Robbins Couldn’t Resist Lobbyists’ Money

Alan Robbins’ lavishly financed 1973 election to the state Senate represented the first of the Van Nuys Democrat’s multiple entries in the California history books.

The $339,000 of personal fortune he spent campaigning easily surpassed the previous state record. He said then that using his own money would keep him free from lobby influences, a prediction that would later prove ironic.

The political ascent of Robbins, a North Hollywood High School and UCLA graduate, was marked by achievements including helping end mandatory school busing in Los Angeles and co-writing a law requiring all motorists to carry proof of insurance.

Robbins’ climb halted abruptly in 1981 when he was tried and acquitted of charges that he had sex with two 16-year-old high school students he met in the Capitol. Despite feverish media coverage of the case, he retained support from San Fernando Valley residents, earning 52% of the vote in 1982 to win reelection.

The most indelible act of Robbins’ 18 years in office came about a decade later. He pleaded guilty in 1991 to extorting money from lobbyists and former business partners while in office.

During a 20-month sentence in federal prison at Lompoc, Robbins did janitorial work and got reacquainted with some of his former constituents.

“One of the things that kind of saved me at Lompoc was that there were inmates there from the San Fernando Valley area and they kind of took it on themselves to be around to protect me,” he told The Times in 1995.

Robbins lately has avoided the limelight, speaking out occasionally for campaign reforms and living in a modest Westwood apartment.

He sold his million-dollar Encino home several years ago to raise part of the $4 million he owed in federal fines and restitution. Last year, a man who leased the home during Robbins’ prison stay was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in state prison for stealing $92,000 worth of furniture from the home.