Supervisor’s Announcement Has Many Reaching for Hats

Los Angeles County Supervisor Ed Edelman’s surprise decision Wednesday not to seek reelection next year has upended the region’s political universe, opening opportunities for a host of ambitious San Fernando Valley and Westside elected officials.

Already being touted as possible candidates for the job held for 19 years by Edelman are a pantheon of political luminaries, starting with state Sen. David A. Roberti (D-Van Nuys), Los Angeles City Councilman Zev Yaroslavsky, former councilman and mayoral candidate Mike Woo and Assemblyman Richard Katz (D-Sylmar).

“Quite a political bombshell,” said political consultant Richard Lichtenstein, who predicted along with the rest of the city’s political fraternity that the race for Edelman’s seat would be lively and spirited.

The likeliest heavyweights in the emerging race are Roberti, the state Senate president pro tempore who now hails from the Valley, and Yaroslavsky, the Westside-based council powerhouse whose political career has been in neutral for several years.

Katz, 41, who ran for mayor earlier this year and just recently announced that he would run for reelection to the Assembly, is running close behind in the early speculation derby, along with Woo, now a lecturer in public policy at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

Woo has also been discussed as a possible candidate for California secretary of state.

Adding an element of uncertainty to the political equation is that Edelman’s 3rd District was sharply redrawn during the 1990 reapportionment process and is now almost as much in the Valley as on the Westside.

Previously, the district had included the Westside, Hollywood and East Los Angeles.

According to the latest demographic studies, the district is 59% white and 29% Latino.

“It’s upscale, affluent, Jewish and largely Democratic,” Lichtenstein said.

And while the biggest names looking at the seat are Democrats, the weight of the Valley side of the district, which helped elect conservative Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan in June, may create a new dynamic.

“I don’t know of any Republicans who might be looking at Edelman’s seat,” said Paul Clarke, a corporate political consultant.

“But then it wasn’t an open seat until this afternoon. This may change the equation entirely.”

Because the district is now firmly planted in the Valley, “you also may see people who might be interested in the seat who wouldn’t have been before,” Clarke added.

But for the time being, it is the 54-year-old Roberti, leader of the state Senate, that most are keeping their eyes on.

“I see a Roberti scaring a Katz or a Zev from running, but not vice versa,” said one political observer who asked not to be named.

Roberti in late September announced his intention to run for state treasurer and reportedly has raised more than half a million dollars in that quest.

He has been forced to look for a new political office because of term limits.

But on Wednesday, Roberti, who like other potential successors got a personal call from Edelman previewing his announcement, said through aide J. J. Kaplan that he is now “exploring all his options, including that of running for supervisor.”

“It’s a combination of Roberti’s old and new districts, a very good match,” Clarke said.

“And raising funds to run for treasurer is probably a thankless task, especially since the various bond firms in New York are saying they aren’t going to give to these kind of campaigns any more.”

From another standpoint, being a supervisor would also involve the kinds of public policy issues with which Roberti is familiar after his years in the state Senate.

“It’s different than being state treasurer,” one observer said. “It’s not so administrative as treasurer.”

Nor is winning the Democratic primary a shoo-in for Roberti.

Also running for the treasurer job is Phil Angelides, former Democratic Party chairman.

Yaroslavsky, 44, who is on a city trip to South Korea, heard the news and immediately fired off a press release stating that he is “actively considering running for supervisor, and I will make a decision within the next week.”

And despite the disadvantage of being caught out of the country, Yaroslavsky quickly began phoning Valley and Westside political leaders from Seoul to tell them of his new-found interest and to seek their advice and support.

The seat looks like a dream come true for Yaroslavsky, according to some associates.

“There is no reason for Zev not to run for this seat,” said consultant Rick Taylor, a former aide to Yaroslavsky. “He has a huge chunk of Ed’s district in his own council district; he’s a great fund-raiser and campaigner, and he has a free ride: This is a seat he can run for and not have to worry about giving up his council seat.”

The risk of being out of office is what caused Yaroslavsky to drop his bid for mayor in 1989 when he could not run for mayor and keep his council seat at the same time.

Katz, too, said he was also “taking a very strong look” at the Edelman seat. “I think it would make a great fit,” Katz said.

In fact, the assemblyman was already mapping out what sounded like a platform. “County government needs to be overhauled,” he said.

The dilemma for Katz is that he could not run for the Edelman seat and keep his job in the Assembly--this because both seats are open next year.

Woo, 42, who got into the runoff in the mayoral race but lost by a fairly narrow margin to Riordan, could not be reached for comment.

“I think Mike could be a front-runner,” consultant Steve Afriat said. “After all, he bought $3 million worth of name identification in the mayor’s race.”

Woo, Katz, Yaroslavsky and Roberti were not the only names being mentioned as possible contenders.

The surprise announcement caused a flood of speculation that found potential candidates in Rep. Anthony C. Beilenson (D-Woodland Hills), state Sen. Tom Hayden (D-Santa Monica), Assemblymen Burt Margolin (D-Los Angeles) and Terry Friedman (D-Brentwood), Los Angeles City Councilman Hal Bernson, former Rep. Bobbi Fiedler and Valley Republican activist Carol Rowen.

Don Wallace, Edelman’s field deputy in the Las Virgenes area, hinted Wednesday that he too would be interested in running for his boss’s job.

In 1988, Wallace came in third with 20% of the vote.

The former head of the Los Angeles city firefighters union, Wallace has been active for more than two decades in local politics, especially in the mountainous west end of the county.

“It’s going to cause one hell of a brouhaha,” consultant Joe Cerrell said.

* THE EDELMAN LEGACY: Supervisor led efforts to form a county AIDS program, and to protect consumers and children. A20