Berman Waves Fist at Shuster on Ethics, Opens Palm on Transit

It’s almost Christmas, but that doesn’t mean that scandal in Washington has taken a holiday.

Rep. Howard Berman (D-Mission Hills) and several other members of the House Ethics Committee who are investigating the chairman of the House Transportation Committee are also lobbying him for transit funding.

Pennsylvania Rep. Bud Shuster, a Republican whose panel reviews highway and mass-transit programs, is the target of an ethics probe into the propriety of his ties to his former chief of staff.

The committee is acting on a complaint that raises questions about Shuster’s relationship with Ann Eppard, a transportation lobbyist who was Shuster’s congressional chief of staff for 22 years.

At the same time, Berman, the ranking Ethics Committee member, is asking Shuster’s panel to approve $1 million for road improvements near Hansen Dam and $600,000 for improvements to a Metrolink station near Sylmar.

Such predicaments are not uncommon in Washington. But they still raise eyebrows. The Congressional Accountability Project, a watchdog group affiliated with Ralph Nader, has requested that an outside counsel investigate the case.

But Berman shrugs off such suggestions, saying attorneys for the Ethics Committee are independent and thorough.

As for potential conflict of interest, Berman said there is nothing improper about members of Congress investigating and lobbying one another at the same time.

“The Founding Fathers wrote this Constitution and said that it is up to Congress to discipline their own members,” he said. “Every single member of Congress has ties and relationships or potential needs to deal with each other.”

Tracking Berman

The congressman remains under attack from labor groups and environmentalists who oppose so-called “fast track” legislation--which would give the president the power to negotiate foreign trade agreements.

Under the law, Congress would be asked to vote proposals up or down and could not renegotiate or amend.

Breaking with congressional Democrats, Berman has strongly supported the bill, saying it will improve free trade and bolster the local economy. A vote on the bill was put off until next year due to strong opposition from Democrats.

A dozen opponents braved the cold and rain Thursday to protest outside of Berman’s district office in Mission Hills.

The group, called the Fair Trade Coalition of Los Angeles, carried signs that read, “Fast Track=Destruction of Environment.”

“We want to show him that there is a cost to his support for fast track,” said Robert Benson, a law professor and member of the coalition.

The coalition--including unions and environmental groups--contends that the bill would send local jobs across the border and ignores environmental problems created by the transfer of jobs to other countries.

But the protest ran into a snag: Berman and his staff were not around to observe the event. They were having their annual holiday party.

Said Berman of the protesters: “I’d love to see them but I’m not going to cancel our staff party just because of them.”

Demolition Man

The turf war continues between City Council members Nate Holden and Laura Chick, who have squared off over the planned demolition of the 70-year-old McKinley Building in Holden’s council district. The Spanish-style structure, built by the same architects who designed the Wiltern and Pantages theaters, now sits in disrepair, damaged by the Northridge earthquake.

In an infrequent foray into another council member’s territory, three months ago Chick moved to delay demolition against the owner’s and Holden’s wishes, arguing for its preservation as a historic landmark. Chick won the initial battle when the council delayed demolition but lost the latest round Wednesday, when a council panel--including Holden--voted to quash her maneuver.

Prior engagements kept Chick from appearing before the committee, she said. But Chick doubts that her presence would have made much of a difference.

“My being there was not going to change the already made-up minds of my other two colleagues,” Chick said, referring to Holden and Richard Alatorre, who outvoted her ally, Councilman Mike Feuer, in favor of demolition.

But she added: “My comments and my fight are going to be in [full] council,” which has final say on the matter and will take up the issue shortly after the new year.

Firing Line

Earlier this week, the National Rifle Assn. bought full-page newspaper ads attacking freshmen Assemblymen Jack Scott (D-Altadena) and Scott Wildman (D-Los Angeles) for their support of several gun-control measures.

Scott and Wildman both supported a bill to outlaw the sale of so-called Saturday-night specials, among other legislation that the NRA opposes.

In response to the attack, the California Police Chiefs Assn. has come to the defense of Scott, calling the campaign unfair.

“This bias ad is nothing more than an attempt by the NRA to divert attention away from the overwhelming public support for banning the cheap and dangerous thandguns that are most often traced to violent crimes,” said Richard Propster, president of the police chiefs’ group.

*

QUOTABLE: “They will see this oppressive miscarriage of justice because of the sycophants at City Hall.”

--Actress Julie Newmar about TV news viewers who have followed the city’s on-again, off-again ban on leaf-blowers.