Lynn Schenk gets cash from Lerach law firm

San Diego — Ex-congresswoman Lynn Schenk is still kicking around the idea of running for state attorney general. Campaign reports show that over the past six months the lawyer from La Jolla has raised $52,000 for her "exploratory" committee. $20,000 came from Milberg, Weiss Bershad Hynes & Lerach, the San Diego law firm famous for its stockholder class action suits. $25,000 was given by Pride 21 Corporation, a Manhattan-based entity that records show is run by Ronald Perelman, the Revlon takeover billionaire and husband of Patricia Duff, longtime Democratic fundraiser and pal of Bill and Hillary Clinton. Roger Faubel, listed as a manager of Southern California Edison, chipped in $2000, and banker Murray Galinson gave $1000. Schenk shared a bit of her loot with local politicos, giving $550 to failed Democrat Peter Navarro against Brian Bilbray, who unseated Schenk two years ago, and $1000 to Senator Barbara Boxer, said to be the target of Susan Golding, Schenk's old nemesis in their long-ago battle for county supervisor.

Mickey, Kimberly, and a Chicago lawyer

Employees at TV stations owned by McGraw-Hill, including KGTV here, are being called into special meetings to deny persistent reports that the stations are about to be unloaded. The most likely buyer, Wall Street sources say, is the Walt Disney Company, which owns ABC, of which the four McGraw-Hill stations are affiliates... A Chicago lawyer has been indicted for defrauding her former law firm of $900,000 worth of personal expenses, including a trip to the Golden Door fat farm...The prize for last year's most expensive California assembly race goes to the battle between Democrat Howard Wayne and Republican Tricia Hunter. Between them, Wayne, the eventual winner, and Hunter, the Pete Wilson favorite, dumped $2.3 million into their primary and general election campaigns.

Wastewater under the bridge

Back in the fall of 1987, Bob Ottilie ran against Bruce Henderson for city council, and an earnest young political operative named Sara Katz handled Ottilie's campaign. Henderson beat Ottilie, but a decade later, Ottilie is representing Henderson in his stadium case against city hall. For her part, Katz went on to build a prosperous public relations and lobbying firm, with a specialty in water issues. Now, reports a Florida newspaper, La JollaPbased Katz is cleaning up as a consultant to the city of Tampa, helping officials there sell the local citizenry on the safety of adding reclaimed sewage water to the drinking supply. The city recently completed a 30-month study showing that treated effluent can be made safe for public consumption, but critics abound. Katz's job is to hold "focus groups" and other "awareness events" for area citizens. "The goal is not to sell them on anything," she told the Tampa Tribune. "The goal is to inform and invite feedback and help hone the project." Katz has become a bit of a specialist in the field, developing recycled sewage water gambits for other cities, including Atlanta and San Antonio. She's long worked for San Diego's wastewater program, which is working on a drinking water plan of its own.

A Graves move

San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown has bounced Clifford Graves as that city's director of redevelopment. Back in 1985, Graves experienced a similar purge at the hands of thenPSan Diego County Supervisor Susan Golding, who lobbied her fellow board members to dump him from his job as the county's first black chief administrative officer. After he resigned from that spot, Graves became a managing director of the investment firm Grigsby Brandford & Co., the black-owned securities company now facing federal scrutiny as a result of an FBI sting in Miami last year. Graves, a Republican, was appointed to the San Diego Port Commission in 1993. When he departed for San Francisco a year later, he attempted to hold onto his port district seat here, a move that set off so much controversy he was forced to relinquish it. His sudden ouster by Brown is also stirring political dust. "I think it's a mistake,'' said San Francisco County Supervisor Michael Yaki, whom Brown placed on the board. "He brought a much more aggressive, entrepreneurial style to the agency."

Contributor: Matt Potter