Likely Senate Foes Duel Over Mountain Aid

In the first hint of a potentially divisive state Senate race, two political allies are fighting for the district’s high ground: the Santa Monica Mountains.

On Wednesday, a key Assembly budget subcommittee recommended fully funding the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, which is facing a money shortfall that could hamper preservation efforts.

As it happens, the Assembly members representing the mountains, Democrats Wally Knox and Sheila Kuehl, are facing term limits. Not coincidentally, both are seeking to continue their political lives by running for the mountains’ Senate district, the state’s wealthiest.

So the day before Wednesday’s vote, Knox of Los Angeles faxed a news release announcing his intention to seek a “bailout” for the mountains.

The trouble is, the bailout already had started, two weeks earlier. That’s when Kuehl of Santa Monica took the chairwoman of the budget subcommittee for a helicopter ride over the mountains and a car trip through Malibu Canyon.

For Kuehl, it was a case of “Wally-come-lately” taking undue credit, she said.

“Naturally, when you’ve done nothing for four years and you’re suddenly running for the Senate, you need to be ostentatious and send in a letter of support,” Kuehl said. “The truth is, this man has never done a thing for the mountains.”

Knox said his record in the mountains is well-established. Among other things, he said he sponsored a bill last year that allowed the agency to pay for inner-city youth to take day trips to the region.

“The mountains have had a marvelous success today. We should be celebrating that, not getting into a political fight,” he said.

He said he hopes to run a clean campaign against Kuehl, who said she thought they had worked out a “mutual nonaggression” pact.

“Clearly, we are both headed into an electoral contest,” Knox said. “I’d hope the contest will be handled on a very high level. In particular, I’d hope that the contest doesn’t harm our ability to cooperate in support of environment.”

Conservancy chief Joseph T. Edmiston said he welcomed the support of the subcommittee and its leader, Assemblywoman Virginia Strom-Martin (D-Duncans Mills).

The additional $750,000 recommended by the subcommittee would ensure that the agency could continue preservation activities in the mountains. It also would pay for a study to determine a dedicated source of funding for the agency.

“We have every reason to be optimistic,” said Edmiston, adding that he wasn’t declaring victory until Gov. Gray Davis signs the budget into law.

The fight over the 23rd Senate District seat, now held by Sen. Tom Hayden (D-Los Angeles), is sure to be one of the most expensive in the state. The district spans the bulk of the Santa Monicas, from Studio City to Westlake Village.

Hayden, who is facing an end to his career due to term limits, wants to win Kuehl’s seat, in a district stretching across the less-developed western end of the range, across Topanga and Agoura Hills. Knox’s portion of the mountains lies in the more urbanized eastern end, from Studio City to Sherman Oaks.