Kahn Climbs Aboard Coattails, but Rogan Gets an ‘Endorsement’

Assembly Majority Leader James R. Rogan (R-Glendale) arrived early for President Clinton’s speech at Glendale College on Tuesday.

“Aren’t you in the wrong place?” the conservative Republican was asked.

“No, he’s in the wrong place,” quipped Rogan.

The retort was a reference to Glendale’s long history as a GOP bastion.

Rogan’s opponent in the congressional race, Democrat Doug Kahn, will seek to break that tradition in November. “I just wish the election were today,” said Kahn, who was also on hand for the president’s speech on education and family values.

Democratic hopes in the 27th Congressional District stem partly from their growing voter registration in the area and partly from Clinton’s popularity in the district. Seeking to maximize presidential coattails, Kahn was among those who met the president the day before--for a photo op.

But Rogan may have one-upped him.

That’s because after the speech, Rogan ate lunch with some of his staffers at the Rocky Cola Cafe in Montrose. Who should show up but the president, in search of a buffalo burger and fries.

Rogan, who lunched on navy bean soup and a vanilla malt, got a handshake, of course. One of his staffers even got a presidential autograph. On the back of a Rogan-for-Congress business card, Clinton wrote: “Good luck, Jim.”

Capital Gains

They don’t all agree on who ought to be the next president or who ought to replace Rep. Anthony C. Beilenson in the 24th Congressional District or even whether abortion ought to be legal.

But members of the Valley Industry and Commerce Assn. came to Washington this week with much they agree on. In fact, they typed up their agreements in formal position papers and handed them out to government officials in the nation’s capital.

The local business group favors caps on medical-malpractice suits, substantial tax reform and changes in the way the federal government funds disaster recovery. VICA members also agree that the federal deficit ought to be eliminated by the year 2002 and that entitlements such as Social Security and Medicare ought to be scrutinized during budget-balancing discussions.

As that agenda indicates, VICA’s annual Washington trip is no tourist jaunt. The 28 or so Valley-area business people lunched with local congressmen at the Capitol Hill Club, met with Clinton administration aides across the street from the White House and received congressional briefings on disaster-relief reform, transportation policy and health-care proposals, among other matters.

Just Friends

How incestuous is the City Hall crowd?

Consider a party this week at Cindy Miscikowski’s house. She’s a former chief of staff for Marvin Braude who’s running against him for the Los Angeles City Council next year.

The party was related to Miscikowski’s political aspirations--its purpose was to “announce” the retirement of her husband, attorney Doug Ring, as a registered City Hall lobbyist.

The hope, of course, is to defuse potential conflict of interest as a campaign issue. Actually, Ring quit lobbying a year ago, but no one seemed to have gotten the message. Hence the fete.

Among the guests was Ring’s lobbyist cohort Steve Afriat, a city commissioner. He’s a good friend of the couple. He also happens to be Braude’s campaign consultant.

Miscikowski’s consultant, Rick Taylor, was there too. Taylor was Afriat’s consultant in a long-ago Valley Assembly primary. And Taylor has also run a campaign with Afriat for Mayor Richard Riordan’s charter reform proposals.

Charting the intertwined relationships of all the party guests on paper would require felling a tree.

Copping a Plea

Mayor Richard Riordan’s budget clearly put many City Council members in an awkward position.

He proposed hiring 710 new police officers next year with a funding strategy that many council members felt was dubious.

But by voting against the police expansion plan, council members ran the risk of being seen as anti-cop. Still, 10 of the council’s 15 members took that chance and voted to slow down Riordan’s expansion to 460 officers next year.

Since then, however, some have taken great pains to emphasize their ongoing support for the police and explain their vote to constituents.

Councilwoman Laura Chick, who represent parts of the west San Fernando Valley, sent letters to many constituents, explaining her concern over Riordan’s funding initiatives.

Councilman Mike Feuer issued his message in person, by approaching several homeowner groups--including those from Studio City, Valley Village, the Fairfax district and Bel-Air--to talk about the budget and other issues.

Feuer also wrote a letter that appeared in the Studio City Homeowner Assn.’s newsletter and has been offered to several other groups.

“Recent news articles might have you believe that the mayor and the council disagree over whether public safety is the city’s number one priority,” the letter said. “However, the source of contention in the budget is not our city’s priority.”

The letter goes on to question Riordan’s funding plan, saying: “The mayor is willing to roll the dice on highly speculative income.”

He added: “The City Council is not prepared to abdicate responsibility by pretending to afford services that will lock us into decades of debt.”

Something in the Air

For years, residents around Van Nuys Airport have complained about helicopter noise that they say makes life in the area a nightmare.

And for just as long, local elected officials have tried to impose limits on the choppers to keep the din to a manageable level.

The latest effort was launched this week by Councilman Marvin Braude, who represents communities around the facility. He asked city attorneys to establish a copter curfew.

But that’s easier said than done.

Van Nuys Airport currently recommends that helicopter pilots approach and leave the airport along several designated routes that pass over industrial areas or freeway corridors to reduce the impact on residents below.

There is also a 11-p.m.-to-7-a.m. curfew on aircraft that generate more than 74 decibels on takeoff. Helicopters don’t usually create that much noise, airport officials say.

But the real problem with Braude’s proposal is that the Federal Aviation Administration has jurisdiction over such matters and has a strict policy against enacting laws that single out particular types of aircraft.

“When a city entertains ordinances to limit aircraft, it will have to tangle with the FAA,” said Assistant City Atty. Bret Lobner, who specializes in airport litigation and noise matters.

Braude acknowledges that it will be tough to get the FAA to sign off on a helicopter curfew but insists that he must seek relief for his constituents living near the airport.

“There is no question that it’s difficult to move the FAA,” he said. “It’s a tough regulatory battle, but that doesn’t faze me.”

Whether he wins or loses that battle, Braude, who faces a tough reelection race next year, will make points with voters by taking on the powerful agency.

Quotable: “He seems to be saying that if I don’t sign on to his ideas of public safety, then I’m no friend of his. If that is the price of friendship with the mayor, that is too high a price.”--Councilwoman Laura Chick, on her strained relations with Mayor Richard Riordan

Hill-Holtzman and Martin reported from Los Angeles, Lacey from Washington, D.C.