Groups Pour Money Into City Races

Special interests are dropping buckets of money in several key Orange County cities in the final days before Tuesday’s election, with an eye toward securing control of city councils.

A host of developers, real estate investors and others have formed or donated to entities called independent expenditure committees, which won’t have to report the bulk of their spending until January.

The amount being spent by the independent committees surpasses what individual candidates are spending in Dana Point, Anaheim, Irvine and Laguna Beach, where direct campaign donations to council candidates are limited. There are no limits on how much independent committees can spend as long as they don’t coordinate their activities with candidates.

Navigating the flood of mail is even more difficult for voters, faced with often nebulous names of the committees doing the mailing and not knowing who precisely is organizing them.

In Dana Point, for example, a new group that began mailing late this week calls itself Taxpayers for Safer Neighborhoods, but it hasn’t yet filed statements with the city clerk about its organizers.

So far, reported spending is highest in Dana Point, at more than $250,000 and counting. Anaheim’s council race has generated about $150,000 in independent expenditures. And in Irvine, about $120,000 has been reported -- but the mail in that city’s council race has been estimated by political experts to cost about $1 million.

Most of the mailers, brochures, door hangers and postcards generated by independent campaigns have been hitting in the final week before the election. That’s when residents fully focus on the races and many look for cues on how to vote.

The spending escalates because “somebody thinks it’s worth it,” said Robert Stern of the nonprofit Center for Government Studies in Los Angeles. “They want their people in,” he said of donors. “That’s the return on their investment.”

What’s happening locally also is playing out at national and statewide levels. National independent political groups purchased more than $58 million worth of television and radio airtime between mid-August and Oct. 22 to influence the presidential and key congressional races, according to filings with the Federal Elections Commission.

In California, more than $7 million has been spent by special interests -- including labor unions, business owners and partisan groups -- in a last-minute burst hoping to influence the state’s hottest legislative races, according to filings with the secretary of state. The money accounts for roughly $1 of every $5 spent by candidate committees in 15 key districts.

The independent campaigns have proliferated since voters capped direct contributions to legislative candidates four years ago by passing Proposition 34, which generally limits donations to $3,200.

In Dana Point, where candidates are limited by city law to collecting $540 per donor, independent committees have spent about $250,000, mostly to urge voters to reelect Councilman Joe Snyder and to elect council candidate April O’Connor, a planning commissioner. The candidates have raised and spent only a fraction of that through their own campaigns.

“It’s atrocious,” said Councilman Wayne Rayfield, who isn’t on Tuesday’s ballot. “The thing that bothers me the most is the amount of money being spent on negative hit pieces, on why you shouldn’t vote for people. It obscures the real issues. Our little town of 36,000 people deserves better than that.”

The independent expenditures for Snyder and O’Connor have been funded chiefly by developer Sanford Edward, the owners of the St. Regis Resort and a company called Dana Point Investors. They have given $30,000 each for mailings that support Snyder and O’Connor. The mailings were produced by three independent committees: Clean Beaches Coalition, Taxpayers for a Better Dana Point and League of Independent Voters.

A fourth, Taxpayers for Safer Neighborhoods, has spent $26,000 to boost Snyder’s chances and to criticize another candidate, Lara Anderson. Donors to the effort were unknown because the group hadn’t filed its paperwork with the city.

In Anaheim, Citizens for Anaheim’s Future had spent $150,000 through Thursday on mail urging support for council candidates Lorri Galloway and Jerry O’Connell, who are supported by Anaheim Mayor Curt Pringle. The city has a $1,000 limit on donations to candidates.

Last week, a counter group called Anaheim Voter Alert was formed to oppose Galloway and O’Connell. The largest donor was Anaheim Councilman Bob Hernandez, who gave $6,000 toward about $12,000 in mailer expenses.

In Irvine, an ally of Mayor Larry Agran had sent 19 mailers through Friday to voters attacking candidates in the upcoming election and backing Agran and his slate of candidates, who are limited to collecting $360 per donor. The mail was sent by Hometown Voter Guide, produced by Ed Dornan. Agran is seeking a seat on the City Council.

The mailing has outpaced those by the Orange County Republican Party urging defeat of Agran and his candidates, all Democrats, as well as an independent effort by the Lincoln Club of Orange County, a GOP fundraising group. The two groups have sent 11 mailers. Four other mailers were sent urging support for mayoral candidate Earl Zucht by a committee called Common Sense that shares an address and bulk mailing permit with Hometown Voter Guide.

In Laguna Beach, where donations to candidates are capped at $310, a group opposed to the reelection of Councilman Wayne Baglin has spent about $51,000 on mail against him.

Campaign spending is destined to become an issue in cities with motivated interest groups and contribution limits, Stern said. He called for more immediate reporting and more detailed accounting of the source of committee funds and how they are spent.

Though the committees are required in the final weeks to report donations of $1,000 or more every 24 hours until the election, the bulk of the spending and bill paying doesn’t have to be reported until Jan. 31.

“The most important thing is getting more disclosure,” Stern said. “You shouldn’t have to wait until after the election.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.