Consulting payments to Oakland City Councilman Ignacio De La Fuente by a group tied to former state-senator-turned-lobbyist Don Perata are raising questions about a possible conflict of interest in the awarding of a $7 million contract to run the Oakland Coliseum complex.

Campaign records show that De La Fuente, who chairs the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum Authority, received $37,500 in recent years from the "Hope 2012" campaign, a dollar-a-pack tobacco tax initiative set up by Perata to help fund cancer research.

In return, De La Fuente was to help generate support among labor groups for the Proposition 29 tax initiative on the June ballot.

None of the payments was disclosed on De La Fuente's statement of outside earnings as a councilman and head of the Coliseum authority.

The possible conflict: Perata is also working as a lobbyist for SMG, one of three companies vying for the contract to manage the Coliseum for the next 10 years.

De La Fuente, in addition to being one of the eight authority members who will vote on a contract, sits on the committee reviewing the bids.

He doesn't see an issue with the payments from Perata's group.

"The work I did for cancer research ... started long before there was a discussion about the (Coliseum) management agreement with anybody," he said.

Perata also denied any ulterior motives, calling De La Fuente "a close and dear friend" but adding, "I do not see a conflict of interest."

Two other Coliseum board members, county Supervisor Scott Haggerty and Oakland school board member Chris Dobbins, said they were unaware of the payments and referred us to the Coliseum's legal staff for an opinion.

As of Tuesday's deadline, we were still waiting for a call back from Coliseum legal counsel Deena McClain.

As for not disclosing the payments, De La Fuente called it an oversight.

Grim scene: The killings of five people in a home near City College of San Francisco were so gruesome that police officers sent to the scene are being offered counseling.

"It was just unbelievable," one police official said of the scene in the Howth Street house where a couple in their 60s, their adult children and their son's girlfriend were found bludgeoned and hacked to death Friday.

The killer doused the small home with bleach, water and paint in an apparent attempt to cover up fingerprints or other evidence, one law enforcement source said.

And while police believe that "we have the guy" - Binh Thai Luc, 35 - others wonder how could one person have possibly done this without help.

Oakland 911: For all of Mayor Jean Quan's recent announcements of new hires, new grants and a new academy class, Oakland has fewer cops today than it did after the police layoffs of 2010.

According to a report by the city administrator, Oakland will end the month with 657 officers. That's 30 fewer cops than the 687 on duty following the budget-cutting layoffs of 80 cops that became a big issue two years ago.

It's also 175 fewer cops than the department's peak of 832 officers in December 2008.

But "bad as that might be, it was even worse a couple of months back," said Barry Donelan, head of the Oakland Police Officers Association.

The department reached its low point in July, with 631 officers.

Meanwhile, the latest crime stats show that homicides in Oakland are up 13 percent so far his year, robberies are up 33 percent, car thefts are up 28 percent and burglaries are up 42 percent.

In some places it's even higher, said City Councilwoman Libby Schaaf, who lives in the hills near Quan.

"On our beat, burglaries have quadrupled," she said.

Wiener wars: After 18 years, the San Francisco Giants are dumping the Stockton supplier of their quarter-pound hot dogs in favor of a Chicago import.

The $6.50 "big dog" that will be sold at AT&T Park this season will come from Eisenberg Sausage Co., which also supplies wieners for the Chicago Cubs.

"It's too bad they're going out of state," said a steamed executive of the departing provider, Alpine Meats of Stockton.

According to the Alpine exec, who would only talk on the QT because the company will still sell smaller Giants Dogs at the ballpark, the company couldn't stomach the "low six-figure" fee the team was demanding to stay on as a Giants' official hot dog sponsor.

Giants spokeswoman Staci Slaughter says fans needn't worry about the change, considering they'll have 16 types of hot dogs and sausages to choose from.

"Most important is taste and providing good quality," she said.

EXTRA! Catch our blog at www.sfgate.com/matierandross.