Working for those last-minute campaign dollars
Next week is another deadline for candidates to raise money in the Los Angeles election. And that means another spate of last-minute campaign fundraisers for candidates such as Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.
The mayor spent Wednesday night raising reelection money with movie director Brett Ratner, best known for the “Rush Hour” action movies. And earlier today he held a fundraiser at the downtown Los Angeles offices of Mayer, Brown LLP. 
Two of that firm’s lawyers – former Assemblyman Dario Frommer and former U.S. Commerce Secretary Mickey Kantor – represent Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway, which is seeking to build a $300-million rail yard next to the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.
Port documents show that Mayer, Brown lawyers arranged at least three meetings on behalf of the railway with Villaraigosa appointees on the Harbor Commission last year. Although some clean-air activists have been critical of the railway, port commission President S. David Freeman has argued that the project could bring environmental benefits to the region.
Frommer and Kantor were cohosts of today's Villaraigosa fundraiser, as was Mayer, Brown attorney Phil Recht, who last registered as a City Hall lobbyist in 2004, when he represented Wal-Mart. Mayer, Brown recently hired City Hall lobbyist Tim McOsker, who represents such clients as Providence Holy Cross Medical Center, which secured the city’s approval to expand in Mission Hills over the objections of several labor leaders.
One Mayer, Brown lawyer who didn't appear on Friday's fundraising invitation was former Assembly Speaker Bob Hertzberg, who ran against Villaraigosa and lost in 2005.
-- David Zahniser
