LOS ANGELES : Real Estate Gives Nearly 20% of Lobbyist Dollars
Nearly one in five dollars paid to Los Angeles City Hall lobbyists in the first quarter of 1993 came from real estate interests, the Ethics Commission reported.
Nineteen percent of the $1.17 million paid to lobbyists in the first three months came from real estate sources, according to the panel report.
But the Tobacco Institute, which is fighting a proposed restaurant smoking ban, was the single entity that shelled out the most money. The organization paid $37,500 to the firms of former Public Works Commissioner Maureen A. Kindel and former City Councilman Dave Cunningham.
From January to March, tobacco interests--including R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. and Philip Morris U.S.A.--paid a total of $73,000 to curry favor at City Hall. But that amount pales in comparison to the $312,398 that lobbyists collected from real estate and development interests.
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