McCain Tops Menu for Rogan’s $500-a-Plate Fund-Raiser

Rep. James Rogan of Glendale has recruited Arizona Sen. John McCain as the star attraction at a Bel-Air fund-raiser this month for his reelection campaign.

Organizers of the $500-a-plate dinner for the GOP congressman include billionaire Jerrold Perenchio, chairman of the Univision Spanish-language television network, and Lodwrick Cook, the co-chairman of telecom giant Global Crossing Ltd.

McCain will be the guest of honor at the May 30 dinner at the home of former lieutenant-governor candidate Noel Hentschel and her husband, developer Gordon Hentschel, said Rogan campaign chairman Jason Roe.

Rogan hopes the event will reel in about $75,000, Roe said.

He’ll need every nickel.

Facing the toughest reelection fight of his career, Rogan has raised $3.8 million, but had just under $1 million left at the end of March. His Democratic challenger, state Sen. Adam Schiff, was close behind with $968,325.

BOOST OR BUST: Veteran City Hall staffer Francine Oschin brought out the big guns Wednesday in announcing her candidacy for the west San Fernando Valley’s 3rd District seat on the Los Angeles City Council.

Oschin, a Reseda resident, announced she has won the support of Mayor Richard Riordan, as well as that of the mayor’s longtime political advisor William Wardlaw, and Oschin’s boss, Councilman Hal Bernson.

The question is whether Riordan’s support will significantly boost Oschin’s candidacy for next April’s election over the other declared contenders--Scott Schreiber, Judith Hirshberg and Morton Diamond. Incumbent Laura Chick will leave the seat due to term limits.

After all, Riordan has had a mixed record of success in backing city candidates. Last year he backed winning council candidates Alex Padilla and Nick Pacheco.

But he has also backed some losing candidates, most notably Barbara Yaroslavsky for City Council in 1995 and former mayoral advisor Ted Stein for city attorney.

Oschin believes Riordan’s support will be very helpful.

“He is very popular in the Valley,” Oschin said.

Political consultant Rick Taylor, who ran Padilla’s campaign, said Riordan’s backing is a big boost for any candidate.

“It’s a great endorsement. It will help her fund-raising appeal,” said Taylor, who has been in talks with Oschin about working on her campaign.

But Hirshberg, an Encino community activist and former aide to ex-Councilman Marvin Braude, said she is not concerned about the mayor’s backing Oschin.

The question becomes whether Riordan will rally wealthy friends and allies to help raise money for Oschin as they did for Padilla in the northeast Valley’s 7th District last year.

Riordan aides would not comment on his plans.

FREE PARKING: Councilman Alex Padilla has an idea to encourage Los Angeles motorists to buy nonpolluting vehicles such as electric and natural-gas cars.

Appeal to their pocketbooks.

Padilla won council approval Wednesday of a motion directing the city Department of Transportation to develop a pilot program providing free parking at city meters for zero-emission vehicles and “super ultra-low” emission vehicles.

“We’re providing a positive incentive for L.A.’s drivers to help clean our air,” Padilla said.

ESCAPE FROM L.A.: It was the week before the City Council was to take up the budget, and Councilwoman Cindy Miscikowski needed a break.

So she did what many elected city officials do when they need a break from Los Angeles--they head to vacation homes they maintain outside the city.

These days, it seems everybody in city government has bought a retreat far from the streets of Los Angeles.

Councilman Hal Bernson has his condo in Encinitas. Mayor Richard Riordan has long maintained a vacation home in Idaho. Councilman Nate Holden stays a little closer, going on some weekends to a getaway condo in Marina del Rey.

For Miscikowski, a vacation home in Santa Fe, N.M., is her getaway place.

“She likes art, and they have an art colony down there,” said Glenn Barr, a spokesman for Miscikowski.

TAKING THE PLEDGE: Mayoral candidates who signed a pledge to fight secession of the San Fernando Valley from Los Angeles found themselves in hot water this week with leaders of the breakaway movement.

The pledge “to fight efforts to divide the city” was proposed by Local 347 of the Service Employees International Union.

With more than 8,000 members, it is the largest union of municipal workers. The pledge also included a vow to “fight any and all attempts to contract out or privatize city services.”

Leaders of the Valley VOTE secession group said candidates who signed had sold out Valley residents to win the union’s campaign support.

“They think they can be elected mayor by catering to the union rather than listening to the residents of the San Fernando Valley,” said Valley VOTE chairman Richard Close.

Former Assembly Speaker Antonio Villaraigosa acknowledged that an aide signed the pledge on his behalf.

Mayoral candidate and real estate executive Steve Soboroff said a union official told him that rivals James Hahn, the city attorney, and Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-Los Angeles) signed the pledge. A Becerra aide denied the congressman had signed, and Hahn could not be reached for comment.

“I think it was totally inappropriate for anyone to sign that pledge,” said Soboroff, who did not sign it.

Soboroff opposes secession, but said a study of the issue by the Local Agency Formation Commission could teach him to “run the city better” and “make secession unnecessary.”

Yet another mayoral hopeful, City Councilman Joel Wachs, opposes secession, but declined to sign the pledge, an aide said.

The union’s general manager, Julie Butcher, refused to confirm that Villaraigosa, Hahn or Becerra had signed the pledge, saying it was not supposed to be made public.

“This is an internal communication between us and our members,” she said.

Villaraigosa, an opponent of secession, said that an aide had signed it for him, but that he’d be happy to sign it himself.

“The idea that we did it because of the unions, that’s a crock of doo-doo,” Villaraigosa said.