Anaheim Candidates Reap Big-Donor Gifts : Politics: Disney Co. officials, Angels owner Gene Autry and the head of a firm with an exclusive trash-hauling contract are among the contributors.

California Angels owner Gene Autry, who stopped making municipal campaign contributions in 1992, has resumed writing checks to City Council candidates, according to financial disclosure records reviewed this week.

Also endowing the campaigns of aspiring council members are Walt Disney Co. officials who want to expand Disneyland, a trash mogul who recently was awarded an exclusive waste disposal contract, and other companies that do business with local government.

In a city where council and mayoral candidates spent more than $700,000 in the last election, sizable campaign treasuries are seen as pivotal in capturing two council spots and the mayor’s seat. So far, 20 candidates have taken out nomination papers for the council slots, and two candidates--incumbent Tom Daly and retired businessman Curtis A. Stickler--have filed to run for mayor. The filing deadline for council candidates is Wednesday.

Baseball businessman Autry has contributed $1,000 each to two council challengers--Anaheim business owner Paul V. Bostwick and mortgage broker and former city planning commissioner Bob Zemel, according to campaign finance records. That is the maximum a candidate can receive from an individual source under a new city campaign-financing ordinance passed last year.

Autry has declined to comment on the political contributions.

In 1992, Autry halted a longstanding practice of contributing to local politicians, explaining publicly that because of the recession he simply did not have enough money. But city officials viewed the drying up of funds as a measure of Autry’s resentment over a decade-long legal dispute with the city over commercial development in the parking lot in Anaheim Stadium.

This spring Angels officials began making overtures to city officials that they were dissatisfied with the aging Anaheim Stadium, which they share with the Rams football team. Angels officials have told city officials they want a baseball-only stadium.

Exceeding Autry’s political donation totals was William C. Taormina, head of Taormina Industries, Inc., finance records show. The company, which has held disposal contracts with the city since 1948, recently won an exclusive 15-year franchise for solid waste disposal in Anaheim.

But contributions to local politicians are nothing new for Taormina. Since 1984, the business executive has pumped more than $75,000 into local election campaigns--more than any other contributor in that same period.

Since January, Taormina has divided $3,275 among nine office-seekers, according to finance records. Taormina made $500 donations to six challengers: Keith Brian Olesen, Leonard Lahtinen, Paul Bostwick, Bob Zemel, Sharon Ericson and Loretta Sanchez Brixey. Also on the donation list was: Phyllis Boydston and Mayor Tom Daly, who both each received $250, and incumbent Frank Feldhaus, who got $225, records show.

With a 30-year business relationship with the city, Southland LifeFleet, Inc., a private ambulance company, also contributed to candidates. The company’s $1,950 in donations follow a city Fire Department announcement that it is considering taking over city ambulance services. The city Fire Department is still evaluating such a prospect, but is expected to make an announcement within the next few months.

Over the past six months, the ambulance company has given $500 to Daly, Zemel and Leonard Lahtinen, and another $450 to Feldhaus. (The Southland LifeFleet was recently purchased by CareLine Inc.)

Planning a $3-billion Disneyland resort in Anaheim, Disney officials have also lined up to help out candidates financially. Disneyland’s director of development Douglas M. Moreland and Ron Dominguez, a company vice president, contributed $250 each to Daly and $225 each to Feldhaus.

Other large campaign contributors, records show, are golf companies that may be vying for a possible contract if the city decides to privatize its two municipal courses. Daly’s campaign coffers grew by $1,250 from two golf firms. Feldhaus picked up $1,125 from three different golf companies.

An Anaheim firm that was previously rejected in a bid to open a facility in the western part of the city last year also made substantial political contributions. Pick Your Part Auto Wrecking presented a total of $1,475 in donations to four candidates.

Finances records show the firm contributed $500 to Lahtinen, $475 to Feldhaus, and $250 each to Daly and Zemel.