Hero’s Welcome Greets Roberti on His Return to the State Senate

BACK FROM THE TRENCHES: Fresh from his recall victory, state Sen. David A. Roberti got a hero’s welcome home when he returned Thursday to the ornate chambers of the Senate.

Several fellow senators rushed over to warmly shake Roberti’s hand or affectionately slap his back even before the Van Nuys Democrat could get settled in his seat.

Then the speeches started. First it was Sen. Art Torres (D-Los Angeles), then Senate President Pro Tem Bill Lockyer (D-Hayward), then Sen. Nicholas C. Petris (D-Oakland), then Sen. Diane Watson (D-Los Angeles), then Sen. Tom Hayden (D-Santa Monica).

In between came the standing ovation.

By the time the string of Democrats was finished lauding Roberti, he was a courageous liberator of all senators who dare to stand up to a “threatening, dangerous . . . maniacal enemy.”

That last characterization of Roberti’s foes, voiced by Watson, was enough to push Sen. Don Rogers (R-Tehachapi) over the edge. He hadn’t wanted to rain on Roberti’s parade, he told the Senate, but enough was enough.

“Let’s remember that a lot of the people who voted for this recall are decent Californians who want to preserve their rights to have firearms to defend themselves,” Rogers protested. “I think it’s a God-given right.”

Roberti took Rogers’ remarks in stride, thanked his Democratic colleagues for their congratulations, and took the opportunity to call for more controls on recall elections.

He urged the Senate to work toward laws requiring recall elections to be held on the same day as regularly scheduled elections, a move that would save taxpayers and candidates money.

Roberti also noted in an interview afterward that he thought it might be a good idea to develop regulations to ensure truthfulness in the signature-gathering process. “I think the proof is in the pudding,” he said. “They (his opponents) got more signatures than they did votes,” he said.

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INDEPENDENT STREAK: An active group of former supporters of Ross Perot in the 24th congressional district has found a candidate to back as an independent in the fall campaign.

The Thousand Oaks chapter of United We Stand American has decided to throw its support behind political newcomer Rhett Wooden, a Thousand Oaks film cameraman and grip, in a district represented by veteran Rep. Anthony C. Beilenson (D-Woodland Hills). The group must collect at least 10,000 signatures this summer to get Wooden on the ballot for the November election.

“He is an independent,” said Verne Balman, a leader of the group. “Rhett is a believer in representative government in true fashion. He believes in finding out what the people of the district believe and going and representing that, irrespective of his own beliefs.”

Wooden, 43, previously registered as a Democratic and a Republican and is now an independent. A self-described centrist, he was active in Perot’s presidential campaign.

“Somebody’s got to do it,” Wooden said Thursday. “What I tell people most often is that they keep looking for hope from the Democratic and Republican parties and how can they get hope from something that is the problem? So new leadership has to come from outside.”

Wooden and his backers face numerous hurdles. They have raised little money. And other United We Stand chapters in the San Fernando Valley--which makes up three-quarters of the district--declined to join the effort to field an independent.

The organizers of the other chapters are divided between supporting Republican primary candidates Richard Sybert, a Woodland Hills attorney and former aide to Gov. Pete Wilson, and Robert Hammer, a Newbury Park investment banker.

The United We Stand chapters are planning to host a candidates’ forum on May 5 at Parkman Junior High School in Woodland Hills.

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BANKING ON HUFFINGTON: Putting pragmatism over philosophical differences on hot-button social issues, Rep. Howard P. (Buck) McKeon (R-Santa Clarita) has endorsed fellow freshman Rep. Michael Huffington (R-Santa Barbara) in the Republican U.S. Senate primary this June.

McKeon acknowledged that his conservative views are closer to former Orange County Rep. William E. Dannemeyer on abortion and gay rights but he said that the more moderate, well-heeled Huffington would have a better chance to oust Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein in November.

“He’s in a neighboring district,” McKeon said of the man who spent millions to best Rep. Robert J. Lagomarsino (R-Ventura) in 1992 and is expected to spend generously on his Senate campaign as well.

“We worked together. I think he’s a good man. . . . He very much wants change, very much wants to see new people involved and very much wants to cut spending. And I agree with him on all of those things.”

McKeon said that he wants to avoid a repeat of the 1992 Senate race when conservative commentator Bruce Herschensohn edged moderate Republican Rep. Tom Campbell in the GOP primary only to lose to liberal Democrat Barbara Boxer in the general election.

“I would rather have a Republican in there who would vote with me 70% or 80% of the time than a Democrat who would with me 5% or 10%,” McKeon said.

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RINGING UP THE NUMBERS: Valley area Reps. Carlos J. Moorhead (R-Glendale) and Henry A. Waxman (D-Los Angeles) are cited in a new report on political contributions made by the so-called Baby Bells and long distance telephone companies.

Common Cause, a proponent of campaign finance reform, analyzed campaign contributions by the telephone firms in a report called “Dialing for Dollars.”

The Baby Bells contributed $9.4 million between 1984 and 1993; the long-distance companies, $7.8 million.

The two interests are locked in a high-stakes battle over bills that would allow the Baby Bells to compete for and provide long distance services and enter the telecommunications equipment market. The long distance companies oppose the measures.

Common Cause found the telecommunication PACs were partial to members of the House Energy and Commerce and Judiciary committees--the two panels that oversee telephone-related issues. Moorhead, the senior Republican on the Energy and Commerce Committee and a longtime Judiciary Committee member, received $27,090 from the Baby Bells and $16,750 from the long distance companies. Waxman, who chairs Energy and Commerce’s subcommittee on health and environment, took in $24,750 from the Baby Bells and $17,000 from long distance firms.

“Consumers could be the ultimate losers in this turf war--consumers whose voices are put ‘on hold’ by a campaign finance system that allows millions of dollars to be used to gain influence over telecommunications policy” said Common Cause President Fred Wertheimer.

Some lawmakers contend that the opposing sides tend to offset each other with such contributions. And Moorhead said that Wertheimer is off-base, at least in his case.

“That’s not an especially high amount over a 10-year period, especially when you consider that (telecommunications interests) haven’t really had a lot of major legislation that’s been considered until just recently,” the veteran lawmaker said.

As for granting contributors special access, he said, “Everyone has access to my office. No one gets turned away. I’m about as easy to get ahold of as anybody in the Capitol.”