Politicians, Residents Head East to Be a Part of History : Inauguration: Many use their clout or connections to get invitations to the festivities honoring Bill Clinton.

Actor and producer Henry Winkler, a political neophyte who lives in Studio City, calls it “a once-in-a-lifetime thing.” He fantasizes about having his picture taken with President-elect Bill Clinton.

Assemblyman and mayoral candidate Richard Katz (D-Panorama City) boasts of being the first elected official in California to endorse Clinton. “This is a historic occasion, and I want to see it,” he said.

And Jose De Sosa, head of the California NAACP and a Pacoima resident, said he wants to be part of the inaugural because he believes it will herald a profound change in America.

“I have watched this country in the last 12 years deteriorate and I have hopes that the President-elect can turn things around,” said De Sosa, who was active in the Democratic campaign. “I want to be there at the beginning of it and support him in any way that I can.”

Winkler, Katz and De Sosa are among numerous notables and ordinary citizens from the Valley area who will flock to the nation’s capital for this week’s inaugural festivities. Many had to use their clout or campaign connections or quick wits to get their hands on coveted tickets to the various headline events.

“I had impassioned calls all week from people to try to get them tickets and we really couldn’t do anything for them,” said a senior aide to a Valley congressman who asked not to be named in connection with a subject of surprising sensitivity. “And, of course, they never believe that you can’t get them for them.”

Demand far outstripped supply because of the excitement that Clinton’s election has generated among party loyalists and others in the Valley, according to numerous interviews last week.

Some fortunate enough to secure tickets noted that Clinton will be the first Democrat to ascend to the presidency in 16 years and, though they are optimistic, they don’t want to be presumptuous about the future. And others touted the social aspect of the proceedings--a chance to schmooze with fellow party regulars from throughout California and the rest of the country.

Others invoked generational solidarity. Rudolph A. Diaz of Burbank, a municipal judge in Rio Hondo who is serving a two-year stint as chairman of the Presiding Judges Assn. of Los Angeles County, will be attending with his wife, Amanda, a self-described “missionary” for Clinton.

Diaz, 50, invoked the “idealism of the ‘60s” when he explained the attraction. “We identify with Clinton and Hillary” and Vice President-elect Al Gore, he said. “We feel that it’s part of our generation and we have something to celebrate.”

At minimum, those who are heading east have determined that it’s worth braving bone-chilling temperatures and body-crushing hordes and digging deep into their pockets for a place at the inaugural epicenter.

Others who will be in attendance include Los Angeles County Supervisor Ed Edelman, who represents much of the Valley; state Sen. Tom Hayden (D-Santa Monica), whose district includes the southern Valley; Los Angeles City Councilwoman Joy Picus and Councilman Zev Yaroslavsky; Joyce Carson, president of the Santa Clarita Democratic Club and former Burbank Councilwoman Mary Lou Howard.

Among the most devoted will be Carol Blad, a Van Nuys activist and Clinton delegate to the Democratic Convention who quit her job as an investigator for the Los Angeles city attorney Sept. 1 to run the Clinton-Gore campaign headquarters in the Valley.

Blad, who met her husband while both were working on John F. Kennedy’s presidential campaign in Orange County in 1960, had more than just Clinton’s inaugural on her mind as she prepared to the make the trip east. She is among the lucky few who has a ticket to the American Gala on Tuesday evening, where numerous stars will be performing.

“I really want to hear Barbra Streisand and Fleetwood Mac,” said Blad, who last week gave every indication that she was in tune with Clinton’s theme song, “Don’t Stop Thinking About Tomorrow.”

So difficult was it to get tickets for the gala that even such a well-connected Democrat as Hayden was unable to secure one as of the end of last week, according to his chief aide.

“We’re in the line with the rest of the world,” said Hayden aide Duane Peterson.

Peterson said Hayden will be attending the inaugural and other events as well as meeting with lawmakers, Clinton Administration officials and conservation groups to “help shape the environmental agenda for the new world order.”

Staffers for Democratic Reps. Anthony C. Beilenson (D-Los Angeles), Howard L. Berman (D-Panorama City) and Henry A. Waxman (D-Los Angeles) reported that they were swamped with requests for tickets to the swearing-in and other events. Aides to Rep. Carlos J. Moorhead (R-Glendale) said calls were down from the three previous Republican inaugurals but that the number of those who wanted to participate still exceeded available tickets.

Each congressional office, Republican as well as Democratic, received 19 seats to the swearing-in and 177 standing tickets. They were also issued small numbers of invitations to other events. For example, each received 14 invitations to the Western Ball at the Kennedy Center; they then had to ante up $125 for the much-coveted tickets themselves.

Only the office of freshman Rep. Howard P. (Buck) McKeon (R-Santa Clarita), whose northern Los Angeles County district is heavily Republican, said tickets were not a hot item.

McKeon’s spokesman, Armando Azarloza, said the lawmaker bartered some tickets for more passes to his own congressional swearing-in earlier this month. The office distributed some tickets to local Democratic activists but still had about 25 tickets for the inaugural itself at week’s end. McKeon plans to attend the inaugural but not any other events, Azarloza said.

Beilenson, Berman and Moorhead’s offices will hold open houses for visiting constituents on Wednesday. Moorhead’s past receptions have featured spectacular cakes, including one in the shape of the Capitol, complete with a gleaming dome.

Berman and his wife, Janis, are also hosting a reception Tuesday evening honoring Al From, president of the Democratic Leadership Council, which provided much of the moderate philosophical underpinnings for Clinton’s campaign. Janis Berman was recently appointed state co-chairwoman of the Leadership Council, which was founded to counteract the party’s liberal orthodoxy.

Katz, who made his long-planned mayoral bid official last week, plans to make up for lost time next week. He was a Clinton delegate and his wife, Gini Barrett, was an alternate, but neither made it to the Democratic Convention in New York because he was pinned down in Sacramento during last summer’s budget crisis.

In addition, Katz’s consultant is James Carville, one of the masterminds of Clinton’s victory. Katz plans to attend receptions for Carville as well as various California events.

“I will be meeting with people who might be interested in the mayor’s race, but it’s not a mayor’s agenda that I’m going back on,” Katz said. “I will also see people who will be part of the Clinton Administration who, frankly, can be helpful to the state and the city of Los Angeles.”

Edelman, who attended Jimmy Carter’s inauguration in 1976, said he too will be pursuing policy as well as party interests during his five days in the capital. Chief among them will be what he calls the need to develop a national program to convert some of the “peace dividend” to civilian job retraining and economic retooling--particularly in Southern California, which has been hard hit by defense cuts.

“While I’m going back to celebrate, I’m also going back to do what I can early on to let people know about the problems we’re facing,” he said, referring to members of the new Administration.

Policy concerns will not preoccupy Donna Shoffner.

She may be the Antelope Valley’s equivalent of Cinderella--even if she never gets to an inaugural ball.

Shoffner, 40, is a Lancaster kindergarten teacher who did some canvassing and telephoning for the Clinton campaign. She was nevertheless surprised to receive unsolicited invitations to the inaugural parade and one of the balls in the mail after Christmas.

Friends urged her to seize the chance. Fellow teachers and parents of her students swung into action, raising money to send Shoffner--whose husband is a full-time student--to the inaugural.

They garnered $1,600 and she got a ticket to the inaugural from McKeon’s office.

Teachers even volunteered to substitute for her and the school supplied her with a Camcorder.

“I’m just so excited; I’ve been waking up in the middle of the night,” Shoffner said, sounding as though she had just won the lottery. “It’s really amazing.”