Divided Council Extends Pact for L.A. Marathon

A bitterly divided City Council on Wednesday voted to extend the contract of Los Angeles Marathon Inc. until 2005, despite questions about whether the city is paid enough to cover its costs and controversy over campaign money-laundering by the company that runs the race.

In approving the contract--in which Los Angeles Marathon Inc. will pay the city $100,000 a year instead of the $300,000 in free billboard space it previously provided--the council rejected a bid by Councilman Mike Feuer to audit the company’s books and conduct an analysis of marathon contracts in other large cities before extending the long-running relationship.

“The conduct of the company running the L.A. Marathon raised serious questions in the past. In that light, at a minimum, this contract should be subject to some real scrutiny,” Feuer said after the 9-6 vote approving the contract. “To fly blindly undermines the interests of taxpayers we all represent.”

Other council members--several of whom have strong political ties to marathon President William Burke, who is married to Los Angeles County Supervisor Yvonne Brathwaite Burke--stressed the positive impact the race has on the city’s bruised identity.

“Rather than being the brunt of every joke on late-night television, we can see what Los Angeles is really about,” said Councilman Richard Alatorre, one of more than a dozen politicians who received laundered contributions from the marathon between 1989 and 1992. “We wonder why we lose these types of businesses. It’s because we nickel-and-dime these vendors to death and we lose sight of the big picture. The big picture is the image of L.A. around the world.”

Burke’s company brought the 26.2-mile race to Los Angeles in 1986 and has orchestrated it every year since. A record 19,380 runners and more than 15,000 bicyclists competed this year.

Despite the event’s success, the firm landed under a cloud in 1994 when the city Ethics Commission levied its second-largest fine ever against Los Angeles Marathon Inc. In order to skirt contribution limits, the firm funneled about 100 contributions totaling more than $50,000 through others.

The scandal escalated when the council--including many members who had received the laundered money--voted to reduce by $178,000 the fee that the company had to pay the city, which nearly offset the $200,000 fine paid to the Ethics Commission.

That spotty history has been an undercurrent of negotiations for a five-year extension of the current contract, which runs to 2000. Some officials are also concerned that the $100,000 cash payment does not cover the $300,000 in expenses for traffic and police services the city provides on marathon day.

“Prudence and fiscal responsibility dictate that we find out exactly where we stand compared to other cities,” Councilwoman Jackie Goldberg said before voting against the extension Wednesday.

Others said Feuer’s suggestion of auditing the firm’s books would jeopardize the marathon’s future.

“I don’t think we need to throw a roadblock in,” said Councilman Hal Bernson, who received $3,500 in laundered contributions from Los Angeles Marathon Inc. “I’ll grant you we probably don’t get back all we give the marathon in hard costs, but what the city recoups in national recognition--I don’t think you can put a price tag on it.”

Leading the charge for the marathon was Councilman Nate Holden, who was the No. 1 council recipient of laundered money--with $9,000--and is a close friend of Burke. Also voting for the extension were Alatorre, Bernson, Richard Alarcon, John Ferraro, Mike Hernandez, Rudy Svorinich, Mark Ridley-Thomas and Rita Walters. Ridley-Thomas and Walters received the laundered contributions, as did Joel Wachs, who voted against the extension.

Burke said he was thrilled with the extension and never would have let the city look at the firm’s books.

“There are some people who view me as an angel and some people who view me as the angel of darkness,” Burke said. “My personality should not be imposed on this event. . . . I don’t want to be the issue. This event should live for hundreds of years after I’m gone.”