LOS ANGELES — The first time Highland Park resident Paul Zappia received a mailer criticizing Eunisses Hernandez, his representative on the Los Angeles City Council, he tossed it in the trash.

Then another arrived in his mailbox. And another, and another after that. Each came from a group called Neighbors First, which has been attacking Hernandez, a democratic socialist, over her votes against police hiring and her opposition to a law barring homeless encampments near schools.

Zappia, who supports Hernandez in the June 2 primary, said he looked up Neighbors First on its website but couldn't find any information — not a staff directory, a phone number or even an email address — about the group.

"It is really frustrating that groups like these can spend a lot of money in a local race, but that it is almost impossible for me to find anything out about them," the 36-year-old graphic designer said.

Zappia and other L.A. voters are getting their first major taste of "dark money," with well-funded groups weighing in on local candidates — all while keeping their donors anonymous. The Supreme Court paved the way for the phenomenon in a series of rulings, concluding that political spending is free speech.

In L.A., Neighbors First has sent mail pieces boosting more moderate City Council candidates and criticizing those backed by the Democratic Socialists of America, which pursues leftist policies. Because it is a 501(c)(4) charitable organization, Neighbors First doesn't have to say who paid for those messages.

On the Westside, the group has offered praise for Councilmember Traci Park, who is seeking to fend off a challenge from DSA-backed attorney Faizah Malik. In South L.A., the group has sent mail pieces critical of Estuardo Mazariegos, who is running to replace Councilmember Curren Price with the DSA support.

A second group, which goes by the name American Middle Ground, appears to be taking a similar approach, sending glossy mailers that promote Park and attack Hernandez over their stances on public safety and homelessness. Its mail pieces and website don't identify its donors.

Neighbors First was formed last fall as a nonprofit public benefit corporation, with San Rafael-based attorney Steven S. Lucas serving as its chief financial officer, according to paperwork filed with the secretary of state.

Jennifer Rivera, a former senior aide to City Councilmember Gil Cedillo, who was defeated by Hernandez, confirmed in a text message to The Times that she is one of the group's consultants.

According to Ethics Commission records, Rivera worked until last June as a registered lobbyist for McCourt Partners LLC, the real estate firm founded by Frank McCourt, the former Dodgers owner who is still half-owner of the Dodger Stadium parking lots.

Rivera lobbied city officials last year on a proposed gondola linking Union Station with Dodger Stadium, a concept first pitched by McCourt in 2018.

Hernandez, whose district includes the stadium, has been the project's most outspoken political foe, warning that it would disrupt the neighborhood, harm a park in Chinatown and push out longtime renters and businesses.

Jessica Sause, a spokesperson for McCourt Partners, said in an email that "neither Frank McCourt nor any of his entities have contributed to Neighbors First."

Rivera didn't respond to other questions about Neighbors First, saying simply that it is "working to uplift the voices of everyday Angelenos." A form filed with the Ethics Commission provided a bit more information, saying Neighbors First spent about $366,000 between Jan. 1 and March 31 on activities related to police funding, affordable housing, emergency response and other issues.

Over the last year, Rivera also has been involved with a nonprofit called Vibrant LA, according to a slide deck presented by the group and reviewed by The Times. That document laid out strategies for electing centrists to the council.

The slide deck identified Rivera as Vibrant LA's executive director and San Francisco-based political consultant Jay Cheng, who spent several years heading up the advocacy group Neighbors for a Better San Francisco, as the group's political advisor.

Rivera didn't respond to questions from The Times about whether she is still involved in Vibrant. Cheng, in an interview, confirmed that he advises Vibrant LA but is unaware of Neighbors First. He touted the success that Neighbors for a Better San Francisco had in that city, working to recall Dist. Atty. Chesa Boudin and elect a centrist majority on that county's Board of Supervisors. Vibrant LA has formed a fundraising committee and will be active in supporting moderates, Cheng said.

Sause, the McCourt spokesperson, didn't respond to a Times inquiry asking whether McCourt or his companies contributed to Vibrant.

Dark money has become a major force in state and national elections, following Supreme Court rulings that struck down restrictions on "issue ads" that highlight a candidate's political positions but don't say explicitly how someone should vote.

Still, the concept is new in L.A.'s municipal elections, said former Councilmember Mike Bonin, who spent 24 years working at City Hall.

Bonin said real estate developers, labor unions and other well-funded donors have historically followed the "democratic norm," identifying their biggest contributors on their ads and naming all of them in their public filings.

"This is a new phenomenon that disregards the idea that transparency and disclosure are important," he said. "So we don't know if this money is coming from a foreign entity. We don't know if this money is coming from a tech giant in San Francisco."

Bonin first raised concerns about Neighbors First last month, writing about the group on his Substack. He has endorsed three of the candidates being targeted by Neighbors First: Hernandez, Mazariegos and Malik.

Promotional materials for Neighbors First are mostly bare bones. On its website, the group says it is a coalition of L.A. residents "promoting a safer, cleaner, more prosperous and more collaborative city."

"We're building a movement for real change: more affordable housing, safer and cleaner neighborhoods, better schools and childcare, and a culture of collaboration that turns ideas into solutions," the website says.

Under federal law, nonprofit groups such as Neighbors First must take part in activities that benefit the social welfare, said Michael Franz, co-director of the Wesleyan Media Project, an academic group at Wesleyan University that tracks political ad spending.

Franz said 501(c)(4) dark money groups typically put substantial resources into mail pieces, television ads or other types of media that highlight a candidate's political stances or legislative history.

"Even though they look exactly like attack ads, they loosely package them as civic education," he said.

Neighbors First has been especially active on the city's Eastside, putting up billboards and sending out mailers criticizing Hernandez over such issues as her recent vote against hiring 170 more police officers and her opposition to a law against homeless encampments near schools.

Hernandez, in an interview, said she doesn't know who is funding the group. However, she made clear she views corporations and billionaires as the most likely possibilities.

"[It] looks like an attempt to purchase various council seats in the city of L.A.," she said.

Mazariegos, another target of Neighbors First, said he's convinced the group has wealthy backers who "don't have our community's best interests" at heart.

In L.A., advocacy groups such as California Common Cause and the California Clean Money Campaign have asked the Ethics Commission to respond to the growing number of issue ads being sent out by groups such as Neighbors First.

"We worry that a race to the bottom has been unleashed," the groups said in an April 17 letter, "and that other political entities will feel compelled to adopt the same tactic of utilizing sham issue ads."

Neighborhoods First has even drawn criticism from other consultants at City Hall, who say the group is getting around rules meant to show the source of political messaging.

"If you have a viewpoint, you should be willing to say who you are," said Lisa Gritzner, a veteran City Hall lobbyist. "That's what our system is based on."

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