City, county attorneys broaden probes into Calmark's contributions to Mayor Bradley.

City, county attorneys broaden probes into Calmark's contributions to Mayor Bradley

The City Attorney of Los Angeles and the Los Angeles County District Attorney's office are continuing investigations into campaign contributions to Mayor Tom Bradley from Calmark Holding Co., the financially ailing Westside real estate development firm headed by Uri Sheinbaum.

From 1987 through 1990, Sheinbaum's Calmark sought city aid and approval to build a $350 million, 1,781-room hotel and office complex next to the city Convention Center, a bid that had strong backing from the Mayor's office.

Calmark came under official investigation in May 1989, following news stories that the development company had directed $12,000 to a Bradley campaign fund on Aug. 25, 1987, including $1,000 from a non-existent entity named Pacific Rim Investment and Development Enterprises.

"The Calmark investigation is not something we have closed the book on," said Jim Hickey, deputy in District Attorney Ira Reiner's office. "It is worth a second look."

Hickey declined further comment, but confirmed the investigation has or will look into the activities of former mayoral aide Art Gastelum and Hal Mintz, a mysterious mayoral backer convicted in 1988 of operating a house of prostitution. Mintz wrote $125,000 in checks to Gastelum, a circumstance that may have contributed to Gastelum's sudden resignation from City Hall in February 1990 after 17 years with the mayor.

Gastelum attended several parties thrown by Calmark, and organized meetings in the Mayor's office between Calmark representatives and Bradley.

The City Attorney's office last week confirmed that it referred the Calmark case for investigation to the City Clerk's office, the agency responsible for auditing compliance with city campaign laws. Deputy City Attorney Kevin Ryan declined comment on the matter.

City Clerk Elias Martinez last week said his agency has finished its job. "The audit has been completed and sent to the city attorney," said Martinez. "I can't comment on the audit beyond that."

Beginning in 1987, Bradley aides Mark Fabiani and Gastelum pressed the city Community Redevelopment Agency repeatedly to approve Calmark as the hotel's builder, but Calmark could never convince the CRA board and negotiators it had the skill and financial wherewithal to complete the massive hotel project.

CRA has authority over the Convention Center and proposed convention hotel because they lie within the Central Business District redevelopment zone.

After nine months of exclusive negotiations, which ended in April last year, the CRA concluded that Calmark's precarious financial condition, and lack of a solid development partner, made its proposals unacceptable.