Concerns Raised by Lungren Fund-Raisers : Politics: Some backers of Fresno dinners for the attorney general have had matters pending with his office. Staff 'can't know everything about everybody,' aide says.

By MARK ARAX

Oct. 31, 1995 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

FRESNO — California Atty. Gen. Dan Lungren is coming to town next month to explore a bid for governor, and one of the hosts of his $250-a-plate fund-raiser is an industrial waste hauler recently sued by the attorney general’s office.

William Shubin has agreed to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars to settle two cases of illegal dumping and storage of toxic chemicals filed by authorities in Fresno and Tulare counties and the state attorney general’s office.

While Shubin works out the final details of his settlement with the attorney general’s office, he has pledged $2,500 to buy 10 dinners at Lungren’s fund-raiser next month. The Nov. 30 affair will honor Lungren for 15 years of public service.

This is not the first time the attorney general’s fund-raising efforts in Fresno have raised eyebrows. Last year, the host committee for Lungren’s $500-a-plate dinner included several Fresno developers under FBI investigation and another whose controversial poker casino needed a favorable reading from the attorney general’s office.

“We try to be as careful as we can, but we can’t know everything about everybody,” said Kimberley Peters, one of the financial directors of Lungren’s campaign and organizer of both dinners in Fresno. “Our campaign manager looked over the list of hosts, but she probably doesn’t know people in Fresno that well.”

Lungren could not be reached for comment Monday.

Shubin and his wife, Martha, who are listed as table sponsors on the invitations for the upcoming dinner, own Thrifty Best Pumping Service. The Fresno County-based company handles industrial waste and noxious grease from hundreds of restaurants and grocery stores throughout California and Nevada.

In 1994, as Thrifty Best was having numerous run-ins with local and state agencies, the Shubins donated $1,500 to Lungren’s reelection campaign, records show.

“We’ve been supporters of Dan for a lot of years now,” said Andy Shubin, their son and company vice president.

Two years ago, Thrifty Best was accused of operating without permits and illegally disposing of untreated sewage and other wastes at eight sites in Fresno County. One employee testified in a deposition that Thrifty Best fooled its restaurant customers by reversing the pumps on company trucks and forcing the trapped grease into the municipal sewer system.

In a lawsuit against Shubin to recover damages, Fresno County officials pushed for a $1.2-million settlement. In a controversial decision in July, three county supervisors who had taken political donations from Shubin voted to settle the case for $150,000.

In a separate legal action involving the illegal storage and transportation of cancer-causing farm chemicals, the attorney general’s office and Tulare County prosecutors sought to recover civil penalties and cleanup costs from Shubin. The attorney general’s office had agreed to handle the case for the state Department of Toxic Substances Control.

The case involved a railroad boxcar on Shubin’s property that was filled with a volatile mix of illegal pesticides and herbicides. Local and state prosecutors alleged that Shubin transported the leaky boxcar to a friend’s farm in Tulare County in October, 1992, after authorities raised questions about its contents.

Earlier this month, a few weeks after Shubin signed on as a table sponsor for Lungren’s Nov. 30 dinner here, the attorney general’s office and Tulare County prosecutors agreed on an eleventh-hour settlement that will allow Shubin to avoid trial.

Instead, he will pay a total of more than $175,000 to the state for its cleanup costs and to Tulare County for civil penalties and investigative costs. He did not admit any liability.

Barbara Greaver, the Tulare County prosecutor who handled the case, said that at no time did the attorney general’s office pressure her into a settlement. “We had a pretty good case, but we got the money we wanted,” she said.

Lungren’s fund-raising efforts in Fresno last summer raised similar questions. The host committee for a $500-a-plate fund-raiser included several local developers and lobbyists who were either under investigation by the FBI or had business pending before the attorney general’s office.

At the time, federal agents had subpoenaed the records of numerous politicians and developers and indicated that the investigation was focusing on one office building in particular in northwest Fresno.

The occupants of that office included builders Darius and Farid Assemi and lobbyist Jim Logan--all listed as members of Lungren’s host committee.

Other Lungren dinner hosts included developer Jon Thomason and builders Robert McCaffrey and Jerry De Young. Thomason was a target of the FBI investigation until he agreed to testify earlier this year and was granted immunity. Federal agents say McCaffrey and De Young remain under investigation.

Peters said she was not aware of any FBI investigations when she organized the fund- raisers. “To a certain extent, we ask if anyone has a lawsuit pending, but we usually don’t go any deeper than that,” she said.

Another developer and Lungren dinner host, Bud Long, had applied for a state license to operate a controversial casino in downtown Fresno. His application was under consideration by the attorney general’s office at the time of last year’s fund-raiser.

He has since been issued a preliminary license by the attorney general’s office.

“I didn’t make a donation because I assumed there would be anything in return,” Long said. “I have been supporting Dan Lungren for years, and I will continue to do so.”