Feuer Gets First Taste of Life as Councilman : Politics: Sworn in Monday, City Hall newcomer gets a briefing on the arcane rules of protocol.

Like Mr. Smith in Washington, Mike Feuer’s introduction to the weird world of City Hall politics began moments after he was sworn in Monday as the newest member of the Los Angeles City Council.

During a brief lesson on council protocol, Feuer learned the following:

* Unless he presses the “no” button on a panel installed on his chamber desk, he will automatically be recorded as a “yes” vote.

* A speaker blares the council debates in the men’s room behind the council chambers so he won’t miss a beat even when nature calls.

* It’s best not to question other council members when they propose a new law that has yet to be reviewed by a council subcommittee.

But Feuer didn’t seemed put off by such lessons.

“It’s pretty much the way I thought it would be,” said the 37-year-old Harvard-educated lawyer as he looked around the high ceilings and marble pillars of the chambers.

Thus began Feuer’s political baptism. The former head of a legal services clinic, Feuer won a June runoff to fill the post left vacant when Zev Yaroslavsky resigned last year after he was elected to the county Board of Supervisors. Feuer will complete two years of Yaroslavsky’s unexpired term.

The district stretches from the Westside to the San Fernando Valley and includes communities such as Westwood, Brentwood, Wilshire, Sherman Oaks and parts of Van Nuys, North Hollywood and Studio City.

The first day’s activities ranged from learning the Byzantine rules of conducting business around the horseshoe-shaped council dais to the mundane tasks of assigning desks to his staff and finding good deli food for lunch.

Feuer was sworn in by City Clerk Elias Martinez in a quiet, staid ceremony attended by only a dozen observers, including his staff and a few City Hall officials.

A more elaborate ceremony that is expected to attract about 250 people is planned for Wednesday, when most council members return from the long Fourth of July weekend. Feuer’s family and supporters are expected to participate.

Feuer decided on the informal ceremony Monday so he could officially take office early and organize his staff.

He observed his first good omen when he saw his name on the electronic board that keeps track of the 15 council votes. “Good, good, they spelled my name right,” he said.

And he had his first laugh when he sat down at his new council seat, which formally belonged to Councilwoman Ruth Galanter, and noticed a bumper sticker on the desktop that said: “Smash Lawyeurism.”

“I think I’ll keep that,” he joked.

To help him keep the council rules straight, Pat Healy, chief legislative assistant for the city clerk’s office, gave Feuer a binder that enumerates council voting rules. Included was a dictionary of City Hall jargon to help him learn the language of bureaucrats.

Since his June 10 election, Feuer has been hiring a council staff, studying upcoming city issues and making public appearances in the district, he said.

“I’ve been eager to get started but I’ve been also eager to be educated on the issues,” he said. “I think it’s very exciting.”

As excited as Feuer was, there was at least one other person in City Hall who appeared just as thrilled about the day’s swearing-in ceremony: Avak Keotahian.

Keotahian is the legislative analyst who has temporarily watched over the district since Yaroslavsky resigned in December. He has had to respond to angry calls from constituents complaining about potholes, cracked sidewalks, graffiti-marred buildings and other district problems.

“I’m the happiest man in City Hall,” he said.