions as being as insidious as other people do.”

City records show that since 1984, council members have raised $2.6 million in campaign contributions, while their challengers have raised $619,021. The challengers’ total includes the donations collected by Hunter, Daly, Ehrle and Councilman Bob D. Simpson before they were elected.

Hunter, for example, received $58,024 in contributions for two campaigns as a challenger. For three campaigns as an incumbent, he has raised $479,894, city records show. What changed?

“Before I was elected, Disneyland, the Rams, none of these other companies would give me any money because they will only give to incumbents,” Hunter said. “I was forced to put up $80,000 of my own money to get elected. Ask (challenger) Bob Zemel. People have told him ‘We only give to incumbents.’ ”

Zemel confirmed that Disneyland, whose officials were unavailable for comment late last week, and others have told him just that. An Anaheim planning commissioner and a local mortgage broker, he would appear to have the contacts necessary to raise a substantial campaign war chest, but he has received just $3,034 in contributions. He has also lent $9,000 of his own money to the campaign.

“Contributors look at the incumbents and say, ‘These are the guys who have been pushing the (voting) buttons (approving) our projects, so we’re going to give them the money,’ ” Zemel said. “Winning an election in Anaheim is not based on what you know, but who knows you, and that’s got to change.”

Zemel said his fund-raising efforts have also been hampered by a state law that forbids planning commissioners from accepting a campaign contribution of more than $250 from anyone who has dealt with the commission in the past year or will deal with it in the coming year. The commissioners are appointed by the council, which can overrule their decisions.

There is no state or city regulation that limits the size of campaign contributions council members may receive.

“I think the limit is a good law, but it should also apply to the City Council because they are the ones with the real power,” he said.

Many of the other contributors who have given to all three incumbents this year said their donations are motivated by business interests.

George Adams Jr. of Adams International Metals said he attends every fund-raising dinner council members throw in order to win access to them. For the past several years, Adams’ salvage yard has been targeted for closure by the city for alleged code violations. Adams has given $400 to Daly, $250 to Ehrle and $125 to Hunter since Jan. 1. The firm and its employees have given $2,060 to incumbents and $800 to challengers since 1984, according to reports.

“(The fund-raisers) are an opportunity for me to say ‘Hi’ to the councilmen and invite them out to see my facility,” Adams said. “And that’s about how much time I get with them. But they don’t return my phone calls, so I see it as a matter of survival.”

Kevin Allen, executive director of the Motor Car Dealers Assn. of Orange County, said his group does not base its campaign donations on incumbency, but on how the candidates stand on issues that are important to auto dealers, such as taxes. His group has given $450 each to Hunter and Daly, $375 to Ehrle and nothing to the challengers since Jan. 1.

“Two candidates (such as Hunter and Daly) might appear to be opposites, but from the dealers’ perspective, they both might be supportive on their issues,” Allen said. “But we have supported challengers against incumbents in the past.”

In the past eight years, the group has given $6,325 to Anaheim incumbents and $1,250 to their challengers.

Hunter said he expects the donation gap between incumbents and challengers to narrow if voters approve an advisory measure on the November ballot that would limit campaign contributions from any one source to $1,000. The council has promised to enact the measure if voters approve it.

“I think something like that would work well,” Hunter said.

But if $1,000 is the limit, evidence suggests that it will do little to diminish incumbents’ advantage. Only four donations from the 19 companies that have given to each incumbent during this campaign period exceeded $1,000.

The Rams’ donations exceeded the proposed limit, as did the $1,250 Ehrle received from developer Ellas Properties. But 47 of the 59 donations from the 19 companies and individuals who have given to all three incumbents this year were in the $125 to $700 range.

Ehrle noted that most challengers do not have the day-to-day contact with business leaders that incumbents do. Those contacts lead to relationships, which lead to contributions, he said.

“Before I got elected to the council, these people never returned my calls,” Ehrle said. “Now they call me and say ‘Let’s get together for lunch.’ They want me to get to know them, because the council makes policy on issues that are important to them.”

Contributions to Incumbents

Anaheim Mayor Fred Hunter and two incumbent city councilmen have received thousands of dollars in donations from 19 companies and individuals who, at the same time, have given almost nothing to challengers. In all, the incumbents have received 26% of their money from these contributors.

Fred Tom William Nine other Donor Hunter Daly Ehrle Candidates Adams International Metals $125 $400 $250 0 Arnold Construction 300 500 125 0 Coal Canyon Developers 1,000 650 250 *$184 Ronald Dominguez 300 300 250 0 Ellas Properties 500 300 1,250 0 Farano & Kieviet Attorneys 125 275 125 0 Gerald Garner 250 600 250 0 Hilgenfeld Mortuary 125 800 250 0 H. Werner Buck Enterprises 1,000 650 250 0 Kaufman & Broad Development 1,000 800 250 0 Los Angeles Rams 5,000 1,250 1,250 0 Blash Momeny 125 625 250 0 Motor Car Dealers Assn. 450 450 375 0 Newport Pacific Development 250 150 250 0 Outdoor Advertising Assn. 125 150 250 0 Stanley Pawlowski 125 150 100 **$200 Pick Your Part Salvage 500 800 250 0 Presley Co. Developers 500 500 500 0 Ritz Nightclub 250 300 500 0 Total from above donors $12,050 $9,650 $6,975 $384 Total from all donors $33,824 $52,898 $23,425 $13,775 % from above donors 36 18 30 3

* To Bob Zemel ** To Frank Feldhaus WHO ARE THE DONORS? Adams is a salvage yard the city is attempting to close. Arnold, Coal Canyon, Ellas, Kaufman & Broad, Blash Momeny, Newport Pacific and Presley are all developers with projects in the city. Dominguez is a Disneyland vice president. Farano & Kieviet is a law firm that often represents clients before the council. Garner and Pawlowski are bankers. Hilgenfeld is a longtime mortuary located across the street from City Hall. H. Werner Buck Enterprises stages sporting goods and RV shows at Anaheim Convention Center. The Los Angeles Rams play football in Anaheim Stadium. Members of the Motor Car Dealers Assn. of Orange County operate at the city-controlled Auto Center. Outdoor Advertising Assn. members have asked the City Council to overturn the city’s 25-year-old ban on freeway billboards. Pick Your Part Salvage would need the council’s approval to expand. Ritz Nightclub has been before the council for various permit approvals. Source: Candidates’ campaign statements