Picus Says New Congressional Seat May Be Made for Her : Politics: L.A. councilwoman is not daunted by the prospect of challenging Rep. Howard Berman in the West Valley district.

Los Angeles City Councilwoman Joy Picus is considering running for a newly drawn congressional district in the west San Fernando Valley that is a close match to her own council district.

The veteran councilwoman said she would not be daunted by the prospect of challenging Rep. Howard L. Berman (D-Panorama City) if he chose to run in the same district.

“From the description of it, it looks like it has my name on it,” Picus said of the proposed new district.

“It’d be fun to run against the Berman-Waxman machine. It’s not an asset to be part of it in my district,” she said, referring to the powerful political organization led by Berman and Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Los Angeles).

Meanwhile, Berman, a liberal Democrat like Picus, said it is “premature and therefore whimsical” to talk about future political goals based on a redistricting plan that is likely to be vetoed by Gov. Pete Wilson.

A Wilson veto of the remap plan would put the California Supreme Court in the business of crafting a reapportionment plan.

If the congressional remap plan survives, Berman said he might seek the very seat Picus is eyeing. It is one of two seats he could plausibly run for, said the 50-year-old Berman, a congressman since 1982.

The seat that interests Picus is in the southwest Valley and includes the communities of Studio City, Sherman Oaks, Encino, Tarzana, Woodland Hills and Reseda and parts of Canoga Park, North Hollywood, Granada Hills and Northridge.

The other district takes in more of the northeast Valley and includes the communities of Van Nuys, Sylmar, Pacoima, Arleta, North Hollywood and Burbank. The southwest district is more heavily Jewish, while the latter is about half Latino in its population.

Both proposals contain sizable portions of Berman’s existing 26th Congressional District. “I’d feel comfortable running in either district,” Berman said.

In fact, Berman had a major say in drafting the new boundaries. Berman and Rep. Vic Fazio (D-Sacramento) were selected by the state’s Democratic delegation to draft the congressional remap plan that was adopted last week by the state Legislature.

“If I made a mistake” and created hostile districts from which to seek reelection, “it was a real doozy of a mistake,” Berman said with a chuckle.

Although Picus called Berman a “wonderful legislator,” she said she would not back off just because he’s considering running for the same seat.

Picus is not the only member of the City Council’s Valley delegation to show an interest in seeking political promotion through the redistricting process.

Councilman Zev Yaroslavsky, a liberal Democrat who represents parts of Sherman Oaks and Van Nuys, said two weeks ago he was weighing the possibility of running for a new congressional district. A Yaroslavsky deputy said Friday her boss is interested in the new northeast Valley seat. The southwest seat, the one being considered by Picus, “is Howard’s seat,” said Katharine MacDonald, Yaroslavsky’s press secretary.

A poll of other council members from the Valley, however, found no others interested in running for Congress or the state Legislature when new districts are drawn.