Advertising Firm Uses Its Billboards to Back Delgadillo for City Attorney

Weighing in on the race for Los Angeles city attorney, an outdoor advertising firm has put up signs on some of its large billboards urging voters to choose Deputy Mayor Rocky Delgadillo.

The signs, valued at $40,000, represent the first “independent expenditure” for any of the candidates vying for city offices in the April 10 election, according to the city Ethics Commission. The term refers to spending by a person or group outside a candidate’s campaign.

Councilman Mike Feuer, a leading candidate for city attorney, has angered the billboard industry by pushing for stricter regulations, including a hard-fought 1998 ordinance that is tied up in court.

A spokesman for Eller Media Co., which put up eight signs along some of the city’s busiest thoroughfares, said that the firm believes Delgadillo is the best of the four candidates and that Feuer’s advocacy of stricter sign regulations “has nothing to do with it.”

“We feel [Delgadillo] would be a very good city attorney. That’s about it,” Eller spokesman Edward Dato said Tuesday.

The billboards show the Los Angeles skyline emblazoned with ROCKY in giant letters across the top. In letters that are smaller but still readable from passing cars, the signs say, “Rocky Delgadillo for city attorney.”

Dato and other outdoor advertising executives and their lobbyists fought hard against a Feuer-authored measure to ban tobacco and alcohol billboards and building signs within 1,000 feet of schools, parks, homes and places of worship--wherever they could be seen by children.

Despite objections by advertisers that the law was overly broad and trampled their 1st Amendment rights, the ordinance passed the City Council in September 1998, and was signed into law by Mayor Richard Riordan, who praised it as a way to protect children.

The next year, a group of grocers, liquor store owners and national beer and wine makers sued in federal court; the case is pending. It is likely that its defense will fall to the next city attorney, after James K. Hahn leaves office this summer.

Feuer, who also has tangled with the billboard industry over visual blight issues, contended that industry executives “don’t want a strong, independent advocate in the city attorney’s office . . . who can speak with authority to these billboard issues.”

Kristina Scott, a spokeswoman for the Delgadillo campaign, said it was irresponsible for Feuer to insinuate that Delgadillo would be beholden to the billboard industry.

“Rocky has in debates talked about how he wants to aggressively support the sign ordinances and improve the quality of life in our neighborhoods,” Scott said, “and he will be innovative. Mike thinks the solution is just to obliterate the billboard industry.”

All of the candidates in the city attorney’s race have agreed to abide by a spending limit in exchange for receiving taxpayer dollars from a special fund set aside for political campaigns.

However, groups, businesses or individuals can spend money to advocate--or oppose--a candidate or cause as long as their activities are “independent,” that is, not coordinated with a campaign. Therefore, independent expenditures are not counted against an individual campaign’s spending limit.

Once independent expenditures in support of any one candidate reach $200,000 in the mayor’s race, $100,000 in city attorney and city controller contests or $50,000 in City Council races, the campaign spending limit is lifted for all competitors.

All independent expenditures must be reported within 24 hours to the Ethics Commission, which makes the information available to the public.

In addition to its independent spending on Delgadillo’s behalf, Dato said, the Eller firm has given $1,000--the maximum amount allowed--to Delgadillo’s campaign.