City Probing Alatorre on Fund Use in Council Bid Home Edition

• Published in: The Los Angeles times
• Main Author: Clayton, Janet
• Format: Newspaper Article
• Language: English
• Published: Los Angeles, Calif Los Angeles Times Communications LLC 19.02.1986
• ISSN: 0458-3035

Mike Qualls, a spokesman for the city attorney's office, said Tuesday that the office is conducting an inquiry, but he would not discuss the amount in question. Other sources said the amount being questioned is $45,345 that was spent last year before former Assemblyman [Richard Alatorre] was an official candidate to replace Councilman Arthur K. Snyder, but several months after Alatorre announced his intention to run and began laying the groundwork for his council campaign. Included are a July $150-per-person Alatorre fund-raiser at the Pickfair home of Los Angeles Lakers owner Jerry Buss, for which nearly $21,000 was spent on catering, and $15,000 for videotaping that an Alatorre spokesman said was "autobiographical . . . about Richard's background." Later, the spokesman said, Alatorre's voice was added, asking viewers to vote for him for councilman. Alatorre said he already has reimbursed $25,000 to his state committee and said another $20,000 "is in the process" of being reimbursed. Although Alatorre said that "to my knowledge there have been no violations," he decided to reimburse the money last month, he said, "because I didn't want anything (mis)construed; I didn't want anything under a cloud."