Rogan Counters Charge of Hypocrisy--by Charging Hypocrisy

The November election must be close --charges of political hypocrisy are bouncing around Glendale and Pasadena. And President Clinton is at the center of it.

Barry Gordon, Democratic nominee for the 27th Congressional District, accused incumbent Rep. James Rogan (R-Glendale) of exhibiting the “classic definition of hypocrisy” in his role in the congressional investigation of the Clinton scandal.

Rogan returned the disfavor, calling Gordon an uninformed hypocrite and saying that his comments exemplified “cheap-shot politics at its worst.”

The hostilities stem from Rogan’s role as a member of the House Judiciary Committee, which is considering possible impeachment proceedings against Clinton based on independent counsel Kenneth W. Starr’s report about the president’s involvement with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky.

This week Gordon criticized Rogan for voting with the Republican majority on the committee to hold closed hearings as it reviews the Starr report and determines what to release. Gordon also accused Rogan of falling in line with hard-core Republicans and voting to release “graphic” descriptions of material the committee cut because of its explicit nature.

“He calls for full public disclosure of the most embarrassing information he can get his hands on--but wants his votes and the rationale for his votes to remain private,” Gordon charged.

Gordon said Rogan and his fellow Republicans were only trying to embarrass the president.

Hogwash, Rogan said.

A majority of the House voted to release all of the evidence in the Starr investigation, except for material that would harm innocent participants or was unduly explicit or prejudicial, Rogan said.

The Judiciary Committee is holding closed hearings during that process--otherwise, the graphic information would become public.

Rogan said the evidence that should not be made public includes hours and hours of taped conversations between Lewinsky and Linda Tripp, the woman who tipped off Starr about the affair, with nothing but “gossipy woman’s talk” about people who have no connection to the Clinton matter.

As far as the vote on release of graphic material, Rogan said the information in question was limited to a catalog of the evidence excluded from public release because of its explicit nature.

“First he complains that I voted to keep the meeting private,” Rogan huffed. “And in the end, he blasts me for just the opposite.”

Money Is No Object

Los Angeles City Council members will receive a 3% pay raise as a result of a quirk in the law that triggers council raises whenever municipal judges’ salaries are increased.

The raise was the second the council has received this year. Earlier this year, council pay was bumped from $98,069 to $107,390, also tied to an increase in judges’ salaries. This time, salaries were raised to $110,612 per year.

However, several council members from the Valley won’t be enjoying the added bounty because they pointedly reject all or most pay raises out of principle.

These include City Council members Richard Alarcon, Laura Chick and Michael Feuer. A spokesman for Cindy Miscikowski said that she had given her raise to charity in the past and is considering doing so again. The council members have until next week to decide whether they will accept the raise.

Who Loves You, Baby?

Politicians usually love to schmooze with crime-fighting police officers at election time--but a few are making exceptions with Los Angeles Police Department Officer Peter Repovich.

Repovich, the Republican challenger running for the 43rd Assembly District in Glendale and Burbank, was among the GOP’s top prospects in the party’s campaign to recapture the Assembly.

That was before revelations in August that Repovich received a 44-day suspension in 1997 for sexual harassment and a 10-day suspension in 1995 for picking up a handcuffed shoplifting suspect by the hair.

Last week, Los Angeles’ Republican mayor, Richard Riordan, endorsed Repovich’s political rival, Democratic incumbent Scott Wildman of Burbank.

A Wildman news release quickly followed: “Riordan Crosses Party Lines To Support Wildman Re-Election Effort.”

“Mr. Repovich has always believed that endorsements do not win elections, but rather the support and votes of the people are what matter most,” said Dan Revetto, Repovich’s campaign director. “It is a fact that incumbents generally acquire these endorsements more easily than the challenger simply because of the position they hold.”

Riordan wasn’t the first Republican to break ranks. Last month, Rogan hastily revoked his endorsement of Repovich after hearing about the suspensions.

“Sexual harassment, especially by those in a position of authority, in the workplace cannot be tolerated,” Rogan said.

The California State Sheriff’s Assn. and Los Angeles Police Protective League also withdrew their endorsements of Repovich. The latter organization represents 9,000 front-line police officers--including Repovich.

The Friendly Skies

Fours days after his first heated campaign debate, Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Sherman Oaks) was at 30,000 feet on a plane back to Washington, and who does he bump into? His Republican challenger, Randy Hoffman.

Hoffman was flying back to D.C. for an afternoon fund-raiser hosted by the GOP power elite, including House Speaker Newt Gingrich, Republican Leader Dick Armey and Majority Whip Tom DeLay. Total raised: $20,000.

Sherman said he and his challenger in the race to represent the 24th Congressional District, which stretches from Sherman Oaks to Thousand Oaks, had a “cordial” little chat. But both managed to get their jabs in.

“I asked him if he was going to put another million in of his money,” Sherman said. “He said he was going to take a poll and decide.”

Hoffman’s campaign director, Todd Slosek, said Hoffman never made any comment about taking a poll: “He never said anything like that.”

Hoffman did, however, ask Sherman when he planned to start sending out negative campaign mail, but the incumbent declined to share that information, Slosek said.