ELECTIONS L.A. CITY COUNCIL : Finn Takes Lead in Fund-Raising in 7th District Race : About half of her $94,000 comes from loans. Raymond J. Magana has collected $88,000. Lyle Hall has collected $57,000.

Fueled by loans from her own pocket, Los Angeles City Council candidate Anne V. Finn has surged to a lead in fund raising as the race to succeed incumbent Ernani Bernardi enters its final days.

Finn, a businesswoman and widow of Councilman Howard Finn, raised more than $94,000 between last year and April 3 for her campaign to represent the northeastern San Fernando Valley, according to campaign finance reports filed with city officials. But about half of that--$47,000--came in the form of loans, mostly from Finn herself.

Close behind her was Sylmar attorney Raymond J. Magana, who collected $88,000. But Magana had spent substantially more money on his campaign than had Finn by April 3, according to the finance reports.

City Fire Capt. Lyle Hall, widely regarded as the front-runner in the early going, placed an anemic fifth in fund-raising, with about $57,000. That included $25,000 in loans to his campaign from himself, campaign reports said.

With the octogenarian Bernardi stepping aside this year to run for mayor, the seven candidates for his 7th District seat are mailing brochures, posting lawn signs and telephoning voters in a frantic, eleventh-hour campaign push.

Political observers believe no candidate will win outright in the April 20 primary and that a June 8 runoff will be necessary between the two top vote-getters.

While Finn had spent about $42,000 by April 3, Magana, a onetime Bernardi aide, spent $68,000, finance reports showed. The two candidates both had nearly $25,000 in cash on hand for the final days before the primary, surpassing the other contenders.

Former wholesale producer Al Dib was third in the fund-raising race. He collected more than $62,000, including $25,000 in loans from himself. Richard Alarcon, a former aide to Mayor Tom Bradley, was next with $60,000.

LeRoy Chase, director of the Boys & Girls Club of San Fernando Valley in Pacoima, was sixth with $45,000, including a $10,000 loan from his own pocket. Elementary school teacher Henry R. Villafana was last, raising only about $900.

Alarcon has spent the second highest amount--$67,000--on his campaign, the reports said. But he complained that Finn, Dib and Hall are attempting to “buy the election” by infusing their campaigns with large personal loans.

“We’ve got a mini-Riordan thing happening here in the 7th District,” he said, referring to multimillionaire-lawyer Richard Riordan, who has loaned $3 million in personal funds to his campaign for mayor of Los Angeles.

“Tell him to go to hell!” snapped Finn, saying she would rather use her own funds because she finds raising money from contributors time-consuming, demeaning and a waste of time. She described the $45,000 she has loaned her campaign as “not that much money.”

Harvey Englander, Dib’s campaign consultant, pointed out that both Alarcon and Magana have received large amounts of money in the form of city matching funds, which have boosted their war chests.

Magana received nearly $28,000 in matching money, intended to reduce the influence of special interests in municipal elections. Alarcon collected $19,000 and at least two other candidates said they will receive matching funds soon. The others have not raised enough in small contributions to qualify.

Hall, a longtime firefighters union activist who forced Bernardi into a runoff during a 1989 election, reported getting nearly $2,700 in donations from individual firefighters and firefighter unions, including one union in Hawaii and another in San Francisco.

Although his total war chest was smaller than those of several other candidates, Hall said his fund raising is “on target with the budget.” He added that he expects to get nearly $14,000 in city matching funds next week.

Dib reported receiving $750 from various employees of the Maguire Thomas development firm, which is building a vast commercial and residential project near Marina del Rey, which requires city approvals.

He also reported spending $500 on legal fees to defend himself against a lawsuit filed by his former campaign fund-raiser. The fund-raiser claims Dib refused to pay him $15,000 in fees and commissions, but Dib has said the figure is far less.

Both Alarcon and Magana reported contributions from labor unions. Alarcon also received $200 from Browning Ferris Industries, which operates garbage dumps, and $250 from Fran Savitch, a City Hall lobbyist.

Finn’s report said she gave $500 to mayoral candidate Linda Griego. A Democrat, Finn also spent money on slate mailers that will be sent both to registered Democrats and Republicans as well as independent voters.

Some contributors gave to more than one candidate. One was Ira Leland Hamer, owner of Lee Hamer Toyota in Mission Hills, who gave $500 each to Magana and Dib.

While most other candidates reported having about $20,000 or more in their war chests for the campaign’s last days, Chase had only $676. But his campaign manager, Marty Cooper, said Chase has scheduled several fund-raisers before the primary, and that he will have adequate funds.