<i> A behind-the-scenes look at Orange County’s political life</i> : Board of Supervisors Kicks Off a Bad Week With the Life of Riley

Counting the minutes: Last Monday, even before the extent of the county’s financial crisis was known to the public, a weary Board of Supervisors Chairman Thomas F. Riley was the first of his colleagues to file into the crowded board room at the Hall of Administration.

Riley sat down and looked at the crowd and managed a smile, despite the fact that he had been up since 3 a.m., rousted out of bed with the start of a week’s worth of devastating news. When someone from the audience shouted out, “When’s your last day, General?” it brought a momentary chuckle to the popular former Marine officer who has toiled on the board for 20 years--but had never experienced a day like this.

That was the easiest question he would field all day, and Riley had the answer at the tip of his tongue. For one of the first times in his career, Riley looked like he was anxious to leave and he knew the date to the minute.

“Dec. 31 at 12 o’clock,” Riley said with a chuckle that broke the ice in the tense room and brought down the house.

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Look Out, Arnold: With her styled hair and designer glasses, state Sen. Marian Bergeson (R-Newport Beach) has never looked ready to take over for Arnold Schwarzenegger as the Terminator. But in a press release she issued last week announcing her resignation from the Senate effective Jan. 2 so she can assume a seat on the Board of Supervisors, Bergeson borrowed heavily from the movie strongman.

“In her best Schwarzenegger voice,” the press release said, “Bergeson also warned state legislators that ‘I’ll be baaack’ to lobby them” on a variety of issues to help Orange County, not the least of which is the effort to recover from its financial crisis.

Bergeson’s press release also noted that she’ll be happy to get back to Orange County on a permanent basis so that husband Garth, the grandchildren and Chester--”the cocker spaniel head-of-household”--get to know her once again “between Mondays and Thursdays.”

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Full House: Freshman Assemblywoman Marilyn C. Brewer (R-Newport Beach) brought quite an entourage of family members for her swearing in this past week. There were so many Brewers in town that they took up every room in the Sterling Hotel, a small, 12-room boutique hotel in downtown Sacramento. Among those who attended were Brewer’s husband, four sons, their wives, three of six grandchildren, her mother and sister. Not to be outdone, the delegation’s other freshman, Assemblyman Jim Morrissey (R-Santa Ana), also had more than a dozen family members in attendance.

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Making the rules: State Sen. John Lewis (R-Orange) last week was elected to the powerful Senate Rules Committee, the panel that governs most aspects of the house’s operations and makes key rulings to kill or resurrect legislation.

In climbing into the post, Lewis toppled another lawmaker with Orange County ties, Sen. William A. (Bill) Craven, whose district includes a slice of South County. Craven had fallen into disfavor with some conservative Republicans and his attendance on the committee had become an issue after he missed some meetings because of health problems, insiders said.

Lewis said his key goal is to improve the GOP’s representation on Senate committees. Republicans make up more than 40% of the upper house, but occupy only 32% of the seats on committees.

“I’m going to do the best I can to really scrutinize expenditures,” Lewis said. “But I’m also going to try to be a good representative for the Republican minority.”

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Crowded bandwagon: With the U.S. Supreme Court considering whether states can impose term limits on members of Congress (the case before the court calls for three two-year terms), where do Orange County’s GOP congressmen stand? Right in the middle of the jockeying over who can bellow his support the loudest.

All six of the county’s representatives favor term limits, but . . . Let’s just say some wouldn’t object to longer terms.

Rep. Christopher Cox of Newport Beach says he’s interested in getting a law imposed, whatever the limit. Rep. Robert K. Dornan of Garden Grove backs the three two-year term plan approved by California voters in 1992, while Rep. Jay Kim of Diamond Bar goes for the four-terms model.

Rep. Ron Packard of Oceanside and Rep. Dana Rohrabacher of Huntington Beach prefer a 12-year package, which Rep. Ed Royce of Fullerton says is most popular.

Republicans, said conservative political commentator Robert Novak at a recent speech in Newport Beach, now face the test of carrying through with their term limits promise. “Republicans pretend they are for (term limits),” Novak said, but most are not “because they are careerists; they are (in Congress) for life.”

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Mr. Anaheim: Not many people anywhere can say they are as successful in politics--or as visible around his hometown--as Lou Lopez, the new Anaheim councilman.

Lopez, 50, who in November became the first Latino ever elected to the council in this city of 291,000 people, has been a well-known police officer in Anaheim for more than 25 years.

But Lopez is no newcomer to city politics. For a short time he held three elected posts in his city, all won on his usual law-and-order platform.

Back in 1990, Lopez was elected to the Board of Trustees of the Anaheim City School District. And in 1992, he was elected to the Board of Trustees of the Anaheim Union High School District.

Lopez has since given up both school board seats, but for a short time last month he was a man of many hats.

“In this day and age, with politics being what they are, I think the fact he can get elected to three public positions is a major compliment to his leadership skills,” said John Palacio, a Lopez supporter and spokesman for the Mexican-American Legal Defense and Educational Fund.

Compiled by Times staff writer Len Hall, with contributions from staff writers Eric Bailey and Gebe Martinez.

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