Gun Owners May Draw GOP Into Showdown With Roberti

THE GOP TAKES AIM: As if state Sen. David A. Roberti didn’t already face a large enough coalition of gun owners, conservatives and government reform advocates in his effort to battle a recall election, now comes the Grand Old Party.

California Republican Party Communications Director John Peschong said the GOP will cast votes at this weekend’s state convention on whether to adopt a resolution endorsing the recall of Roberti from his 20th District Van Nuys seat.

Resolution No. 37, as it is politely referred to, has been submitted by John E. Stoos, the executive director of Gun Owners of California Inc., which opposes the senator because of his gun-control legislation.

In a series of “whereas-es,” the resolution labels Roberti “the godfather of political crime in California,” a tax-and-spend liberal, an imprudent fiscal manager and a soft-on-crime supporter of “the ACLU’s criminal cuddling policies.”

Despite the delicate overtones of aligning itself with gun proponents at a time when curbing violence tops the public agenda, the Republican Party is likely to adopt the resolution, Peschong predicted.

“I believe it’s going to pass,” he said. “We see it as an overall issue of incumbent arrogance. There are many different groups that support Republicans. Gun owners just happen to be one of them.”

But the GOP is not wandering blindly into the bullring. First, it helped pay for a poll that, according to recall backers, showed that Roberti is vulnerable--even though his favorable-to-unfavorable ratio is 2-1.

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SALVOS FIRED: Now that former GOP Assemblyman Pat Nolan has released his 15-year hold on the 43rd District seat by pleading guilty to racketeering, it’s anybody’s guess who will emerge to succeed him.

Even before Nolan entered his plea, however, his close ally Assembly Republican Leader Jim Brulte had fired off a letter of complaint about one of Nolan’s Democratic challengers, former Assistant U.S. Atty. Adam Schiff.

Writing to no less than U.S. Atty. Gen. Janet Reno, Brulte said: “It troubles me that Mr. Schiff began his campaign against a member of the California Legislature while your office was conducting a prosecution of that legislator.”

Brulte asserts that Schiff launched his campaign before resigning from his post in the Los Angeles U.S. attorney’s office in mid-December. He urged Reno to look into whether Schiff, of Burbank, used government phones, fax machines or copiers to communicate with his campaign consultants.

Schiff maintains his innocence and claims that the letter was actually co-authored by Nolan. “You have to consider the source, a man now convicted on corruption and deceit,” he said. “It’s nothing more than a piece of political posturing by Pat.”

Now, he sees the whole Nolan episode as a boost to law-and-order candidates like himself: “I think by virtue of the fact that the district was represented by a man who has admitted selling his vote means there is now a strong interest in a departure from that.”

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KNOWING THE SCORE: It’s the season in Sacramento for score cards, and a number of San Fernando Valley area legislators got rated this week--first by the California Journal and then by the advocacy group Children Now.

Every two years, the California Journal, the news source for political junkies, tallies up the results of surveys it passes out to journalists, legislators and staff members.

The admittedly unscientific results fluctuated somewhat according to the skills being measured.

State Sen. David A. Roberti ranked No. 1 out of 37 in the Senate in effectiveness, No. 3 in problem solving, No. 4 in intelligence, No. 8 in energy, No. 9 in potential and No. 12 in integrity.

The only other area senator making the top 10 was Newton R. Russell (R-Glendale), besting Roberti in the area of integrity by ranking No. 6.

In the lower house, only three of the Valley area’s delegation made it to the top 10. Two assemblymen--Terry B. Friedman (D-Brentwood) and Burt Margolin (D-Los Angeles)--were listed as the sixth and ninth most intelligent, respectively. Then, Richard Katz (D-Sylmar) ranked No. 8 in effectiveness and No. 10 in the area of energy.

Alas, Children Now was not so generous, giving every single lawmaker a grade of incomplete when it came to supporting legislation that favors California’s next generation of leaders.

With that, only one Valley legislator was recognized for her efforts at authoring and pushing a proposed law--Assemblywoman Barbara Friedman (D-North Hollywood), who last year successfully ushered a bill through both houses of the Legislature to improve access to health care for children on Medi-Cal.

It was vetoed by the governor.

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AND MORE SCORES: Environmental report cards were sent out Thursday, and Valley Democrats got straight A’s. Their Republican colleagues flunked.

Reps. Anthony C. Beilenson of Woodland Hills, Howard L. Berman of Panorama City and Henry A. Waxman of Los Angeles received marks in the 90s for their voting records during the first year of the 103rd Congress. But Reps. Howard P. (Buck) McKeon of Santa Clarita and Glendale’s Carlos Moorhead scored only 20s.

In the rhetoric of the Washington-based League of Conservation Voters, the Democrats were “heroes” and the Republicans were--what rhymes with heroes?--zeros? The league examined 20 issues--ranging from mining law reform and coal subsidies to hazardous waste cleanup and the California Desert Protection Act--to arrive at their grades.

As a class, members of Congress were underachievers, at least in the league’s eyes. Its score card showed that a majority of Congress got failing grades--below 60%.

“Voters tell us they want environmental protection, and they think they’ve already voted for it,” said league President Jim Maddy. “But Congress is failing to deliver.”

Beilenson, who has spearheaded the continuing federal land acquisition program for the Santa Monica Mountains Recreation Area, was deemed the most environmentally conscious of the Valley delegation with a 95% score. Berman and Waxman logged in with 90% ratings.

Freshman McKeon’s 20% grade was his first mark, but Moorhead actually has shown slight improvement in the league’s estimation. In two earlier grading periods, he eked out scores of only 14% and 17%.

During 1993, Moorhead and McKeon lined up on the right side of four issues that the league viewed as environmentally friendly--slowing down clear-cutting of timber on public lands, reducing coal subsidies, killing funding for the advanced solid rocket motor and rejecting a plan to give the attorney general more regulatory authority over property rights.

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CASHING IN: Speaking of Beilenson, the Woodland Hills congressman has the dubious distinction of attracting opponents who put their money where their mouths are. Their own money, that is, not the stuff candidates get from other sources, such as individual contributors and PACs.

According to a compilation of year-end Federal Election Commission reports by Roll Call, a Capitol Hill newspaper, Republican Richard Sybert became the biggest spender after he loaned his campaign $430,000 hoping to unseat the nine-term Beilenson.

Sybert’s generosity to himself outstrips the No. 2-ranked candidate in the Roll Call list, Republican Irwin Savodnik, who has invested $286,400 into his challenge of Rep. Jane Harman (D-Marina Del Rey).

Sybert is one of 74 House candidates who have spent at least $10,000 of their own money, according to the newspaper’s computer-aided review of filings.

Two other Republican challengers of Beilenson also made the list of candidates dipping into their personal wealth. Robert Hammer spent $51,945, ranking 17th; Mark Boos Benhard came in 69th, one of six candidates who spent $10,000.

Beilenson’s FEC report shows that he raised $54,610 during the last half of 1993, bringing his yearly total to $102,228. Less expenses, he had $68,390 in his war chest at year’s end, the FEC report showed.

Doug Kahn, a Democrat who is trying again to retire Rep. Carlos Moorhead (R-Glendale), showed up as No. 32 on the list, spending $25,292.