Alarcon Plans to Make a Splash at Dedication of Lakes

Some political events lead elected officials to timidly test the waters with a toe dip. Others have them pining to dive in.

The latter is apparently the case with the formal unveiling of two artificial lakes at the Hansen Dam Recreation Area, once considered the jewel of the northeast San Fernando Valley.

After more than a decade of bureaucratic back-and-forth, the lakes--one for swimming, another for boating and fishing--are expected to open to the public next month, and the region’s political bigwigs are all scheduled to be on hand Aug. 28 for a formal celebration.

But state Sen. Richard Alarcon (D-Sylmar) isn’t just planning to be at the swimming lake--he wants to be the first politician in the lake.

“I’ve been waiting many years to jump in that lake,” Alarcon said. “People love to tell politicians to go jump in a lake. This will be their big opportunity to see one do it.”

Alarcon spokeswoman Sue Gold said she recently tried to talk Tom Waldman, spokesman for Rep. Howard Berman (D-Mission Hills), into having Berman take the plunge with Alarcon. But Berman, who led the charge to build two lakes after the former lake was done in by neglect, won’t be donning a swimsuit for the big moment, or any time soon for that matter, according to Waldman, who is working with a citizens committee to organize the ceremony.

“There are no plans to have any politician jump in the water at this time,” Waldman said. “If there were, I would certainly advise Howard to stay clothed.”

That may be, but nothing is going to keep Alarcon from making a splash, Gold said.

“Trust me, Richard is going to jump,” Gold said. “He’s lifting weights and everything to make sure he looks good doing it too. We would hope that all the public officials follow his lead, but it seems unlikely.”

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NO LAUGHING MATTER: On a far more serious note, state Sen. Tom Hayden (D-Los Angeles) is facing a public-relations nightmare over allegations that someone on his staff wasn’t nearly clothed enough recently in San Francisco.

A young woman was riding a bicycle along California Street in San Francisco last month when a man driving a gray Ford sedan pulled up alongside her, opened the car door and exposed himself. The flasher then followed the woman as she tried to pedal away, police told the San Francisco Chronicle.

The woman was deeply disturbed and shaken by the incident, police said, but had the presence of mind to get the car’s license plate number.

It turned out to be a state vehicle--one that Hayden and an aide had taken out that day to attend a UC regents meeting. Other witnesses also identified the car, police said.

Though Hayden and the aide drove to the meeting together, the aide drove home alone. Hayden was driven to the airport by a UC regents employee in a Lincoln Town Car well before the 3 p.m. incident.

While the police investigate, the aide, whose name is being kept confidential, has been placed on administrative leave, according to Rocky Rushing, Hayden’s chief of staff.

“He was driving the car. He’s the focus of the investigation,” Rushing said. “Putting him on leave while this is cleared up is the right thing to do.”

The aide, who is expected to submit to a photo lineup later this week, has denied flashing anyone.

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LONG MEMORY: Encino attorney Ted Stein, a possible candidate for city attorney in two years, won City Council confirmation Wednesday of another term on the Harbor Commission, but not without some protest.

City Councilwoman Rita Walters cast the lone vote against Stein, saying afterward she objected to his controversial past, including a brief delinquency on property taxes on apartment buildings, disclosed when he previously ran for city attorney, and his hiring of Whitewater figure Webster Hubbell as a lobbyist for the airport department.

Stein laughed off the idea that politics played a role in the non-unanimous vote when Council President John Ferraro teased him, noting attorney Lisa Specht had minutes earlier been confirmed by a unanimous vote to the Parks Commission.

“I’m not as good looking as Lisa,” he told the council.

But Walters said it wasn’t looks that caused her to protest the appointment.

“It was all kinds of stuff,” she said. “I’ve never heard of any apology offered for any of this stuff. I just think the people appointed to city commissions need to be above reproach.”

On the bright side, Stein’s reappointment went a bit more smoothly than his original appointment to the Harbor Commission last year.

The vote then was 11-3.