Student Has Entire Valley for Course in Campaigning

Pierce College student Douglas Sklar was so tired after his 7 a.m. Spanish class the other day that he felt like falling asleep in the cafeteria. A woman sitting across from him asked why he was so exhausted. “Oh, it’s my job,” he said. “It’s very stressful.”

The woman asked the 19-year-old Sklar what kind of work he did. He parked cars, he joked. When she persisted, Sklar said, “OK, I’ll tell you the truth. I’m the campaign coordinator in the San Fernando Valley for mayoral candidate John Ferraro.”

The woman paused and then said, “No, really, what do you do?”

But Douglas Sklar wasn’t kidding. Neither are the officials in charge of the campaign of City Councilman John Ferraro. Sklar, who graduated from Granada Hills High School in 1984, was appointed last month as Ferraro’s campaign coordinator for the Valley, an area that Ferraro regards as his highest priority in his bid to defeat Mayor Tom Bradley in the April 9 mayoral election.

Myriad Tasks

Among Sklar’s myriad tasks is carrying out decisions made at Ferraro’s main headquarters, coordinating all of the candidate’s Valley appearances, running a field office in Tarzana, directing volunteers, organizing rallies at colleges, revving up support throughout the community and answering phones.

He also has to keep up with 14 units of classes at Pierce.

Sklar is the first to admit that it’s hard to think about a Spanish exam Friday morning when you’ve been entertaining and talking to 250 Ferraro supporters at the grand opening of Ferraro’s Valley field office Thursday night, as he did last week.

“Sometimes my age is a major problem for supporters to accept,” said Sklar, an intense but quick-to-smile Northridge resident who may look, in a pinstriped suit, a few years older than he is--but not much.

“It takes people a little while to get used to me, especially young people,” he said. “But, once people see me in action, they can see that I get the job done. I have to. If I felt uncomfortable, I wouldn’t be here.”

Started Political Life Early

Sitting amid half-empty wine cups and leftover snacks after the grand opening, Sklar projected the assurance and ambition of an experienced political strategist. But this is a youth who at 8 years old stormed into a student government meeting at Emek Hebrew Academy, demanding that the third grade be represented on the student council.

“They did let the third grade serve on the council after that,” he said, grinning.

During high school, Sklar became increasingly involved with the Young Republicans and, as a senior, was an intern in the office of state Sen. Alan Robbins (D-Van Nuys). He was later hired as director of volunteers for the unsuccessful congressional campaign of Richard Gomez, who ran against Matthew Martinez (D-Monterey Park) last year. He was contacted afterwards by Ferraro campaign officials.

“When they first contacted me, I wasn’t too sure about accepting, because I wanted to concentrate more on school,” Sklar said. “I wanted to raise my B average at Pierce. I plan to transfer to USC when I graduate. But, after a few meetings, I decided to take the job.”

Sandra Conlin, press secretary for Ferraro’s campaign, said of Sklar, “His ability is way beyond an average 19-year-old. He’s a very mature 19, and our office was quite impressed with his interest and ability to quickly evaluate a situation.”

Interest is Recent

Sklar said he did not have much interest in mayoral politics until recently.

“When I was naive or a political virgin, I didn’t know all that much about Tom Bradley,” he said. “I would just see him on television cutting ribbons, and I took it for granted. Now I know that’s all he does, cut ribbons. He doesn’t care at all about the Valley, and John Ferraro does.”

Even though Ferraro is the underdog, Sklar said he believes Ferraro will beat Bradley. “Gov. George Deukmejian was running behind in the polls during the gubernatorial race against Bradley a couple of years ago,” Sklar said. “Ferraro will win. I would put my salary on it.” He would not say what that is, however.

Sklar has long-range political goals, including running for the U.S. Senate or a staff job for a member of Congress. At this stage he hasn’t ruled out a race for president.

Right now, there is the mayoral campaign, taking up about 25 hours a day, besides school.

And immediately afterward? Sklar smiled. “Finding a steady girlfriend,” he said.