CITY HALL'S 'PIT BULL' FOR VALLEY DEVELOPER STEIN, MONEY IS THE PATH TO POWER.

Byline: Beth Barrett Staff Writer

Within the Los Angeles City Hall power structure, few have played the game more skillfully than West San Fernando Valley developer Ted Stein - now one of the fund-raisers for Mayor James Hahn's anti-secession campaign, L.A. United.

Stein has served as head of key commissions - planning, airports and harbor - under the city's last three mayors. His wife Ellen has long served on the Board of Public Works, which at $95,000 a year is one of the city's few paid commission posts.

And Stein has been able to get City Hall backing for controversial housing developments near Van Nuys Airport and in Chatsworth horse country despite strong neighborhood opposition.

The secret of his success, like many other players in the City Hall game, boils down to connections, and a willingness to raise large sums of money for key politicians, even if it means putting aside old animosities - like fund-raising heavily for Hahn, who beat Stein badly in a bitter 1997 city attorney's race.

``Four years ago he ran against Hahn and now he's his No. 1 confidant,'' said an insider who regards Stein as one of City Hall's most influential city operators.

Another source called Stein a ``pit bull,'' occasionally vindictive and insistent on getting his own way. ``He raises a lot of money. And sometimes you need a pit bull.''

The Steins themselves contributed more than $26,000 to various 2001 races, city records show. Ted Stein was instrumental in raising far more - particularly for Hahn.

Stein is described by his friends, and those he contacts for contributions, as ``relentless'' - calling potential contributors and asking them first directly, then to raise additional funds.

``Ted will call and call until he gets that $500,'' said a source, one regularly tapped by Stein. ``He's very, very good. He's relentless. He'll make 100 calls.''

Stein lost much prestige when former Mayor Richard Riordan - who was backing his aide Steve Soboroff against Hahn - fired him as head of the Harbor Commission because Stein backed Hahn.

But Stein quickly regained his influence when he got deeply involved in fund raising and advising Hahn. His reward was being named to head the Airport Commission even though his previous tenure in that role under Riordan was marked by controversies that contributed to his defeat in the city attorney's race.

``I hope I was chosen for the commissionship because I had certain expertise on the airport, and had been there before. If money was an issue, I could have raised infinitely less and still been considered part of a good fund-raising team,'' Stein said.

Stein's value has been recognized by the city's elite, including William Wardlaw, an investment banker and prodigious Democratic fund-raiser who is a confidant of presidents, governors and mayors.

Wardlaw could be the most plugged-in player in town, and has the next- best thing to great personal wealth: other people's money.

After breaking with Riordan over the mayor's race, he has remade himself as a city power broker. Wardlaw not only cultivates elected officials, but also those who can raise money for those officials.

Stein is a key lieutenant. Most mornings, Wardlaw and Stein hold a wake-up chat, creating one of the city's most powerful alliances.

Those tapped by Stein say he's difficult to turn down, both because he is so persistent and because of the power he wields.

Lobbyists and others seeking access to City Hall, for instance, were drawn to an April 2000 fund-raiser at the Steins' Encino home for controller candidate Laura Chick. The event attracted some of the most influential people in the city.

Steve Afriat, one of the city's top lobbyists who was on Chick's campaign team, recalled the wine-and-cheese event as a golden opportunity to support his candidate financially, while appearing before the Steins and other powerful people.

Another key player at the Chick fund-raiser was Lisa Specht, a Manatt Phelps & Phillips lobbyist who's both a city recreation and parks and Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum commissioner.

Specht took, as a guest, Jack Baylis, who heads the engineering firm CH2M Hill's Los Angeles-area office. Baylis said he was happy to go, adding he has been cultivating city officials with the help of Hahn and others for several years.

``We do a lot of work in the city and county, like all the other big engineering firms,'' Baylis said, adding the Denver-based company believes it should be a ``good community member'' wherever it goes.

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Within the L.A. City Hall power structure, few have played the game more skillfully than West San Fernando Valley developer Ted Stein.