2 Budding Candidates Find Political Opposites Attract

Not too many lovebirds can say they turn to political odd couple Mary Matalin and James Carville for clues on how to make it all work out.

But as they prepare to mount runs for separate Assembly seats next year, Ross Hopkins, a Republican, and Jill Barad, a Democrat, have to look somewhere for fitting relationship role models. Antonio Banderas and Melanie Griffith just won’t do.

The president of the United Chambers of Commerce of the San Fernando Valley, Hopkins is hoping to succeed Tom McClintock (R-Northridge) in the 38th Assembly District, which straddles eastern Ventura County and the northwest Valley.

A Sherman Oaks-based Democratic political consultant and fund-raiser, Barad is hoping to succeed Wally Knox (D-Los Angeles) in the 42nd Assembly District, which spans the southern Valley, West Hollywood and the Westside.

With so much politicking going on between them, one might surmise that Hopkins and Barad spend their romantic evenings sipping bubbly by candlelight, discussing the foibles of Bill Clinton and Newt Gingrich, or the merits of the death penalty and affirmative action.

Not so. After six years of dating, Hopkins, who lives in Canoga Park, and Barad, who resides in Sherman Oaks, have had their share of disagreements about politics. So they do what most politically polarized couples do--they try not to talk about it.

“We have a lot of things in common that go beyond politics: theater, music, the arts. You know, the things people do,” Hopkins said. “We don’t get into impassioned discussions on things like the death penalty, because we know we’re never going to agree.”

Barad recalled some particularly heated exchanges over Proposition 209, the voter-approved ban on state affirmative action programs. She thought it was going to hurt women and minorities. He opposed special preferences. Hopkins recalled some exchanges, too.

For the most part, however, both said they have succeeded in putting politics aside.

After all, they met while Barad was organizing a fund-raising dinner for a local nonprofit group, the Valley Interfaith Alliance, not at some political pork-roast. Hopkins, who was working in public affairs for Lockheed at the time, agreed to contribute to the cause, and sparks flew.

“I am rarely moved by the brilliance of a Republican,” Barad joked. “But he gave us money.”

Hopkins and Barad will face challenges on the road to Sacramento, and they plan to be there for each other through the obligatory hit pieces and mudslinging.

Both are running in districts where the incumbent is not seeking reelection, and where their respective party enjoys a clear majority of registered voters, so the primary races will probably decide the victor. The primaries are expected to be tough, though, and crowded.

McClintock will be leaving his post to seek the state Senate seat that will be vacated by Sen. Cathie Wright (R-Simi Valley). Knox will be departing to pursue the state Senate seat that will be vacated by Sen. Tom Hayden (D-Los Angeles). Both incumbent senators are being forced out of their offices by term limits.

Hopkins and Barad know they have difficult campaigns ahead, and neither is taking success for granted. But they admit to entertaining visions of a personal bipartisan alliance of sorts flowering in the capitol.

“We would both practice coalition politics,” Barad quipped. “We would certainly cross the aisle. Maybe we’ll even start a trend.”

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SPOILS OF WAR: Having run the unsuccessful campaign against the new City Charter on the June 8 ballot, political consultant Steve Afriat of Sherman Oaks was on the opposite side of the issue from Mayor Richard Riordan.

So nobody at City Hall was surprised Wednesday when Afriat announced he was giving up his mayoral appointment as president of the city Animal Regulation Commission.

“The mayor is infamous at City Hall for being Mr. Payback, if you end up on his wrong side,” said one City Council member.

Working for a group of City Council members who think the new charter gives too much power to the mayor, Afriat ran a campaign that reportedly angered Riordan. Opponents attacked the mayor and some top contributors, including media giant Rupert Murdoch.

Afriat denies that he was asked by the mayor to quit, saying he decided early this year that he would step down as president in July and leave the commission around September to spend more time with his business.

“Being president of the Animal Regulation Commission is very time consuming, and it’s a thankless job,” Afriat said. “I’m just tired of it.”

While he is proud of the commission’s success in getting more money budgeted for the department, Afriat said he was beginning to weary of the relentless criticism from a few animal-rights activists who want much more.

Afriat acknowledged that the timing of his departure is awkward.

“I know it’s virtually impossible to step down as president without a story speculating about whether it has to do with the charter stuff,” Afriat said. “It doesn’t.”

Mayoral spokeswoman Jessica Copen denied that Riordan asked Afriat to quit.

“He is a great commissioner,” she said.

But a source close to Riordan said Afriat received a call after the election that gently suggested he consider what honorable people do when they are on the losing side of a bitter dispute.

“Steven Afriat is a warrior and an honorable man,” the source said. “It’s the only honorable thing to do. He understands that being on the other side [on the charter issue] would make it awkward for him to stay.”

Afriat said if Riordan really wanted to get back at him for the charter dispute, the mayor might suggest a different future.

“I joke that if he really wanted to punish me, he would keep me on the commission,” Afriat said.

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SIGN OF THE TIMES: The candidates in the recent elections may be gone from city streets, but their campaign signs remain--at least many of them do.

The city Public Works Department is out in force taking down leftover political signs, and billing the offenders.

Since November, the city has seized 252 campaign signs put up illegally on public property, and has sent bills to the campaigns, said James Washington, who heads the city enforcement effort.

His said his office in recent months has fielded complaints about illegal signs posted by the campaigns of City Council candidates, including Corinne Sanchez and Juan Jose Gutierrez, and Assembly candidates Andrew Kim and Louis Caldera.

“They are a blight and they are illegal,” Washington said of the signs.

Steve Gray-Barkan, a consultant for Sanchez, the unsuccessful candidate in the 7th Council District, said he was not aware of any illegally posted signs.