Angels Balk at Further Donations to Anaheim Candidates : Contributions: Ballclub blames a poor economy. But politicians caught off base by the new policy say it’s a not-so-subtle way of showing displeasure at city actions.

When Councilman William D. Ehrle went to the California Angels this year seeking a contribution to his reelection campaign, he didn’t find the usual warm response and open checkbook. What he got was the cold shoulder.

It was the same for Mayor Fred Hunter, Councilmen Tom Daly and all their challengers in the local City Council election.

This year, the ballclub and owner Gene Autry have ended a longstanding policy of giving money to local politicians.

And, while the Angels say it is just the fruit of a bad economic year, some city councilmen say the Angels are angry at the city.

“It’s been conveyed that they are pretty angry with us,” said Ehrle. “They have a new philosophy now as far as contributions. It’s pretty obvious.”

Said Councilman Irv Pickler, “I don’t think it’s any secret they’re upset with the city.”

There is at least one obvious reason why.

All five council members acknowledge that a strained relationship has developed between the city and the ballclub stemming from a nearly decade-old lawsuit to halt commercial development by the city and the Los Angeles Rams on the Anaheim Stadium parking lot.

And, some say, the Angels recently may have become further angered when the city last month was reimbursed legal fees by its insurance companies. The ballclub has had to pay its own multimillion-dollar legal bill.

“This litigation is really bugging them,” Pickler said. “They haven’t gotten what they want out of the city.”

While conceding that the organization is “not happy” about the protracted legal battle, Angels President Richard M. Brown said the ballclub stopped campaign contributions because it is in a financial crunch, having lost about $7.5 million this year. He noted that the organization continued making political contributions for years after the lawsuit was filed in 1983.

“The reason is not political, it’s economic,” Brown said. “We had a horrendous year. We’ve never lost $7.5 million before, so we had to prioritize. Our first obligation is to our employees and fans.”

While the Angels’ loss this year was a record for the team, the organization has had multimillion-dollar deficits before and still contributed to local campaigns.

Last year, for example, the organization lost an estimated $3.6 million and donated $6,000 to local council members in a non-election year.

Nonetheless, Brown said the club is looking to tighten its financial belt this year. “We still gave to service organizations and charities,” he said, “But they come before politics.”

Whatever the reason, City Council incumbents, who in the past have received the majority of the Angels’ campaign loot, have not been given a penny this election year. Their challengers have not received contributions, either.

Since 1985, the Angels, its top executives and the Autrys, have given on average about $4,500 each election year. In non-election years, they have contributed on average nearly $3,000 annually since the mid-1980s.

Unlike the Angels, the Los Angeles Rams--the city’s other tenant at Anaheim Stadium--have been freer with their money, contributing $9,750 to local candidates in 1992 and more than $53,000 since 1985.

The incumbents, who routinely collect tens of thousands of dollars during a campaign, say that the lack of financial support from the Angels this year did not seriously affect their political war chests.

But they felt it in a different way, because the city and its elected leaders take pride in their relationship with Anaheim’s baseball team.

But this year, the candidates say, not only have the Autrys withheld contributions, they have also ignored invitations to campaign functions.

Ehrle said that the Autrys haven’t personally told him they are upset, but that he was made aware of their feelings by sources close to the team.

Daly, who among the councilmen has received the least money from the Angels, said he was aware of “heated conversations” this year between some councilmen and team officials.

He accused Hunter, his mayoral opponent, and Councilman Bob D. Simpson of “cozying up to the Angels” by taking large donations. He said both had made promises they couldn’t keep, including one to resolve the lawsuit.

“I can only conjecture that the Angels are unhappy,” he said.

Both Hunter and Simpson emphatically denied Daly’s charges.

“I strongly resent the insinuation,” Simpson said.

He said that the nearly $10,000 he has received from the team--the most of any candidate--stems from a good relationship he has with the Autrys, which began before he was elected to the council.

“But,” he said, “I haven’t promised them anything.”

Simpson, who is not running for reelection, said he has “heard rumors that (the Autrys) aren’t contributing because they are angry,” but has no direct knowledge of their feelings.

Hunter, who also said that he has made no promises to the team, said that he, too, has heard that the Autrys are “frustrated” over the bitter parking lot lawsuit.

Hunter, who has received $5,500 from the Angels since 1985, said that he “would really like to get the (lawsuit) resolved. It’s one thing I would really like to put behind us.”

The only way to do that, he said, is to “sit down without the lawyers and have the principals cut a deal.”

The dispute began in 1983 when the city and the Los Angeles Rams announced that they would jointly build four office buildings on part of the the city-owned stadium parking lot. The lost parking spaces were to be recovered by building a multistory parking structure.

The Angels, who have a contract to lease the stadium until 2001 with a 30-year renewal option, sued the city, contending that the construction would cut into easily accessible fan parking and hurt attendance.

At the time of the lawsuit, Gene Autry accused the city of selling “the same house twice” by promising that the development group formed by the Rams could build on the lot leased by the Angels.

In 1988, after a 135-day trial, former Superior Court Judge Frank D. Domenichini ruled that the city must keep 12,422 ground-level parking spaces at the stadium for the Angels, but could build on the remaining land.

That decision did not satisfy either party, both of whom have appealed the ruling. Oral arguments in the appeal are expected to be heard Nov. 20 in the 4th District Court of Appeal in Santa Ana.

Adding to the problem, city officials say, is that the city was reimbursed last month in a settlement with its insurance company for $5 million of the $6.8 million it spent in legal fees fighting the development.

Several city councilmen have said privately that they believe the Angels are annoyed that the city was reimbursed, while the ballclub has paid more than $7 million to its law firm in the case.

One stumbling block to settlement is that the Angels have repeatedly asked the city to pay the ballclub’s legal fees, said City Attorney Jack L. White.

“That’s not going to happen,” said Councilman Pickler, noting that the Autrys were the ones to file the lawsuit. “But we keep trying to work something out. It’s a shame something like that is holding up the resolution of this thing.”

Meanwhile, the candidates say, their campaign fund-raising invitations to the Angels go unanswered.

Staff Writer Mark Landsbaum contributed to this story.

Political Cash Cut Off

The California Angels have given no money to candidates in Anaheim City Council elections this year. Council members say the ballclub is angry with the city over a nearly decade-old lawsuit, while the Angels say they are only trying to cut expenditures after a losing year on the field and at the box office. Year: Amount 1985: $1,250 1986: $2,450 1987: $1,550 1988: $5,000 1989: $1,500 1990: $9,050 1991: $6,000 1992: $0

FAVORITE SONS

Councilman Bob D. Simpson and Mayor Fred Hunter have been the main beneficiaries of Angels’ donations during the past seven years.

Total Total Average Candidate contributions amount contribution Ben Bay 2 $650 $325 Tom Daly 2 1,100 550 William D. Ehrle 7 3,450 493 Frank Feldhaus 3 2,100 700 Fred Hunter 10 5,500 550 Miriam Kaywood 2 1,100 550 Charlene LaClaire 1 100 100 Irv Pickler 3 1,600 533 Don Roth 2 1,250 625 Bob D. Simpson 9 9,950 1,106 Total 41 26,800 $654

Source: Campaign contribution reports