‘Targeted’ Congressman Takes the Bull’s-Eye by the Horns

Oh my goodness, it’s really him!

Jim! Jim!

Rock stars out for a night on the town are used to a little adulation and hormone-stoked mania.

After his losing role in President Clinton’s Senate impeachment trial, Rep. James Rogan (R-Glendale) is probably more accustomed to the Milli Vanilli treatment.

But the man who’s been described by every media outlet and political pundit on the planet as a dead duck, a “target” for Democrats in 2000, elicited quite a different response from the loyalists at the state’s GOP convention last weekend.

One would have thought Mick Jagger was in the house.

Rogan was mobbed for autographs and received standing ovations seemingly every time he cleared his throat, once while presidential contender Dan Quayle was still speaking at the podium.

Even Rogan was taken aback by the response, which was highlighted by booming calls to forget his House seat and go for the gusto--a Senate run against Democrat Dianne Feinstein.

“It was overwhelming,” Rogan said Wednesday. “I have never experienced anything like that. I don’t think it was solely recognition for me. I think it was a show of support for the job we did and the things we had to go through.”

Rogan remains mum on his political future, but observers increasingly speculate he’s leaning toward a Senate run.

Whatever the case, one thing became clear at last weekend’s convention: Rogan loves wearing a bull’s-eye. In fact, he has transformed his plight into a schtick of sorts, complete with its own merchandising element.

Rogan came to the convention with T-shirts and lapel stickers he personally designed, trumpeting “Rogan: My Kind of Target.”

They reportedly sold like hot cakes.

“The secret to a good campaign button is that it says ‘Elect Jim Rogan’ in some fashion,” he said. “The secret to a bad campaign button is that it somehow mentions my opponent du jour.”

It was not the first time Rogan--a well-known collector of political memorabilia--came up with a scheme to promote himself.

Rogan has previously designed his own political buttons, and even came up with baseball cards bearing his mug as a gag to hand out to friends.

“You can’t take these kinds of things too seriously,” Rogan said. “If someone is going to label me a target, that’s fine with me. I’ll give them something to shoot for.”

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ACCESSIBLE: In the high-stakes contest over who will control access to the Internet through Los Angeles cable systems, Alan Arkatov has become a key player, as chairman of the city board overseeing cable franchises.

Because he has a business relationship with America Online, one contender in the access struggle, Arkatov has asked for a written opinion from the city attorney’s office on what role he may legally play in the controversy.

A former Democratic political consultant who served as senior advisor to the 1992 Clinton campaign, Arkatov is an appointee of Mayor Richard Riordan and serves as chairman of the city Information Technology Agency board.

The Internet access issue has come to a head as part of AT & T’s takeover of the east San Fernando Valley cable franchise and the firm’s plans to use the cable platform to provide Internet access for subscribers at 100 times the speed of telephone access.

As head of the city board, Arkatov has publicly supported the concept of requiring cable television companies to share their cable hardware connections with competing Internet service providers, including America Online, which has lobbied hard for access.

Arkatov is founder and chairman of OnlineLearning.net, a for-profit corporation providing continuing education services, including UCLA extension classes, to Internet users.

On Jan. 5, Arkatov’s firm announced it was joining forces with AOL, which would make OnlineLearning.net’s services “available to millions more potential students.”

In an interview, Arkatov said there are technical and legal questions to be resolved about what open access means, but he supports the idea. He said he wants the public “to have as much choice as possible.”

Arkatov said he has received a verbal assurance from the city’s lawyers that he has not had a conflict of interest in his involvement so far in presiding over public hearings on the access issue.

“I am doing everything I can to keep the company and city policy pieces from crossing,” Arkatov said.

Arkatov described his firm’s relationship with America Online as one in which AOL is advertising his company’s service for a fee, which he equated to buying advertising in a newspaper.

“We pay to advertise with them, but there is no conflict,” Arkatov said. He said neither firm has an ownership interest in the other. Arkatov also said any local decision on Internet access may ultimately be made by the City Council, and the federal government could preempt any local action.

Councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas, who heads the council committee overseeing the cable issue, agreed that Arkatov should seek a formal opinion.

“It could be construed as [a conflict],” Ridley-Thomas said. “That seems to be a legitimate concern.”

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OT, Y2K-STYLE: Los Angeles City Council members are steaming over the potential for spending millions of taxpayers dollars because of hysteria over the coming of the year 2000.

LAPD Cmdr. Bruce Haggerty told council members this week that the department wants $4.5 million to cover 100,000 hours of overtime that might have to be worked if the city falls apart on Jan. 1, 2000.

“We are talking about possible civil unrest,” Haggerty told the council’s Public Safety Committee. “The doomsdayers would have you believe that we will run out of fuel, money and food.

“That is possible if the community panics at the end and starts hoarding food,” he added. “There could be runs on grocery stores. If that happens then there could be some civil unrest. We just want to be ready for it if it happens.”

Police overtime will also be necessary to keep things under control at nine New Year’s Eve parties planned by the city throughout Los Angeles. The events are expected to draw nearly 1 million people, Haggerty said.

“I’m kind of stunned,” responded Councilwoman Laura Chick, chair of the committee.

“Even though I very much believe the city of Los Angeles should do something important to recognize this occasion, the idea of the city sponsoring celebrations that are moving toward needing extra police time somehow just bothered me,” Chick said, adding she has other city services she would prefer to spend the money on.

The council’s Public Safety Committee, not entirely persuaded by the pitch, put off action this week on the funding issue.

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EXIT STAGE RIGHT: The most colorful name in Valley politics, longtime San Fernando Councilman Doude Wysbeek, may soon fade from the news pages--eliciting sighs of relief from anyone who’s ever tried to spell his name.

Wysbeek, who was first elected to the council in 1980, got the boot from voters in Tuesday’s elections and quickly announced his political career was kaput.

“End of the line,” said Wysbeek, 60. “I’m thinking of Social Security and fishing vacations.”

Wysbeek, who owns a motor shop in tiny San Fernando, blamed his lopsided election loss on a controversial last-minute hit piece by the Valley chapter of the Mexican American Political Assn.

The piece painted Wysbeek as a Republican extremist who supported Proposition 209, the ban on state affirmative-action programs.

Wysbeek, who is a Republican, said he actually opposed the measure, and deeply resented implications that he was insensitive to an issue of great importance to his mainly Latino constituency.

His supporters tried to distribute responses to the piece by hand, but it didn’t seem to matter. And Wysbeek is not going to dwell on it.

“The votes just weren’t there, and that’s the end of it, you know what I mean? I don’t try to over-analyze these things,” he said. “I left the ship better than I found it. I have no regrets.”

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CLOSE CALL: A count of 124 remaining ballots will decide a Calabasas council race. B3

* FINAL TALLIES: Voters approved tax increases and also ousted many incumbents. B10