Hayden Finds an Assembly Seat That Is Comfortable

It might seem as if state Sen. Tom Hayden has been playing a game of eenie meenie miney mo to decide which Assembly seat he will pursue now that he is being forced from the upper house next year due to term limits.

But actually, Hayden (D-Los Angeles) has made his decision--to run for the 42nd District seat being vacated by Assemblyman Wally Knox (D-Los Angeles). His choice is based on polling, and Democratic Party concerns about a Republican challenge for the other seat he was considering, the 41st District post being vacated by Assemblywoman Sheila Kuehl (D-Santa Monica).

Hayden’s 23rd Senate District seat, which spans from Santa Monica into Woodland Hills, encompasses both Assembly districts. Hayden resides on the western, Kuehl side, and was initially said to be running there, but has thought the better of it, according to his chief of staff, Rocky Rushing.

“The 42nd has always been a more progressive district, and Tom seems to be a little more popular there,” said Rushing. “Some Assembly leaders came to Tom and suggested he run for the 42nd, because they had run a poll and said the 41st District [candidate] might face more Republican opposition.”

Well, that’s what Hayden’s people are saying, anyway. Others insist Hayden was looking ahead to the coming redistricting following the 2000 census, which could force the 41st District north into Chatsworth, where his leftist politics might not mesh too well.

Rushing acknowledges “that has been discussed” in Hayden’s camp, but said it was “not much of a factor” in the lawmaker’s move. For Hayden, who served in the Assembly before becoming a senator, moving back to the lower house would mean packing his bags to settle in the 42nd District, possibly to Westwood.

“The issue is that he sees an opening to get things done now with [Gov.] Gray Davis after having to work under Republican governors for so many years,” Rushing said. “Tom has always taken an interest in Los Angeles issues, but has really become more interested lately. He no longer wants to be considered the outsider from Santa Monica.”

ELEMENTARY MATH: The Valley is already considered a pivotal factor in Los Angeles elections due to its disproportionate share of registered voters compared with the remainder of the city. Nearly half of those who cast ballots in the last mayoral election came from the Valley, which makes up only about 35% of the city’s population.

Nevertheless, the group behind a study and possible vote on Valley secession wants to widen the gap even further, realizing that such an advantage could be the key to winning an election on Valley cityhood.

Valley VOTE is launching an extensive voter registration effort with the goal of signing up an additional 120,000 area residents to vote within the next two years.

The ultimate goal, regardless of what happens with secession, is to ensure that at least 50% of possible voters in every Valley community can cast ballots and demand their rightful share of services from City Hall, said group President Jeff Brain. The challenge will be greatest in the northeast Valley, where only about 30% of possible voters are currently registered.

“It’s about empowering the Valley, which is what Valley VOTE has always been about from the beginning,” Brain said.

Maybe so. But another effect of the registration push could be a greater likelihood of success for a secession vote, as Brain acknowledged.

For the Valley to break off from the rest of Los Angeles, a majority of voters in the Valley, as well as the city as a whole, must support the split. The more voters in the Valley, the fewer voters needed on the other side of the hill to muster the critical citywide majority vote.

Though he supports the larger aims of Valley VOTE, Benny Bernal, one of the leading members of the Valley VOTE subcommittee heading up the registration drive, admits to even more selfish motives. He said he is tired of seeing the northeast Valley taken for granted by city leaders, and has concluded that the only solution is to pump up the area’s voting muscle.

“I don’t know what other people are thinking,” said Bernal, a Los Angeles Unified School District bus driver, Little League coach and father of six from Mission Hills. “But for me, I think we need to increase our voice, because in the past, we’ve kind of been forgotten out here.”

THEY ALSO RUN: They may lack the political heft and financial connections of potential rivals such as Los Angeles Department of Water and Power manager S. David Freeman or leftist legend Hayden, but several small-town politicians are working to step up and seize Assembly seats in next year’s elections.

Fran Pavley, the original mayor of Agoura Hills when the city formed in 1982, a member of the California Coastal Commission, a longtime schoolteacher and environmental activist, has announced she will seek the seat being vacated by Kuehl due to term limits.

A Democrat, she will probably face a crowded field of candidates in the spring 2000 primary for the 41st District seat--including Freeman, who is said to be all but set to run. The district spans Malibu, Agoura Hills, Woodland Hills and the southwestern Valley.

“I hope it gives me some credibility,” Pavley said of her long history in local politics, which included 16 years on the Agoura Hills City Council. “It gives me a record I am proud of.”

Pavley realizes she is in for an uphill fight, however. She has already lined up various endorsements from council members in Malibu, Calabasas and Agoura Hills, and knows that she will need them to help create a strong grass-roots network if she has any chance of running with the big boys.

“Candidly, [raising money] will be my biggest challenge,” she said. “But I think I can get my word out. I grew up in the Valley, I have worked on the Coastal Commission, and I have long ties in the Santa Monica Mountains and the Las Virgenes valley.”

Similarly, West Hollywood Councilman Steve Martin, an openly gay politician and attorney with a reputation for working well with business interests and the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, is hoping to emerge from a crowded pack of candidates in the Democratic primary race to succeed Knox, who is also being forced out by term limits.

He’s not the only West Hollywood councilman considering a run for the post: His colleague Paul Koretz is also preparing to launch a campaign. The 42nd District stretches from Beverly Hills and West Hollywood into the south-of-the-boulevard areas of the Valley.

Kuehl and Knox, incidentally, are set to square off for Hayden’s Senate seat.