O.C.’s Two Newest Congressmen Listed the Most Assets

Orange County’s two newest congressmen also have the largest financial holdings of the county’s six-member delegation, according to newly released federal financial disclosure reports for 1992.

Freshman Rep. Jay C. Kim (R-Diamond Bar) listed assets other than his own home and salary of at least $3.2 million, primarily from two civil engineering firms he recently sold. Behind Kim is Rep. Edward R. Royce (R-Fullerton), who estimated his assets, not including his home and salary as a state senator last year, at between $350,000 and $750,000.

The federal reports, which list outside income, assets, debts, gifts and trips of House and Senate members during 1992, also show Rep. Ron Packard (R-Oceanside) took eight “fact-finding” trips--more than any other member of the Orange County delegation.

Packard listed his assets at between $81,000 and $215,000, which included a 180-acre parcel in Oceanside. However, he sold the land to the city as part of a federal flood control project and received between $15,000 and $50,000.

Most of the reporting categories on the federal forms cover wide ranges of dollar estimates and officials are not required to provide exact figures.

Congress agreed last year to ban fees for speaking, called honoraria, in exchange for raising salaries to $133,644 from $129,500. Speaking fees must now be donated to charity.

In addition to home and salaries, reports by other local congressmen showed:

* Rep. Christopher Cox (R-Newport Beach) had assets totaling between $102,000 and $230,000, including a rental property in Arlington, Va., acquired last year, and money market and individual retirement accounts. Income from those holdings totaled between $1,400 and $4,500. The mortgage on the rental property is estimated at between $100,000 and $250,000.

Among Cox’s six business trips was one to Mexico City for a meeting with President Carlos Salinas de Gortari at the invitation of the Mexican Business Coordinating Council, and another to Tel Aviv for meetings sponsored by the American Israel Education Foundation. As a member of the House Budget Committee, Cox also traveled to San Francisco, St. Louis and New York at the invitations of the Hoover Institute, Citizens for a Sound Economy and the Manhattan Institute. His wife did not accompany him on any trips.

* Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Huntington Beach) listed individual retirement accounts, stocks in Southern California Edison and W. R. Grace for a total value of between $3,000 and $46,000. Income from those assets ranged from $200 and $1,600. The Hanns-Seidel Foundation sponsored a trip to Santa Barbara.

* Rep. Robert K. Dornan (R-Garden Grove) reported no major assets or liabilities. He traveled to Wichita, Kan., at the invitation of LIFEPAX and to Reno for a gathering sponsored by the Disabled American Veterans.

According to the reports, Kim earned a salary totaling $215,650, primarily from two businesses: JAYKIM Engineers Inc. of Diamond Bar and Wyatt-Jaykim Engineers Inc. of Lewiston, Ida. Of his total salary, $15,500 came from a third firm, J&J; Property of Diamond Bar.

Other assets included four rental properties in San Diego, Riverside and Palm Desert; a partnership in OMNI I in Diamond Bar valued at more than $1 million, and savings and individual retirement accounts.

Overall, Kim’s assets for 1992 totaled at least $3.2 million, according to the financial statement. Income from those interests--in addition to his salary--ranged from $181,000 to $1.2 million.

His debts include three mortgages totaling between $315,000 and $650,000. Also, the land used by OMNI I has a mortgage of more than $1 million.

A spokeswoman for Kim’s office said the congressman recently sold JAYKIM Engineers and his share of Wyatt-Jaykim Engineers, which were listed with a value of at least $1.35 million. Because the sale of the businesses occurred this year, the price was not listed in the report, nor did the congressman’s office provide the figure.

In other reports, Royce said his salary and per diem income as a state senator totaled $74,384 last year. His wife also received an undisclosed salary from Procter & Gamble Corp.

Royce’s assets included a rental property in Anaheim valued at between $250,000 and $500,000 and a Gloria Jean’s Coffee Bean franchise with an estimated worth of between $100,000 and $250,000. The income from those holdings was between $10,000 and $30,000. He also earned between $1,000 and $15,000 from the sale of Procter & Gamble stock.

His major liabilities were a loan for the coffee business and a mortgage on the rental property totaling between $200,000 and $500,000.

Packard’s holdings included stock, a coin collection, investment diamonds and the Oceanside property, which he later sold. The total value is estimated at between $81,000 and $215,000. Except for the land sale, Packard said he did not receive income from other holdings.

Packard, who is a dentist by profession and a member of the Public Works and Transportation and Science, Space and Technology committees, took eight trips during 1992. His wife accompanied him on four of the trips.

Trip sponsors included Mylan Laboratories, which met in Fort Lauderdale; the Western Coalition of Arid States Conference in Las Vegas, and Sinclair Oil Corp., which held sessions in San Diego.

Other trips included one to Chicago sponsored by the American Dental Assn.; to Jackson Hole, Wyo., for the Assn. of American Railroads Intermodal Policy Conference; to Dallas for the Baylor College of Dentistry; to Sun Valley, Ida., for the Danny Thompson Memorial Golf Tournament, and to Salt Lake City for the Delta Airlines Congressional Challenge.