Riordan, Stein Far Ahead in Fund-Raising

Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan, his pet cause and his close friend and confidant--city attorney candidate Ted Stein--came up winners in the early rounds of the campaign fund-raising sweepstakes for this spring’s elections, reports received Friday showed.

Riordan’s reelection campaign raked in $318,682 during the six-month reporting period that ended Dec. 31. That brings the total he has raised since beginning his reelection drive in 1995 to just over $2.4 million. State Sen. Tom Hayden (D-Los Angeles), who is Riordan’s only substantial challenger, reported collecting a total of $22,016 for the race.

Stein, who headed the Airport Commission and was Riordan’s senior policy advisor before resigning to challenge longtime City Atty. James K. Hahn, outdistanced his opponent, raising a total of $896,178 by year’s end; Hahn reported collecting a total of $468,833.

But the biggest controversy in the lopsided money scramble emerged with the disclosure Friday that Riordan and his allies have raised $556,000 to support candidates for seats on a 15-member panel that would offer an overhaul of the city’s 72-year-old charter.

Riordan, a multimillionaire, spent $575,000 of his own money to get a measure on this spring’s ballot that asks voters to create an elected panel that would rewrite the 680-page document that delegates power in City Hall and serves as the city’s constitution.

The charter drive by Riordan and his allies, including San Fernando Valley attorney David Fleming, has stirred rancorous controversy at City Hall, where some other officials see it as an effort to shift the balance of power in favor of the mayor’s office. The City Council has a competing charter revision effort underway.

Committees that raise and spend money independently on behalf of candidates are not subject to the limits on individual contributions that candidates themselves must live by--$500 per individual and $1,000 per organization.

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Rick Taylor, who is managing Citizens for a Better Los Angeles, said Riordan has not donated to that group, which is supporting candidates for the charter revision panel. Campaign statements showed money coming from individuals and corporate donors, including Riordan ally and Police Commissioner Herbert F. Boeckmann, Ralphs, the Zenith Insurance Co. and the Walt Disney Co.

“The mayor is guilty of exploiting this loophole in violation of the spirit and intent of the law” that limits contributions to individuals, Hayden said in a statement released Friday. Hayden accused the mayor of “collecting . . . special-interest money from corporations who need favors from his office.”

Fleming rejected charges that the reform campaign committee offers corporations a way to curry favor with Riordan. He said the companies gave to the committee because “they have wanted change for years.”

In the 11th City Council District race, for the only open seat in the upcoming election, both front-running candidates have agreed to a $300,000 spending limit. With the help of city matching funds, they are well on their way to reaching it.

Cindy Miscikowski, former chief of staff for retiring Councilman Marvin Braude, raised $92,661 during the reporting period, bringing her total to $167,130. That includes a $25,000 personal loan from the candidate, a Brentwood resident running in a district split about evenly between the San Fernando Valley and the Westside. She has her former boss’ endorsement.

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Georgia Mercer, a Tarzana resident, former Riordan aide and longtime activist in women’s groups and the Jewish community, raised $55,020 during the period for an overall total of $103,090. That includes a personal loan of $21,000.

In a development that changed the dynamics of the 11th District race, Los Angeles Police homicide Det. Ed Hale withdrew his candidacy this week. Without him, it may be possible for someone to win the race outright in the April 8 primary. A candidate must get 50% of the vote plus one to avoid a runoff in June.

The other offices on the April ballot--those for seven other City Council seats and city controller--have not drawn much competition. Incumbents are widely expected to win reelection in those races.

The race for city attorney probably will be among the most hotly contested. Although Stein has more than twice as much cash on hand as Hahn, both campaigns are on schedule for what the candidates expected to raise through the campaign.

Hahn, who is accepting public matching funds and therefore cannot spend more than $990,000, netted about $175,000 at a fund-raiser Thursday night, bringing his total to nearly $700,000. With the $300,000 match, that would bring him to the spending limit.

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“Ted should make no mistake--we will have the money to win this campaign and be able to spend the money necessary,” Hahn campaign manager Matt Middlebrook said. “We’ll raise and spend the maximum we’re allowed to.”

However, Stein campaign consultant Harvey Englander noted that Hahn had already spent about one-third of the total he had raised by Dec. 31--which will leave a smaller pot for an end-of-campaign media blitz because of the spending limit.

“I’m amazed at how much it’s costing him to raise the money and how little money he really has,” Englander said.

Hahn had just over $310,000 in cash on hand as of Dec. 31, and Stein had just under $800,000 in the bank, records show.

Each candidate for city attorney has tapped hundreds of local lawyers for contributions, from the biggest firms in town to one-person operations, from corporate counsels to government attorneys. Many of the firms have given token donations to both Stein and Hahn. For example, Police Commission President Raymond C. Fisher, a lawyer, has given each man $250.

Hahn also received contributions from Riordan’s former Deputy Mayor Mary Leslie and Library Commissioner Lucy McCoy.

Unlike Stein’s first filing, which was loaded with names of Riordan’s commissioners, supporters and law partners, the latest report showed fewer donations from them.

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In addition to donations from a host of business owners and developers, Stein received large sums from the entertainment industry, including contributions from about 50 Paramount Pictures employees--everyone from the chief projectionist to the executive chef--totaling nearly $20,000.

In Hahn’s report, two groups stand out--his own staff members and the airline industry. Both prompted questions about ethics from Stein’s campaign.

At least 17 deputy city attorneys gave their boss money during the six-month period, as did public agency lawyers from Azusa, Hawthorne, Long Beach and Los Angeles County.

“That’s absolutely wrong. He ought to return every single dime,” Englander said. “It is absolutely unethical and wrong--and if not illegal, it should be illegal--for him to accept money from people whose jobs he determines. He is responsible for promoting these people. He gives them assignments.”

Middlebrook said he does not see any conflict.

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Englander questioned whether Hahn should have accepted money--about $7,000 during this filing period--from airlines, since the city currently is involved in major legal disputes with the industry at Los Angeles International Airport.

“Jim’s the attorney for the city, and will do what’s best for the taxpayers, period,” Middlebrook responded. “More people whose last names start with P gave us money than the airlines.”

Hahn also received a large number of contributions from the local Korean business community.

In the mayor’s race, Riordan’s report showed a $500 contribution from CareAmerica, one of five health care organizations seeking tax breaks of up to $15 million that which Riordan has endorsed.

Individual contributors included former aide and council candidate Mercer, Assistant Police Chief Bernard Parks, actor Carroll O’Connor and Donald DeLine, president of Touchstone Pictures. Groups and businesses that contributed to Riordan included United Teachers-Los Angeles, the Southern California Gardeners Federation, Nissan Motor Corp., the Motion Picture Corp. of America, McDonald’s Restaurants, Home Savings of America and Kaufman & Broad developers.

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Hayden, who did not begin fund-raising in earnest until announcing his candidacy early last month, nonetheless reported several contributions collected by year’s end. They included $1,000 from actor Sean Penn; $100 from Catherine E. Witherspoon, a lobbyist for a local air quality board; $1,000 from film director Wesley E. Craven and $500 from the California Nurses Assn. Hayden also chipped in $4,000 of his personal funds.

Riordan ally Fleming said the mayor has yet to name those he will back for the elected charter panel, but several Riordan appointees to city posts have filed to run for one of the 15 seats on the panel. They include former teachers union leader Helen Bernstein--now Riordan education policy advisor--and Christine Robert, a Community Redevelopment Agency commissioner.

If voters approve the measure creating the panel in April, one member from each council district also would be elected then.

Times staff writers Nancy Hill-Holtzman and Jodi Wilgoren contributed to this story.