Zev Makes It a Mission to Market Marvin’s Friend Miscikowski

Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky said Thursday that former city staffer Cindy Miscikowski is the best person to succeed retiring Councilman Marvin Braude.

“No endorsement I have ever made was made with as much enthusiasm and excitement as this one,” Yaroslavsky said at a news conference on the steps of City Hall.

Miscikowski and Georgia Mercer, a Tarzana resident, are competing for a council seat that has not been vacant since Braude was elected in 1964.

The other candidates who have qualified for the ballot are Republican businessman Mark Isler and administrator Doug Friedman.

The primary election is April 8.

The silk-stocking 11th District includes pricey residential communities on both sides of the Santa Monica Mountains, as well as pieces of Van Nuys and West Los Angeles.

Lavishing praise on Miscikowski, Yaroslavsky noted her knowledge of City Hall gleaned during more than 20 years as Braude’s chief of staff. He highlighted her role in writing and working to pass initiatives to slow growth in the city and ban offshore oil drilling.

“She can hit the ground running,” Yaroslavsky said.

The backing came a day after Miscikowski lost an important endorsement from the county Democratic Central Committee. Despite a plea by Yaroslavsky on her behalf, the committee voted overwhelmingly to endorse Mercer, a former Valley aide to Mayor Richard Riordan who is also being backed by Councilwoman Jackie Goldberg.

“I like the fact Georgia is so active,” Goldberg said. “It would connect people in her district to downtown. That’s important.”

Mercer also has endorsements from Police Commission President Raymond C. Fisher and Fire Commission President David Fleming, as well as leaders of women’s groups and the Jewish community.

In addition to former boss Braude, Miscikowski has council members Ruth Galanter and Mike Hernandez in her camp. The Brentwood resident is also endorsed by several key Valley homeowners groups’ presidents.

Fitting In

For his speechmaking debut in the House, Rep. Brad Sherman, the freshman Democrat from Sherman Oaks, chose the wrong neckwear.

“I’ve been told that my tie is inappropriate,” Sherman said shortly before he was summoned to the House floor Thursday to speak. “There are too many little things in it.”

A preference for a gray-suited, red-tied image seems to have gripped many men in Congress. Sherman’s cravat appeared to be in the tan category, with a busy, yet organized, pattern. His suit came across grayish-taupe on C-SPAN.

His sartorial concerns had no effect on his speechifying. He spoke with assurance on a topic he feels strongly about: international family planning.

His short remarks urged lawmakers to defeat a bill that would prohibit the Agency for International Development from contracting with any outside agency that uses its own funds for abortion or abortion counseling.

“This vote wraps up everything I care about,” Sherman said before the speech. “And it’s a good pro-choice vote too.”

Once on the floor, he calmly enumerated the issues that he believed were at stake in the upcoming vote: the environment, the dignity and advancement of women, the peace and development of the Third World, reducing illegal immigration and increasing government efficiency.

He was given one minute to talk--a typical time limit for a freshman--but asked for another 30 seconds to wind up his remarks. Showing good clock management, he hit the mark just as the gavel sounded.

Despite Sherman’s exhortation, the bill passed.

Earlier in the day, Congress voted to release $385 million in international family-planning funds. In the last Congress, Republicans and Democrats deadlocked over using the funds.

And the tie? It looked fine.

Giving Credit

Prior to his big moment, Sherman gave credit to his predecessor, former Rep. Anthony C. Beilenson, who labored for years on behalf of the issue.

“No one was more active in prior Congresses than Tony in fighting for international family planning,” Sherman said.

In another tip of the hat to the man he replaced, Sherman noted that the Clinton administration budget delivered last week contained $1 million in land-acquisition funds for the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area--Beilenson’s pet project during his 20-year congressional sojourn.

“This is Tony’s legacy to the entire district,” Sherman said.

But the glory days of federal money for expanding the park are long over.

While the proposed $1 million is a positive sign, no money was appropriated last year for that use, and $1.5 million the year before. During 1989 and 1993, many times that amount poured into the park.

“There is very little money in this budget or in prior years’ budgets for parkland acquisition,” Sherman said. “That is somewhat unfair because there is a land and water conservation fund funded by revenue from offshore oil drilling . . . that was supposed to be used for parkland acquisition--but it’s not. It’s just stockpiled to offset the deficit.

“We were led to expect that there would be nothing in this budget, so finding $1 million is a very nice step in the right direction.”

Sherman said the budget also calls for $60 million under the control of the National Park Service for unspecified projects.

“I’ll work to see that some of those funds go to the Santa Monicas,” Sherman vowed.

“Everyone in the administration knows that no priority is more important to me than funds for the Santa Monica recreation area.”

The affable Sherman knows he is picking up where Beilenson left off.

“I’m going to have to be here for a while before developments like this are due in measurable part to my efforts.”

Spoken like a true freshman.

Dial-a-Law

Trying to figure out what’s legal and what’s not under California’s new campaign finance law has been a preoccupation of politicos since its passage three months ago.

And with municipal elections coming up in April, answers are needed now.

The California Fair Political Practices Commission is there to help you sort it out. All one needs is a touch-tone telephone and the patience to deal with one of those annoying voice-mail menus.

Dial up the FPPC fax-on-demand number and answers will soon follow, promised FPPC spokesman Gary Huckaby.

What’s available? A copy of any of the emergency regulations passed by the commission to deal with Proposition 208, and even its response to letters seeking clarification of the law.

Then there is the all-important index, which is needed to figure out what to order.

Press the right buttons and, voila, before you know it the fax machine will start chugging and beeping.

The number is (888) 622-1151

Full-Court Press Candidates for a charter reform panel have until Tuesday to turn in nominating petitions, but one candidate, Keith Richman, has already begun a high-visibility campaign.

Last month, he put out a half-page ad in The Times that explained his ideas for overhauling the 72-year-old charter that acts as the city’s constitution.

Last week, Richman tried a new tactic. He sent out letters touting his candidacy to more than 6,000 patients of the Keystone Health Medical Group, an association of physicians he formed in the San Fernando Valley.

The letters, addressed “Dear Keystone Patient,” were included in the patients’ statements and explained Richman’s ideas about the democratic process and the need for “honest reform.”

Asked to explain his unusually aggressive campaign tactics, Richman said: “I’m really going at this to win.”

What’s more, he said campaign signs will begin to appear throughout the northwest Valley today and brochures will go out next week.

He estimates that he has spent about $25,000 on the campaign so far but still worries that he will face a tough race against former Assemblywoman Paula Boland, who is also seeking the reform post in the northwest Valley.

To give himself an upper hand, Richman has hired Gary Washburn, once Boland’s chief of staff, to run his campaign.