Burnout, Low Pay Make Political ‘Comers’ Quit

Articulate, hard-working and all of 22, Alan Viterbi had the look of a rising political star when he joined the West Hollywood City Council in 1984.

There was talk of a future congressional seat for the pudgy politician with the strong base among elderly Jewish voters, or at least a spot in the Legislature.

Instead, Viterbi surprised the prognosticators last spring by chucking his political career for a partnership in a bus-shelter advertising business. At age 26, disenchanted with politics, he disengaged from public life.

5 Others Drop Out

“There’s a lot of grief that comes with public office,” Viterbi said. “There are the pressure groups. There are the meetings that last until 2 a.m. or 3 a.m. . . . At some point you say: ‘Let somebody else have the grief.’ ”

For six well-known Westside council members, 1988 is the year when the grief that goes along with public life seemed to outweigh the gratification.

Joining Viterbi at the City Hall exit gates were Beverly Hills City Council members Benjamin H. Stansbury Jr., Charlotte Spadaro and Donna Ellman. In Santa Monica, Mayor James P. Conn and Councilman Alan Katz are departing this fall.

Long hours, low pay and mounting pressure from special-interest groups, especially those that have rallied around the slow-growth issue, are among the main reasons cited for the moves. Outgoing officials said council duty, which used to be a part-time job handled by Chamber of Commerce types, has evolved into a full-time commitment that wreaks havoc on careers and families.

“The ability to give the city the time it requires, your profession the time it requires and your family the time they require is often an impossible task,” Katz said. “There’s no limit to the time you can spend on the job.”

Katz, who works as chief of staff for Lt. Gov. Leo McCarthy, said Westside council members must possess unusual qualities these days. Being unemployed or having a flexible work schedule is vital, he said, since council activities require a commitment of 20 to 60 hours a week.

Financial independence is also important, since Westside-area council members earn only $50 to $400 a month, no matter how much time they spend on the job. Couch potatoes also need not apply, because officials are expected to show up at meetings and social events at night and on weekends.

And the kicker is that there’s virtually no opportunity for political advancement. The council members said municipal experience does little or nothing to position a person for higher office in the competitive Westside.

“These jobs are not political springboards,” Katz said. “No one has gone from the Santa Monica council to anything but retirement. (For higher office) you need a record on major issues, you need vast financial resources and you need big name recognition, and none of that comes from council service.”

Despite all the negatives, Westside council races remain competitive, thanks to ego, the lure of political power and the chance to affect change. And there are still those who successfully serve multiple terms. But council members say disillusionment often sets in sooner than expected.

Conn, a Methodist minister, seriously considered retirement when his first term ended four years ago. He was persuaded to seek reelection. But as the 1988 elections approached, Conn made it clear that eight years was enough.

The mayor’s primary motivation was his desire to spend more time with his 10-year-old son. But Conn said other factors came into play. His work at the Church in Ocean Park suffered as he spent up to 30 hours a week dealing with complex issues such as growth, zoning, traffic and the environment.

‘Absolutely Demanding’

“No one understands how much time (this job) requires,” Conn said. “Maybe in some quiet little town someplace, it is not this intense. But certainly in an urban metropolis with all the variety and spectrum of issues facing us, it’s absolutely demanding on one’s time and consciousness.”

In addition, City Council members aren’t paid full-time salaries as are legislators and congressmen, though they often work the same number of hours.

Conn said money isn’t a major issue for him, since he collects a full-time minister’s salary and benefits. But for others, it’s a burden. In Santa Monica, where the council earns $50 a month and the mayor $150 a month, the salaries haven’t changed in 40 years.

27 Cents an Hour

Voters have rejected pay raises for the council twice in the 1980s. The last measure, which would have raised council pay to $600 a month, lost by about 700 votes. Councilman Dennis Zane, whose compensation works out to about 27 cents an hour, said voters don’t appreciate how much effort goes into the job.

“Either voters aren’t aware that the council gets this ridiculous $50 a month or they aren’t dealing with the fact the we are talking about a preposterously low amount of money,” said Zane, a teacher who works part time to leave more time for the council. “They just look on it as an increase.”

Zane and others stick around, despite the frustrations, because for them the pluses of council duty outweigh the minuses. But for others, such as Beverly Hills’ Stansbury, the political spotlight eventually loses it luster.

Stansbury served as a Beverly Hills traffic and planning commissioner for eight years and as a councilman and mayor for another eight before he called it quits last spring, irritated by the hours, the pay and city problems.

No Incumbents

With the departure of Stansbury, Spadaro and Ellman, there were no incumbents in a Beverly Hills council race for the first time in memory.

Stansbury said there is little satisfaction in City Council service these days, because the voters are never satisfied and the work is never done.

“The quality level (of the council) is still very high,” he said. “But so is the stress level. The constant bickering and fighting causes people to get tired.”

Stansbury said he hopes to remain active in politics at the regional and national level, but he has no plans to return to municipal government.

He neglected his special-effects and product development business when he sat on the council. Now that he’s returned to private life, Stansbury said, putting the business back on a firm footing is one of his main jobs.

“I’m starting my business all over again,” said Stansbury, who estimated that he made 3 cents an hour on the council. “That’s what it amounts to.”

Beverly Hills Mayor Robert K. Tanenbaum, who is serving his first term, said he understands Stansbury’s frustrations. From his perspective, however, council service makes sense. Tanenbaum said he makes the job work by allotting specific amounts of time to the city and to outside activities.

The mayor devotes 20 to 30 hours a week to the council. His law practice receives another 20 hours, and his writing (he has authored four books) gets squeezed into the remaining hours when he isn’t with his family.

“You have to use all seven days of the week and most of your waking hours,” he said. “You try to keep all three balls in the air at once.”

Culver City Mayor Paul Jacobs said he dedicates 10 to 20 hours a week to city business, in addition to his full-time general law practice. Jacobs said he probably couldn’t do both jobs if he didn’t have his own law firm.

“I have a very tolerant, understanding partner,” Jacobs said. “I try to schedule most of my meetings in the evening, or at breakfast or at lunch, but there are times when I have to reschedule my law-practice engagements.”

After 12 years on the council, Jacobs said the job isn’t getting any easier. The main reason, he said, is mounting anger over the growth issue.

“People are less likely to accept excuses and explanations,” Jacobs said. “The failure of government and elected officials to take any reasonable steps on the Westside to protect the environment and the quality of life has resulted in tremendous frustration.”

And people don’t express themselves only at official meetings.

West Hollywood City Councilman Steve Schulte said his job follows him everywhere, even when he’s out for dinner. The two-term councilman, who started his own public affairs consulting business last year, said his private life gets short shrift.

Schulte devotes about 50 hours a week to his business and 25 hours a week to the council. “The bottom line,” he said, “is this: You have to really like local politics. You have to enjoy front-line confrontations with folks and lots of meetings and discussions. It takes a good personal investment.”

For Viterbi, the personal investment is now in another field. A private citizen for the past several months, he said he doesn’t miss public life.

“I realized politics wasn’t for me,” Viterbi said. “I realized that I didn’t want to spend my life running for the next office. . . . I was supposed to go onto bigger and better things in politics. Well, I think I’ve gone on to bigger and better things anyway.”