Valley City Donations on the Rise

The political campaign for San Fernando Valley cityhood had raised about $75,500 as of June 30, a fraction of the nearly $2 million collected by Mayor James K. Hahn’s anti-secession drive, according to a disclosure statement filed Wednesday.

The Valley secessionists said they also have received about $275,000 since July 1, though they declined to provide details. They said that money will be included on a disclosure report to be filed in October.

Most of the Valley secession funds raised as of June 30 came from two sources: $50,000 from Hollywood cityhood leader Gene La Pietra and $10,000 from Lodwrick Cook, co-chairman of the beleaguered Global Crossing Ltd.

Valley and Hollywood secession measures are on the Nov. 5 ballot.

The Valley secessionists said they have pledges of about $250,000 in additional contributions and will have a well-funded campaign, though it will depend largely on grass-roots efforts.

“We are certainly the little guys in this battle against City Hall special interests,” said Jeff Brain, president of Valley VOTE. “However, we are not as little as some people would like to suggest.”

Secession leaders said the law does not require them to disclose contributions to the city Ethics Commission, but that they did so in the interest of informing the public.

The state disclosure law, they said, applies only to money raised after the secession proposal was formally placed on the ballot, which was last week.

Hahn’s anti-secession campaign released its list of contributions July 25. It showed that much of the $1.9 million came from corporate interests and individuals with business before the city.

Other contributions to the Valley cityhood campaign as of June 30 include $5,000 from D & G Escrow, $2,500 from Valley Independence Committee Co-Chairman Richard Katz and $2,000 from Administrative Resource Corp.

The campaign also received $1,000 each from Horace Heidt, president of Horace Heidt Estates; Ellen Fitzmaurice, owner of MindWorx; and Harvey Berg, vice president of ACI Billing Services Inc.

All other donations were under $1,000, including $100 from Brain and $500 from the law firm of Gilchrist & Rutter, of which Valley VOTE Chairman Richard Close is a member.

Noticeably absent from the roster of contributors are Bert Boeckmann, owner of Galpin Motors in North Hills, and Studio City attorney David Fleming, the secession movement’s top benefactors in the past. The campaign, however, said Fleming has committed to raising or contributing at least $200,000. Brain said he believed Boeckmann also would play some role in fund-raising.

Among other pledges, the committee said the campaign co-chairpersons, Richard Katz and Laurette Healey, have agreed to raise $100,000 each, as has Brain.

Anti-secessionists criticized the Valley campaign for relying on La Pietra for most of its initial money. They said they will make La Pietra’s past an issue; the Hollywood nightclub owner was convicted in the 1970s on state and federal obscenity charges for selling sexually explicit movies and books.

“Gene La Pietra has nothing to do with the Valley,” said Larry Levine, head of the anti-secession group One Los Angeles. “And given Mr. La Pietra’s background, I don’t think the Valley wants those kinds of people financing their secession movement.”

La Pietra said that his nightclubs are legitimate businesses, and that he contributed to the Valley movement because as it goes, so goes Hollywood.

“It is one people, one movement, one outcome,” La Pietra said.

His company, Bookcity News Inc., which started out owning an adult bookstore in Hawaiian Gardens in the 1970s but now runs the nightclubs, gave $30 separately to the Valley campaign.

Cook’s Global Crossing is under federal investigation for its accounting practices. The firm filed for bankruptcy protection Jan. 28. Cook, a Valley resident and also vice chairman of Pacific Capital Group, could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

Richard Katz, co-chairman of the Valley campaign committee, said it was “very pleased” with the sources and amount of contributions. Altogether, it has received donations and pledges from 200 people.

The secession leaders initially predicted they would raise up to $4 million to compete with the $5 million that Hahn plans to collect. Some observers were surprised by the comparatively small amount banked by the secessionists so far.

“It makes them appear to be a paper tiger,” said Fernando Guerra, director of the Center for the Study of Los Angeles at Loyola Marymount University. “They will have a difficult time matching Hahn in spending.”

Brain, however, said the campaign’s spending will be complemented by that of candidates for 14 city council seats and the mayor’s post in a Valley city. The election for the council and mayoral seats are on the same ballot.

Meanwhile, the Valley cityhood backers continued to refuse to fully disclose the sources of more than $500,000 in contributions to nonprofit Valley VOTE in the last four years. They said the state disclosure law does not apply to Valley VOTE.

The group has only disclosed that in 1998--when it launched the petition drive that led to the secession ballot measure--its leading contributors were the Daily News, Boeckmann and Fleming.

In its last state tax filing, for 2000, Valley VOTE reported that its loan debts included $25,000 to Boeckmann’s Galpin Motors Inc. and $40,000 to Fleming.

Kam Kuwata, Hahn’s political advisor, said all of Valley VOTE’s finances should be disclosed.

“What do they have to hide?” he asked.

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Backing Valley Cityhood

The San Fernando Valley Independence Committee has raised about $75,500 in political contributions as of June 30, according to committee leaders. The largest donors:

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Name: Gene La Pietra

City: Los Angeles

Affiliation: Hollywood cityhood organization president

Amount: $50,000

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Name: Lodwrick M. Cook

City: Sherman Oaks

Affiliation: Pacific Capital Group vice chairman

Amount: $10,000

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Name: D & G Escrow

City: Los Angeles

Affiliation: Friends of the Valley

Amount: $5,000

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Name: Richard Katz

City: Sherman Oaks

Affiliation: SFVIC co-chairman

Amount: $2,500

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Source: Campaign finance reports