Slick Ernani: We suspect the real reason...

Slick Ernani: We suspect the real reason that L.A. City Councilman Ernani Bernardi entered the mayor’s race is to capitalize on a talent he has in common with the new President.

After all, Bernardi, 81, was a professional saxophone player from 1928 to 1947 and, at one point, led an orchestra that performed at the old Aragon Ballroom in Ocean Park.

The San Fernando Valley lawmaker insists, “I haven’t picked it (his sax) up for a while,” but let’s see if he can resist playing during the campaign.

Especially if he should get a call from Arsenio.

We can just hear the TV audience cheering: “Ernani! Woof! Woof! Woof!”

Spiker Willie: You may recall the photos of Bill Clinton gamely playing beach volleyball in the Santa Barbara area. One apolitical spectator asked at the time, “Which one is he?” and Clinton called out, “The one with the white legs.”

Anyway, since he has plenty of time to pick up a tan by the summer, the Manhattan Beach City Council has invited Clinton to attend the July 2-4 Manhattan Beach Open volleyball tournament. It’s one of the social events of the season in that town. Sounds more like an Al Gore kind of thing, though.

Nothing like a post-holiday bonus!We haven’t heard from the boss yet but we’re sure he’s going to share The Times’ windfall with his faithful workers (see photo).

List of the day: Just so you don’t suffer a post-inauguration letdown, we offer a few more bits of Southland-related presidential trivia.

* A local stretch of Pacific Coast Highway was formerly Roosevelt (as in Teddy) Highway.

* Judy Abel points out that patriotic Venice has a Presidents Row Neighborhood Assn., with streets named after Grant and Harding as well as a few successful White House occupants.

* Abel also reminded us that the Nixon Freeway (90) was renamed the Marina Freeway after the Watergate scandal.

* Speaking of Nixon, Checkers Hotel denies a rumor that it was named after the ex-President’s late pooch, the subject of one of his most stirring speeches. Rather, general manager Volker Ulrich says, the downtown inn’s name is an Americanized version of Winston Churchill’s residence. Added Ulrich: “Who would ever name a hotel for a dog?”

Certainly no Elk’s Club member.

miscelLAny:

On a recent KCET (28) TV show, seismologists said that the manner in which the land is shifting indicates that L.A. and San Francisco could be side by side in several million years. Who knows? Maybe L.A. will have reopened its Angels Flight cable car system by then.