ELECTIONS / L.A. CITY COUNCIL : Berman’s Support Gives Strong Boost to Hall’s Campaign : His endorsement in the City Council race is likely to attract votes from Democrats, Jews and liberals. Opponent Richard Alarcon calls it ‘machine politics.’

Lyle Hall’s campaign for Los Angeles City Council received a strong boost Wednesday as he collected an endorsement from Rep. Howard L. Berman, a well-regarded Panorama City politician whose backing is likely to raise Hall’s stock among Democrats, Jews and liberals in his June 8 runoff against opponent Richard Alarcon.

Berman, along with Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Los Angeles), heads the influential Waxman-Berman political organization, a loose-knit collection of liberal Democratic politicians rooted in Los Angeles’ Westside who have contributed money and volunteers to numerous political campaigns nationwide.

Several other elected officials who are members of the Waxman-Berman group--including two San Fernando Valley-based state Assembly members and Los Angeles City Controller Rick Tuttle--already have endorsed Hall. But Berman said his blessing was purely a personal one, and indicated that his political organization will not make any concerted effort on Hall’s behalf.

Alarcon immediately denounced the Berman endorsement, saying it represents “machine politics at work in the classic sense.”

“I’m not going to allow the machine to take over this community,” he said. Referring to Hall, Alarcon added: “He is clearly the politics-as-usual candidate. I am the candidate of this community.”

Alarcon acknowledged, however, that he also asked for Berman’s support, but said he did so only “as a matter of protocol.” He said it is routine for candidates to seek endorsements from elected officials in the same and adjacent districts.

Hall, a retired city Fire Department captain, and Alarcon, who is on leave from his job as Mayor Tom Bradley’s top Valley aide, are battling in the 7th Council District, a largely blue collar area in the northeast Valley where population is 70% Latino. If elected, Alarcon would be the Valley’s first Latino councilman.

Political observers said the Berman plug--even without strong support from his organization--is a valuable, and perhaps decisive, advantage for Hall.

A six-term liberal who consistently attracts support from labor unions and the music industry, Berman was reelected last year with 61% of the vote. His northeast Valley district covers virtually all of the 7th Council District.

“It’s a medium-big deal,” Democratic political consultant Parke Skelton, who has managed campaigns in the northeast Valley, said of the Berman endorsement. “Berman has represented that area for a long time. He’s pretty well respected there.”

Observers said Berman’s blessing will help Hall draw votes from Democrats, Jews and liberals in the district.

“It all but sews up the race for” Hall, said Republican political strategist Paul Clarke, who also is familiar with Valley politics.

Berman said he is backing Hall because the former firefighter “is the most effective guy” to tackle crime, unemployment and other problems plaguing the 7th District.

“I think there is a whole range of city-federal things we need to do in this district, and I think Lyle would be a superb partner,” the congressman said.

Although Waxman-Berman has exerted considerable political influence in the past, it has suffered major defeats lately.

Last year, two of its leaders, Rep. Mel Levine (D-Los Angeles) and state Controller Gray Davis, lost primary races for the U. S. Senate. Another, state Sen. Herschel Rosenthal (D-Los Angeles), was defeated for reelection.

Earlier this year, Berman backed his top local aide, Rose Castaneda, in the 7th Council District primary race. But she withdrew before the election after Berman told her that he could only give her minimal help in lining up campaign money and endorsements.

Berman insisted Wednesday that his endorsement does not mean that his political organization “is coming in to take over Lyle’s campaign.”

He said he is too preoccupied with his Washington duties to raise campaign funds for Hall. Berman added that his brother Michael, a key strategist in the Waxman-Berman organization, will have no involvement in Hall’s campaign, and that Waxman probably will not either.

Tuttle said he is working hard to raise money and recruit campaign volunteers for Hall, an old friend. Assemblywoman Barbara Friedman (D-Van Nuys), another Waxman-Berman member, said she let Hall use her signature on campaign brochures and plans to do “whatever he asks me” in the remaining three weeks of the race.

Alarcon, 39, charged that Hall is merely a political pawn of the Waxman-Berman organization. Hall, 53, is a onetime president of the city firefighters union who for years has aided local Democratic politicians at election time.

“I think the voters are going to see through this,” said Alarcon. “They are going to see how Congressman Berman and his allies are trying to . . . prevent the community from having real control over its destiny.”

Alarcon noted that he, too, has a string of endorsements from influential elected officials and community leaders, including City Councilmembers Richard Alatorre, Mike Hernandez and Mark Ridley-Thomas as well as state Sen. Diane Watson (D-Los Angeles) and the Rev. Zedar E. Broadous, head of the Valley chapter of the NAACP.

Alarcon also is backed by Los Angeles school board member Roberta Weintraub; Ben Reznik, a lawyer who heads the Valley Industry and Commerce Assn.; and the Democratic Party of the San Fernando Valley, a group of local Democratic clubs.

Alatorre heads an influential Eastside political organization, but Alarcon denied that means his campaign, too, is tainted by “machine politics.”

Alarcon said Alatorre so far has not raised money or provided his campaign with other significant help. But he said that may change when Alatorre sees that the 7th District “is being targeted by the Westside machine.”

Asked if he had any qualms about endorsing an Anglo over a Latino in a district that is so heavily Latino, Berman said he considered that factor.

But he decided to back Hall, he said, because he believes that the former firefighter and reserve Burbank police officer is the better candidate.