In Brief Stay, Roberti Felt Valley’s Pain

As might be expected of a man who made history just by arriving--and leaving--the Capitol, David Roberti set some records in between.

And although he represented Valley residents less than three years of his nearly three decades as a politician, he brought the hot topic of school secession off the back burner.

A Los Angeles native, Roberti was elected to the state Assembly in 1966, at age 27 the youngest legislator then serving.

Five years later, he won a seat in the state Senate, where he would serve a record 13 years as president pro tem. A Democrat, he represented the Hollywood area he grew up in until June 1992, when it was eliminated by redistricting.

But he narrowly won a special election to fill a vacancy in the 20th District around Van Nuys. Many of his new constituents were thrilled when he proposed breaking up the huge Los Angeles Unified School District and creating a separate school district in the Valley. An Assembly committee scuttled the bill, but a long-simmering Valley issue had finally been given some exposure in Sacramento.

Gun owners in the Valley and elsewhere, however, were angry at his authorship of the nation’s first assault-weapons ban. A 1994 recall attempt (no state legislator had faced one for 77 years) failed, but at year’s end Roberti was out, the first legislator in the nation affected by term limits.

Now serving a four-year term on the State Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board, he also teaches political science at Loyola Marymount University and USC, his undergraduate and law-school alma maters, respectively.

His brief tenure in the Valley was an eye-opener.

“I had heard about their complaints, but until I represented the Valley, I didn’t realize . . . they have a real problem with apportionment of local, state and federal funds.”

Roberti acknowledged that those unhappy in the Valley with resources for such services as flood control and public safety “can be extra-sensitive.”

“But usually they are right. All you have to do is wait for the next batch of rains. The drainage out there isn’t even remotely comparable to the city side.”