Speaker, Eyeing L.A. Mayor’s Race, Is at Risk of Coup

This is Assembly Speaker Antonio Villaraigosa’s plan: He intends to size up the L.A. mayor’s race early next year and decide whether to run. If he does run, he’ll give up his speaker’s job. If he doesn’t, he’ll try to hang on as house leader through the November election.

Well, that’s his fervent hope anyway. First, he must fend off the wannabe speakers and nervous Nellies who are antsy about his forced departure after 2000 because of term limits. They’re getting stirred up to shove him aside early and move on quickly to the next speaker. Like this summer.

These jittery lawmakers seek stability--even if they’re in the wrong business for it--and as they clumsily pursue it, they create even more instability.

“They’re circling. It’s a matter of time,” says one legislator, a Latino Democrat.

“You know how [legislative] members are,” notes a Democratic strategist. “They wake up every morning thinking, ‘What about me?’ There’s all kinds of grumbling.”

The grumbling is about Villaraigosa allegedly being distracted by mayoral aspirations from his speaker duties, such as raising campaign money for the grumblers. He denies it, but critics assert he spends too much time and focus on L.A. And as any politician knows, it’s perception that matters.

They’re also grumbling about what they consider Villaraigosa’s mistakes: Allowing a historically Democratic Assembly seat in Oakland to turn Green. (Many are to blame.) Pushing--but not passing--liberal legislation to significantly increase the limit on pain and suffering awards in medical malpractice cases. Pressing moderates to vote--some didn’t--for a losing bill to protect students from gay bashing.

“There’s no question [the gay bill] created a lot of friction. To a certain extent [the malpractice bill] was another issue of contention,” Villaraigosa says. “But, look, this is term limits!”

He’s right. There’s a lot of unwarranted whining. The real culprit here is term limits. It causes ordinarily rational people to act crazy.

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There are two Catch-22s going on in the Assembly and they’re related.

Because of term limits, some Assembly members are scheming to become the next speaker, only six months into a two-year legislative session. They’re trying to beat the clock and get theirs before being termed out after six years. But such self-serving waste of the public’s time is one reason voters slapped legislators with term limits.

Voters want the Legislature working on their problems. They don’t care diddly which politician can best hit up the special interests for money--or really very much who’s speaker.

Situation two: Villaraigosa, 46, wants to run for mayor. But he can’t run and also fully do his job as speaker. Yet he needs the public exposure of being speaker to gear up for the 2001 race.

Villaraigosa believes he has a good shot. He hears powerful Angelenos encouraging him to run. Many pols, however, think it’s a longshot at best and he’d be better off running for a City Council seat. Villaraigosa is cool to that notion. And if he did run for the council, he probably wouldn’t step down as speaker.

The grumblers, meanwhile, fret about Villaraigosa’s even thinking about running for any L.A. office while he’s supposed to be serving them.

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“I think people [will] get over the conflict and the friction and start working together and doing the healing,” Villaraigosa said in an interview. “I don’t feel my own situation is jeopardized.”

“I don’t either,” chimed in Assemblyman Robert Hertzberg (D-Sherman Oaks), Villaraigosa’s self-described consigliere, who may run for L.A. city attorney--if he doesn’t capture the speaker’s office.

Despite being Villaraigosa’s friend and roommate, Hertzberg has been one of those impatiently jockeying for his job. Others include Democratic Assemblymen Fred Keeley of Boulder Creek and Tony Cardenas of Sylmar. All deny they’ve been soliciting votes for speaker. But other lawmakers and lobbyists insist they have.

Inevitable with term limits? Not necessarily.

First, Villaraigosa could relieve the anxiety by just announcing he’ll resign as speaker in January.

Then the Assembly could discourage future coup attempts by requiring a two-thirds vote to oust a speaker in midyear. It also could establish a standard two-year speaker’s term.

And finally, legislators could get some spine and urge voters to extend term limits to a practical length. Rather than the current three two-year terms in the Assembly and two four-year terms in the Senate, lawmakers should be permitted 12 years in each house.

Until changes like these occur, the Assembly seems doomed to instability and craziness. Villaraigosa won’t be the last victim.