To Begin With, High-Minded Hopes for Hizzoner

When You Wish Upon a Start

As Jim Hahn takes over as mayor of Los Angeles, some wishes for his administration from Angelenos in the know:

Connie Rice, civil rights attorney and all-around smart policy person: “Patch together a network of ‘educare’ homework centers, before- and after-school care, parental training, sports programs, so poor kids are not being raised by the streets.”

Mike Feuer, departing councilman: “A reformed and rebuilt LAPD as soon as possible.”

Marcia Hanscom, who heads an environmental group opposing the Playa Vista development on oceanfront wetlands: “A 1,087-acre wetlands refuge and park at Ballona.”

Jeff Brain, president of pro-secession Valley VOTE: “That Mayor Hahn recognizes the will of those people in those communities that want to form their own cities and support their right to a fair vote on the question.”

Gretchen Wyler, president of the Ark Trust: “Ensure that Los Angeles’ animals will be treated with the respect and concern they deserve.”

Dee Dee Myers, former White House press secretary and devout Dodger fan: “I wish that Mayor Hahn will see the Dodgers go from being owned by Fox to being owned by somebody who cares about baseball.”

Photo Ops, Photo Oops

Maybe George Lucas’ people could have done it better.

The grand switch-flipping ceremony in Kern County that officially opened the Sunrise Power Plant had all the photo-op props beloved of TV cameras.

In this case it was a huge brass switch tricked out with gray “donut” insulators and inch-thick cables, so Gov. Gray Davis could demonstrate that the first new California power plant in 13 years was going online.

The plant had actually been up and humming for four days; you could hear it working away as Davis spoke, acknowledging the “symbolic” gesture he was making. And as plant manager Stephen Whaley said, getting a big power plant up and running--well, “It’s not that simple.”

And those impressive-looking cables connected to . . . nothing. They just dangled loose, out of the camera frame, around Davis’ knees. Which wouldn’t have been so bad had Davis not also said grandly, “That’s connected to your future!”

Simply Simon, Sacramento Style

William Simon Jr., that other Republican multimillionaire L.A. businessman who may be running for governor, danced his first waltz with the Sacramento press corps last week.

He had to address the fact that he didn’t vote in several primary elections (“There’s no excuse”), that unlike most Californians he sides with anti-abortion groups, and just how much he’s worth.

It’s “a private matter,” he insisted.

“Can you give us a ballpark number?” a reporter asked.

“No,” Simon said, “I’d rather not.”

“Can you buy a ballpark?” another reporter piped up. Simon laughed but gave no ground. If he does run, he will be legally required to show Californians the money.

The very same day, former Gov. George Deukmejian, who’s heading up the gubernatorial campaign of GOP Secretary of State Bill Jones, said he doesn’t consider Simon “a serious contender,” and questioned the wisdom of this “career move.”

“We’ve seen many examples in the state where people have spent a lot of their personal wealth and not been successful,” the Deuk said. Names? He volunteered Al Checchi, Jane Harman (who was just elected to Congress) and Norton Simon.

Cool Rules, Neat Seats

Politics abhors a vacuum, and when the death of Massachusetts Congressman Joe Moakley left an empty seat on the House Rules Committee (which has much more muscle than its name implies), honorable gentlemen from many states rushed in to fill it.

The original winner was another Massachusetts Democrat, appointed in deference to a request by the dying Moakley. But he deferred to his party leadership’s wish that more minorities sit on the Rules Committee, and allowed Alcee Hastings, a black Democrat from Florida, to take over.

But there are minorities, and minorities, and a California Democrat, Joe Baca of Rialto, groused to The Times that his party was blowing a chance to elevate House Latinos, evidently meaning himself. Then another Latino Democrat, Texas’ Ruben Hinojosa, put himself into the scrum for the Moakley spot. What to do?

Answer: “The Black Caucus was united” behind Hastings, a Democratic leadership aide said. “The Hispanic Caucus was not.”

California didn’t lose out altogether: Hastings’ move to the Rules Committee left behind an empty seat on the International Relations Committee, which was filled by . . . L.A.’s Diane Watson.

Quick Hits

Newly elected L.A. council member Janice Hahn had herself sworn in on Saturday, with her brother Jim, the city attorney, administering the oath, so she could spend today seeing the same brother sworn in as mayor. . . . State Controller Kathleen Connell and actor/activist Ed Begley Jr. appear in an updated version of a documentary about the Ballona Wetlands controversy to be screened next month. . . . https://ABCNews.com says that at a Los Angeles music industry convention, former President Bill Clinton was asked when he was first “exposed to” singer/songwriter Stevie Nicks, and Clinton responded, “I’ve never been exposed to Stevie Nicks.” . . . Putting another pronoun spin on the NIMBY acronym, San Joaquin County supervisors are opposing the building of a power plant in next-door Alameda County, because of worries about pollution. . . . A Woodside restaurant owner who allegedly cut down century-old redwoods on federal parkland to improve the view wrote to an Alaska congressman on the House Resources Committee to enlist his sympathy, at the same time two California members of Congress have asked the Interior Department to come down hard on the man.

Word Perfect

“They gave me the worst parking spot, and I don’t have a great office. There’s some political price to pay.”

Tony Strickland, the 31-year-old conservative Camarillo Republican assemblyman, feeling the realpolitik of the Democratic leadership’s control of choice Capitol real estate. Strickland has created heat with his own political friction, suing Gov. Gray Davis to reveal the terms of power contracts, and pushing for tax cuts in the face of the state’s emptying treasury.

Columnist Patt Morrison’s e-mail is patt.morrison@latimes.com. This week’s contributors include Mark Z. Barabak, Michael Finnegan, Janet Hook, Mitchell Landsberg, Margaret Talev and Jenifer Warren.