Valley Fertile Ground for Political Donors

Just a few months ago, movie mogul Steven Spielberg got a call from longtime friend and fellow director Rob Reiner. It wasn’t a social call.

Reiner asked Spielberg for his help, and money, for Reiner’s campaign for a state anti-tobacco proposition aimed at discouraging teenagers from smoking by mandating higher cigarette taxes.

Spielberg was happy to oblige. He sent Reiner a check for $100,000.

That contribution alone would have made Spielberg, director of the summer hit “Saving Private Ryan” and co-founder of DreamWorks studio in Universal City, one of the top 10 political donors in the San Fernando Valley in 1997-98, even without the other $155,000 in contributions made by him and his wife, actress Kate Capshaw.

But Spielberg’s bankroll failed to win an Oscar when it comes to the Valley’s biggest political donors. The top awards go to financial giants in the insurance industry. The best performance by an open checkbook came from Fremont Compensation Insurance Co. of Glendale, one of the nation’s largest providers of workers’ compensation policies.

The company donated $632,000 to November’s election causes, with the Republican Party its main beneficiary.

Despite the parched foothills and occasional brown hazy sky, political fund-raisers have found lots of green in the San Fernando Valley this election season--green as in cash. Valley residents and companies dished out more than $12 million in contributions from Jan. 1, 1997, to the end of June, according to a Los Angeles Times analysis of federal, state and local political contributions originating on the floor of the Valley.

The most generous donors include such figures as Gail Zappa, widow of rock musician Frank Zappa, and Herbert Boeckmann, owner of Galpin Ford in Mission Hills. Both broke the $100,000 barrier--Zappa twice over.

“The Valley is up there” as a provider of political cash, said Art Torres, chairman of the California Democratic Party. “It’s part of the Gold Coast--Malibu, the Westside and the San Fernando Valley.”

The Valley’s share of the entertainment industry has been 24-karat gold for the Democrats. On June 24, for example, Spielberg and DreamWorks partner David Geffen each gave $20,000 checks to the DNC--in addition to the combined $70,000 the two gave the DNC in the previous 18 months.

Melvin Sembler, finance chairman of the Republican National Committee, said he’s baffled that Hollywood continues to spurn the GOP, especially after the Republican Congress passed telecommunications law changes that greatly profited the studios and cable giants.

“Hollywood deals in fantasies, so I guess it’s not a surprise they support the Democrats,” Sembler said.

It’s no mystery, said Andy Spahn, who handles all political activities for DreamWorks founders Spielberg, Geffen and former Disney studio chief Jeffrey Katzenberg.

Candidates send in contribution requests “by the thousands. From every city in America,” Spahn said. Each request is considered on its own merits, but Democrats usually win because they are more closely aligned to the personal politics of Spielberg, Geffen and Katzenberg, Spahn said.

“Certainly, Bob Dole’s candidacy in 1996, in which he continually attacked the entertainment industry, didn’t help Republican fund-raising out here,” Spahn said.

Together, the DreamWorks trio contributed more than $420,000 to political parties, state initiatives and candidates nationwide in 1997-98, spreading their wealth from South Dakota to Sacramento.

The political donations account for just a portion of the support and charity they provide, focusing primarily on children’s issues, AIDS and HIV programs, and general support for artistic freedom, Spahn said.

Spielberg and his partners at DreamWorks joined other studio heavyweights as the Valley’s premier donors, including Universal Studios Inc. and Warner Bros. Inc. But there was a surprise among them: Gail Zappa.

Zappa, who lives in Studio City, has given $214,000, most of it going to the Democratic National Committee. Zappa began donating after her husband’s death from prostate cancer in 1993, and was among the dozens of Democratic supporters invited to sip coffee with President Clinton at the White House in 1996.

“It’s not really a case of us asking for it,” Torres said. “The Zappas are strong believers in protecting the environment, and they strongly back where the party stands on a woman’s right to choice.”

In addition to the entertainment industry, political fund-raising in the Valley is increasingly dominated by corporations and industries riding the economic upswing, said Mike Madrid, political director of the California Republican Party. As the companies’ financial success grows, so does their involvement in politics, he said.

“It’s more interest-driven than individual-driven,” Madrid said. “It’s not like there are a lot of champagne brunches being held in Sylmar, like you would see on the Westside.”

Madrid points to the insurance industry as a prime example. Fremont Compensation Insurance Co., the nation’s seventh-largest workers’ compensation insurer, and its affiliated companies have flooded campaign coffers with more than $632,000. Of that, $330,000 went to the state and national GOP.

“Everybody knows that the insurance industry calls the shots in Sacramento, so certainly the contributions they’re making are a concern,” said Philip Roberto of the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights, a group highly critical of the insurance industry.

Although many of the contributions from California insurers tend to end up in the pockets of Republicans, their money also gravitates toward the political leadership in Sacramento--regardless of party, Roberto said.

Three months after Fremont gave the California Republican Party $75,000, the insurer gave $50,000 to Democratic Rep. Jane Harman’s failed gubernatorial campaign. Fremont also has given $25,000 to the Senate’s Democratic leader, John Burton of San Francisco, and $30,000 to Democratic attorney general candidate Bill Lockyer.

Zenith Insurance Co. of Woodland Hills donated about $304,000, mostly to candidates for statewide office and the Legislature. Zenith handed $50,000 to Lockyer’s campaign and the same amount to Democratic gubernatorial nominee Gray Davis.

Bill Packer, spokesman for the Assn. of California Insurance Companies, said insurers make no apologies for supporting candidates and parties they consider pro-business. They also are forced to counter the flood of contributions from the trial lawyers, their rivals in Sacramento on issues such as liability caps and insurance reform, Packer said.

“It will help consumers to have pro-business officeholders,” Packer said. “There will be more jobs, and it will also help bring down the price of insurance.”

The political action committee for Packer’s association was listed as the third-largest Valley donor, making more than $288,000 in contributions, including $50,000 to Republican Dan Lungren’s gubernatorial campaign.

Although state election records give a Woodland Hills address for the ACIC, Packer said the association is actually based in Sacramento. He also said some of the contributions may actually have come from private insurers and wrongly attributed to the association.

Fremont and Zenith executives did not respond to questions about their political donations.

One of the Valley’s biggest individual donors, and most active over the years, is Herbert Boeckmann, owner of the nation’s largest Ford dealership, who was appointed by Mayor Richard Riordan to the city police commission. Boeckmann--along with his family, company and employees--contributed $102,000 in 1997-98.

Boeckmann’s support tends toward the Republican Party--he gave $35,000 to the GOP and $13,000 to Lungren. Still, Boeckmann, who has been active in Valley politics for decades, has never shied from helping Democrats. This year, he gave $1,000 to Richard Alarcon, the Democratic nominee for the Valley’s 20th state Senate District, and $500 to the reelection campaign of Sen. Robert Hertzberg (D-Sherman Oaks).

“No matter what you’re doing in California, you need to know Bert Boeckmann,” said veteran Los Angeles political consultant Harvey Englander.

Other notable political donors from the Valley include:

* Garment manufacturer Stanley Hirsh of Studio City. Hirsh, a longtime Democratic supporter and fund-raiser, donated more than $83,000, more than half of which went to the Democratic National Committee. Hirsh and his wife also contributed $6,000 to Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer’s campaign and $6,000 to Alarcon.

* Tutor-Saliba Corp. of Sylmar, the construction company that has won more than $400 million in public contracts and is among the main builders of the Los Angeles subway. Earlier this month, the Alameda Corridor Transportation Authority recommended Tutor-Saliba be awarded a $712-million contract to build a 10-mile rail corridor. The company, its executives and their families doled out $43,000 in political contributions in 1997-98, including a $15,000 contribution against Proposition 224, which would have eliminated some no-bid construction contracts by state and local governments for $50,000 or more. The proposition was defeated in June. The company also has been a big supporter of Riordan’s charter reform commission.

* Thomas Wathen of Encino, chairman of Pinkerton Security and Investigations Services. Wathen, whose worldwide firm provided security at last year’s Academy Awards, donated more than $46,000, including $25,000 to the Republican National Committee and $13,000 to Lungren’s campaign for governor.

* Lodwrick Cook of Sherman Oaks. Cook, former CEO of the oil giant ARCO, is a longtime Republican supporter and fund-raiser. He and his family gave $46,000 to recipients ranging from Texas Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchinson to local candidates for the city’s elected charter reform commission.

* Isaac Starkman, CEO of Jerry’s Famous Deli, contributed $12,000, spread across party and state lines. The contributions included $1,000 to Davis’ gubernatorial campaign and $1,000 to New York Republican Sen. Alfonse D’Amato.

* Actor Ed Begley Jr. of Studio City dished out $14,000, to the Democratic Party or its candidates. Begley, star of the 1980s television show “St. Elsewhere,” gave $9,000 to the party’s House and Senate funds, plus $2,000 to Sen. Barbara Boxer.

* Defense contractor Litton Industries of Woodland Hills donated $25,000, including $20,000 to the Republican National Committee.

The Valley will be a prime source of campaign cash so long as California continues without contribution limits in state elections and Congress permits unlimited donations to the national political parties, said Robert Hogan, acting director of the Citizens Research Foundation at the University of Southern California.

The Valley’s wealth will continue to be mined by politicians unless those two factors change, he said.

“That’s the thing about California,” Hogan said. “It’s a big state, and an expensive place to run a campaign.”

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Big Contributors

San Fernando Valley residents and companies dished out more than $12 million in political contributions from Jan. 1, 1997, to the end of June, according to an analysis of federal, state and local political contributions.

Here are the top givers:

Fremont Compensation Insurance Co., Glendale: $632,000

Zenith Insurance co., Woodland Hills: $304,500

Assn. of California Insurance Companies, Woodland Hills: $288,600

Steven Spielberg, Universal City, partner, DreamWorks SKG: $255,000

Gail Zappa, Studio City community activist: $214,700

Herbert Boeckmann, Galpin Ford, Mission Hills: $102,400

Universal/MCA, Universal City: $95,600

Jeffrey Katzenberg, Universal City, partner, DreamWorks SKG: $88,800

David Geffen, Universal City, partner, DreamWorks SKG: $84,700

Stanley Hirsh, Studio City Mercantile Center: $83,200

Time Warner: $80,100

Thomas Wathen, Pinkerton Security, Encino: $46,500

Lodwrick Cook, former ARCO CEO, Sherman Oaks: $46,200

Tutor-Saliba Corp., Sylmar, subway construction: $43,000

Total federal, state and local contributions Valleywide from 1997 through June 1998: $12.5 million.