Wachs Is 5th Mayoral Candidate to Raise $200,000 : Campaigns: The councilman’s support ranges from the entertainment world to ordinary citizens.

Los Angeles City Councilman Joel Wachs on Wednesday became the latest in a growing list of mayoral candidates to officially report raising more than $200,000, with much of his financial support coming from the entertainment and arts worlds as well as from gay and AIDS activists.

The 53-year-old Wachs, an avowed candidate since Oct. 4, is the fifth contender to hit the $200,000 reporting threshold. Preceding him have been Richard Riordan, Assemblyman Richard Katz (D-Panorama City), and Councilmen Nate Holden and Michael Woo.

Wachs said Wednesday that he has held nearly 20 small fund-raising dinners, often in private homes. Many of them have been low-budget. “We’ve got 20 more planned for January and practically one a day in February,” Wachs said in an interview.

By having small, affordable events, Wachs said, he meets with contributors who tend to be ordinary people rather than the usual fund-raiser attendees.

Wachs said guests at his events are invited by the hosts of his parties, not by his campaign organization. “It’s their guest lists, not mine,” Wachs said. “The whole intention is for them to bring in their own people and then I get to meet new people.”

Rick Taylor, a veteran California political consultant, called Wachs’ fund-raising style somewhat novel. “It’s a great way to expand your fund-raising base to reach non-traditional givers,” Taylor said. “That’s what you should be doing.”

City Hall politicians most often raise money from a relatively small group of regulars who do business with city government. Many of the other mayoral candidates have raised funds at large events in which the entry fee may be $250 or $500 per person.

Also adopting a novel fund-raising approach has been candidate Julian Nava, a Cal State Northridge professor and former Los Angeles school board member. Nava has set up a toll-free phone number to garner contributions, principally from Latinos nationwide.

Wachs’ fund-raisers have been eclectic.

Last month, Wachs, dressed in cowboy boots and hat, held a $50-per-person, Western-style fund-raiser at Sterling’s restaurant in Sunland. It drew about 75 people from the northeast San Fernando Valley district that he represents.

In contrast, he also held a $500-a-plate dinner at the Beverly Hills home of Hollywood talent agent Bob Gersh and his wife, Linda, a board member of AIDS Project LA, that drew a movie-industry crowd.

Although Wachs contends that his fund-raising effort is meeting with success, an event scheduled Dec. 2 at the Sportsmen’s Lodge in Studio City had to be

canceled. According to some, the event was dropped due to a lack of interest. Wachs

said the organizers did not have enough time to do the job.

The Studio City event was to have been hosted by Peggy Estrada, a strong supporter of former Police Chief Daryl F. Gates.

Howard Ekerling, a Valley attorney and another supporter of Gates in his fight with the city’s Police Commission over the Rodney G. King episode, said he was backing Wachs because of his “strong law enforcement” positions. Ekerling was among the contributors named by Wachs on Wednesday.

Wachs backed Gates when the Police Commission sought to suspend him from his job during the King controversy.

On the other end of the spectrum is Steven Lavine, president of CalArts in Valencia.

Lavine, an Encino resident, said he contributed to Wachs’ campaign because “he has been such an important supporter of the arts and has been so sensible about making the city’s ethnic and social mix work.” Lavine said he also contributed to Woo and has not decided who to vote for.

Also supporting Wachs are television and film producers Bud Yorkin and Gary Marshall; the Rev. Troy Perry, founder of the Metropolitan Community Church in Los Angeles, which serves the gay community, and Rob Wright and John McDonald, who are on the Council of Governors of the Gay and Lesbian Community Services Center in Hollywood.

The city’s campaign finance laws require mayoral candidates to notify the Los Angeles Ethics Commission when they have raised $200,000 in contributions. Wachs was not required to disclose his contributors but did so voluntarily.