LOCAL ELECTIONS / 13TH L.A. COUNCIL DISTRICT : Runoff Tight in Most Respects --Even Money

The two candidates in the Los Angeles City Council’s 13th District race, who appear locked in a tight contest in the final days before Tuesday’s runoff, are also running neck-and-neck in their fundraising efforts, city campaign financial reports show.

Additionally, the reports show that the pair have been raising money from distinctive camps, with Tom LaBonge drawing heavy financial support from real estate developers and lobbyists while Jackie Goldberg has obtained large sums from labor unions, women’s groups and gay rights activists.

The winner will fill the seat being vacated by mayoral hopeful Michael Woo.

LaBonge raised $115,000 to Goldberg’s $103,000 between the April 20 primary and May 22, the latest period for which records were available late last week.

Including taxpayer matching funds and contributions each received during the spirited primary campaign in which they easily vanquished six other candidates, LaBonge has raised $497,000 to Goldberg’s $445,000.

Observers say the race between Goldberg, 48, the liberal former Los Angeles school board member, and the more conservative LaBonge, 39, a longtime aide to Council President John Ferraro, appears to be a virtual dead heat.

Goldberg is widely perceived as having the edge if turnout is high, while LaBonge, who has focused on high-propensity voters in the district’s northeastern hillside neighborhoods, is expected to benefit if fewer people troop to the polls. But experts disagree as to whether the election--in which voters will also choose between Woo and Richard Riordan for mayor--will attract the record 39% of registered voters who cast ballots in the primary.

The district stretches east from the heart of Hollywood to Northeast Los Angeles, including parts of Silver Lake, Echo Park, Atwater Village, Glassell Park and Mt. Washington.

Goldberg, who has made a point of refusing campaign money from developers and registered lobbyists, stepped up her attack on LaBonge last week for doing so, saying his campaign represents “business as usual” for special interests.

“Anybody who accepts $50,000 from developers and tells you he isn’t going to be beholden to them is being either naive or inaccurate, and I don’t think (LaBonge) is naive,” Goldberg said.

LaBonge said developers have given him “no more than $25,000,” adding, “Anybody who knows me knows I’m not going to be beholden to anyone but the people.”

LaBonge’s chief spokesman, meanwhile, accused Goldberg of accepting money from developers, lobbyists and other special interests.

“Look at the money she’s getting from the electrical workers and the construction workers (unions),” said LaBonge consultant Rick Taylor. “If she’s elected, is she not going to vote on city contracts?”

A spokeswoman for the Goldberg campaign said it had returned 10 unsolicited checks from developers and lobbyists after discovering the source of the funds.

“We haven’t accepted one cent of developer or lobbyist money,” said Sue Burnside, the spokeswoman.

Nearly two-thirds of the money LaBonge has raised in the last month has come from supporters who have contributed $500 apiece, the maximum allowed by law.

Among the developers, for example, were Jerome Snyder and four associates involved in the massive Channel Gateway project near Marina del Rey and two projects along the Wilshire Corridor--Museum Square and Wilshire Courtyard; Shapell Industries of Beverly Hills, developer of the huge Porter Ranch project in the San Fernando Valley; Larry Layne of Noja Development, and Mark Schurgin of Schurgin Development Co.

LaBonge received $500 from real estate investor Larry Worshell and several members of the Ullman family, whose properties include the Hollywood Palladium. The H.F. Ahmanson & Co. gave LaBonge $500, as did two executives with the nonprofit Ahmanson Foundation.

LaBonge picked up $500 contributions from dozens of other individuals and businesses. Among them were Gene Autry, who heads Golden West Broadcasters, and his wife, Jackie, president of the California Angels; Great Western Financial of Northridge; Paramount Pictures executive Earl Lestz; Pacific Theaters; civil rights attorney Johnnie L. Cochran Jr. and his wife, Sylvia Dale Cochran, a consultant.

Among lobbyists, the contributors included Clark S. Davis, a partner with Fitch-Davis; Daniel P. Garcia of Warner Bros.; Billie C. Greer of Ketchum Public Relations, and the Patrick Media Group of Scranton, Pa. Maureen A. Kindel and her partner, Cristina L. Rose, of the lobbying firm Rose & Kindel, gave $250 apiece.

LaBonge also received $500 contributions from several property management companies, and numerous engineering and consulting firms who regularly do business with the city.

In contrast to the 133 supporters who gave LaBonge $500 each during the last month of the campaign, Goldberg had only 45 of the maximum contributions.

They included 10 labor unions, including the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Educational Committee, and two IBEW locals; the Los Angeles County Building & Construction Trades Council; Los Angeles County COPE; the Los Angeles District Council of Carpenters; United Teachers-Los Angeles; the Los Angeles Homecare Workers Union Local 434, and Local 347 of the Service Employees Union.

Among women’s groups, Goldberg received $500 from the National Women’s Political Caucus San Fernando Valley Campaign Fund; Women For:, and the Women’s Political Committee. The National Organization for Women’s Los Angeles political action committee gave $250.

Other individuals and groups who gave $500 to Goldberg included writer Judith Krantz; Olvera Street restaurateur Vivien C. Bonzo; the Hollywood Spa; Saul Minzer of Hollywood Tow Service; and Irvine-based Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States.

TV and radio personality Casey Kasem and his wife, Jean Kasem, gave $250 each, as did Marjorie Braude, the wife of Councilman Marvin Braude; Municipal Court Judge Stephanie Sautner; Deborah Nicholson, an executive with Continental Cablevision; attorney Dave Fleming of Latham & Watkins; and the law firms of Manatt, Phelps & Philips and O’Melveny & Myers.

Among those giving $100 to the Goldberg campaign were Councilwoman Ruth Galanter; Ramona Ripston, executive director of the ACLU’s Los Angeles chapter; county tax assessor Kenneth P. Hahn; San Francisco County Supervisor Carole Migden; and West Hollywood City Councilman John Heilman.

Goldberg, who would become the first openly gay or lesbian member of the City Council, benefited heavily from fund-raising efforts by two gay rights organizations: The Victory Fund and ANGLE (Access Now for Gay-Lesbian Equality).