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.
