Fundraising in Race for Mayor Gets Boost

By Jeffrey L. Rabin

Sept. 19, 2004 12 AM PT

Times Staff Writer

The race for mayor of Los Angeles got off to a quick start earlier this year when Councilman Bernard C. Parks lent $50,000 to his campaign and triggered an exemption from the city’s contribution limit for other candidates.

Mayor James K. Hahn, former Assembly Speaker Robert Hertzberg and state Sen. Richard Alarcon immediately took advantage of the opportunity to raise up to $7,000, rather than the usual $1,000, from individual donors.

Campaign finance reports show those three candidates had raised $132,350 in so-called “excess contributions” by the end of the most recent reporting period on June 30.

In the last mayoral campaign, the contribution limit was lifted only a month before the April 2001 election. This time, the $1,000 limit came off more than 10 months before the March 2005 election.

And it could be lifted again, later in the campaign, if candidates use their own money to assist their campaigns.

The city’s campaign finance law provides for lifting the contribution limit whenever a candidate in a race for mayor, city attorney or controller gives or lends more than $30,000 to his or her own campaign.

Since Parks made the loan to his campaign in late April, records show Hahn has raised $48,200 in excess contributions from 13 donors. Alarcon has collected $46,150 in such donations from 16 contributors. And Hertzberg has received $38,000 in large contributions from 14 donors.

When a candidate lends or gives his campaign money, the law allows each competitor to raise an equal amount in excess contributions. In this case, that means Parks’ opponents can raise $50,000.

Councilman Antonio Villaraigosa did not enter the race until last month and has yet to file a campaign contribution report.

Robert Stern, president of the Los Angeles-based Center for Governmental Studies and one of the authors of the city’s campaign finance law, expressed concern that the practice allows some contributors to gain greater influence. “The higher the contribution given, the more influence the person has,” Stern said.

He said the voter-approved campaign finance system, which provides partial public financing of city campaigns, was designed to encourage candidates to seek smaller, not larger, contributions.

Stern said the lifting of the limit is “not a huge concern yet” because Parks’ rivals can only raise up to $50,000.

By contrast, in March 2001, real estate developer Steve Soboroff gave $667,000 to his mayoral campaign. That allowed other candidates to raise up to $667,000 in excess contributions.

Soboroff’s donation unleashed a torrent of contributions to others in the race and helped make the last mayoral campaign the most expensive in Los Angeles history.

In this race, Parks said he made the loan last spring because he wanted to get his campaign “off the ground.”

The former LAPD chief said other candidates in the mayor’s race who are raising contributions of more than $1,000 have “every right to do what they are doing. The rules are the rules.”

Hahn campaign chairman Bill Wardlaw said, “The law was written in a way to level the playing field” when one candidate has the resources to put personal money into his or her own campaign. “That’s what the law provided and we took advantage of it,” he said.

The mayor’s reelection campaign received a $7,000 donation from Santa Monica investor Harry Borekcian and one from his wife, Hilda. Los Angeles investor John Eleftheriou and educator Anna Eleftheriou also each made maximum contributions.

Black Equities, a Beverly Hills investment group headed by Stanley Black, gave $5,000 to Hahn’s campaign and $500 to Parks. “They are friends of mine,” he said. Black said he believes Hahn is “doing a pretty good job.”

Hahn’s campaign also received $3,700 from Los Angeles attorney Stuart A. Liner, whose law firm has a contract to provide legal services to the city’s Harbor Department.

Alarcon also took advantage of the chance to raise larger contributions. “I’m certainly going to use it to balance the playing field,” he said.

Daniel Bunn, president of a company that operates All Saints Healthcare in North Hollywood, said he gave $7,000 to support Alarcon because he has “been a friend of mine for a number of years now.”

Alarcon said when All Saints, a subacute care facility for adults and children, faced challenges getting state funds, he helped to ensure the facility did not shut down.

The California Applicants’ Attorneys Assn., whose members represent workers injured on the job, gave $7,000 to Alarcon.

Entertainer George Lopez and his wife, Ann, contributed $5,000 apiece.

Hertzberg also has raised more than $1,000 from some contributors. Allen M. Lawrence, a San Fernando Valley insurance broker, and his wife, Suzanne, each gave $5,000 to back Hertzberg’s candidacy.

Lawrence is chairman of VALPAC, a political action committee composed of San Fernando business interests. Hertzberg serves on the political committee’s board of directors.

Hertzberg is extraordinarily qualified to “provide the leadership to move this city forward,” Lawrence said.

The list of $5,000 donors to the former lawmaker includes prominent Valley attorney David Fleming and Steven Nichols, president of K-Swiss, a Westlake Village company that sells athletic shoes and clothing. Both serve with Hertzberg on the political action committee’s board.

Four executives of Arden Realty, including chief executive Richard Ziman, each gave $2,500 to Hertzberg. Arden Realty, a Los Angeles-based real estate investment trust, owns many large office buildings in Southern California.

Villaraigosa’s campaign consultant Parke Skelton first said he was not aware that the contribution limit had been lifted. Then a short time later, he said Villaraigosa would seek contributions of more than $1,000.

“As we speak,” Skelton said, “Antonio started making the calls.”

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Big-dollar donors

After Los Angeles Councilman Bernard C. Parks lent $50,000 to his campaign for mayor last spring, the city’s $1,000 campaign contribution limit was temporarily lifted for other candidates, allowing his rivals to raise up to $7,000 from individual donors. Mayor James K. Hahn, former Assembly Speaker Bob Hertzberg and state Sen. Richard Alarcon have since collected numerous contributions in excess of $1,000.

Major contributors to Mayor James K. Hahn

Harry Borekcian, Santa Monica, investor, $7,000

Hilda Borekcian, Santa Monica, homemaker, $7,000

John Eleftheriou, Los Angeles, investor, $7,000

Anna Eleftheriou, Los Angeles, educator, $7,000

Beny Alagem, Beverly Hills, owner, Alagem Capital Group, $5,500

Adele Alagem, Beverly Hills, homemaker, $5,000

Black Equities, Beverly Hills, $5,000

William Chadwick, Malibu, investment banker, $5,000

Major contributors to state Sen. Richard Alarcon

Daniel Bunn, San Diego, attorney, $7,000

California Applicants’ Attorneys Assn., Sacramento, $7,000