It’s Into the Woods--and Pool--for Feinstein

It’s not the White House she’s moving into, but it is still a president’s house.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein and her husband, businessman Richard Blum, are giving up their townhouse in the Kalorama neighborhood of Washington, near the White House, to move into Willow Oaks in the suburbs northwest of the capital, a demi-estate once occupied by the presidents of American University.

The main house is set in woods and gardens with that most Californian of amenities, a swimming pool. It is farther from her Senate office than the townhouse, but the townhouse has five floors, and that is a lot of stairs considering that Feinstein broke a leg rather badly a year ago. She “wanted a place that would be easier to get around,” said her spokesman, Howard Gantman.

The sale of the townhouse turned a profit of $475,000--handsome, but not even a down payment on the $5.95-million price tag for the new place.

Musical Chairs for Council Seat

Yes, Los Angeles did just have a civic election, but surprise! There’s another one Sept. 11.

This one will fill the vacant seat left by the death in April of City Council President John Ferraro, who represented the 4th District for more than three decades.

Ten candidates are playing musical chairs for that seat, among them a former Sacramento bigfoot, ex-Senate President Pro Tem David Roberti. And as time grows almost as short as voters’ attention spans, the contenders are striving for novel ways of being noticed.

To each person who contributes $20 to Linda Lockwood’s cash-short campaign, or even shows her a proof-of-voting stub from the special election, she and her volunteers are offering a ticket in a raffle for a chance to drive a brand-new Mercedes for a month. Lockwood originally wanted to raffle off the car itself, a donation from an Encino dealership, but state ethics officials advised her that there was a question whether the vehicle’s worth exceeds limits set for what city candidates can accept.

Denise Munro Robb boasts of endorsements from actor Martin Sheen and singer/songwriter Bonnie Raitt.

And Tom LaBonge, who has worked in and for the city for decades but always as a bridesmaid, never as an elected bride, has a campaign mailer that puts a twist on dirty campaigning. The cover has all the markings of a nasty hit piece: a black-and-white photo of the candidate, and the sinister headline, “The ‘Dirt’ on Tom LaBonge,” is done in the shaky lettering of a kidnapper’s typewriter. And inside, full-color pictures of LaBonge--at work scrubbing up the city’s streets and bridges.

Dick, William, Bill and . . . Edie

Bill Jones is definitely running. Dick Riordan and William Simon Jr. are maybe wannabes.

But Edie Bukewihge has stepped right up to the plate; she is running for the Republican nomination for governor. Nothing like starting at the top: She’s never run for office before, and although her husband’s family is loaded, the Costa Mesa woman said she’ll campaign retail around the state, one voter at a time, instead of raising millions “to spend it on bad commercials.” Nonetheless, she’s holding a fund-raiser later this month in Beverly Hills, where she lived before moving to Orange County.

A vote for Edie Bukewihge (pronounced Byook-widge) is a vote for . . . what? For starters, she has had it up to here, she says, with the GOP’s litmus-test politics; she is personally opposed to abortion but is not in favor of making it illegal for others. “I’m doing this for all of the women who feel they ‘can’t,’ ” . “They’re lucky I didn’t go for president of the United States. I would have beat Bush.”

Dems’ New September Song: Gary Who?

Modesto Democratic Rep. Gary Condit has taken it in the shorts from his fellow partyers since his national television interview. Gov. Gray Davis has bailed out on him. A veteran Sacramento Democratic aide who is also an election tactician has nicknamed Condit “The Toast of Modesto,” as in, “he’s toast.” Condit’s own party is talking about redrawing the lines of his district to make it less Condit-friendly in hopes he’ll take the hint. And the owner of a Sacramento office furniture business, who uses the above bit of statuary as a bulletin board for his opinions and notions, made his feelings clear.

Quick Hits

* The United Farm Workers has helped to negotiate its first contract agreement with a nonagricultural employer, a Bakersfield furniture company.

* At a recent town hall meeting in Huntington Beach, Republican Rep. Dana Rohrabacher picked up the microphone, which shrieked and sizzled static, and then went silent, even with new batteries; environmentalists in the audience suggest that it was the spirits of Native Americans whose graves have been disturbed by coastal building.

* If you’re worrying about termed-out former Baldwin Park Assemblyman Martin Gallegos, defeated in a run for state Senate earlier this year, put your mind at ease: Gov. Gray Davis has appointed him to a $112,656-a-year position as patient advocate, a job created by passage of the . . . Gallegos-Rosenthal Advocate Program!

* Former L.A. Mayor Richard Riordan, whose name has been recently misspelled both on the lobby card at a farewell party and on a draft-Riordan Web site, got something of a promotion in the latest spelling screw-up: A typo in an article by Pomona historian Ralph E. Shaffer in the Southern California Quarterly historical society lists Riordan as major, rather than mayor, and Shaffer suggests that he henceforth be saluted by everyone with lesser rank.

* The very day of Gary Condit’s poorly received national television interview about former intern Chandra Levy, his fellow Central Valley Democratic congressman Cal Dooley issued a news release “inviting college students in the 20th Congressional District to apply for fall internship positions” in his Fresno office.

Word Perfect

“Gray, I didn’t say anything about you.”

Los Angeles schools Supt. Roy Romer’s quip heavenward after the lights suddenly went out as he issued a mild critique of some state educational policy requirements. Romer was speaking to nearly 2,000 of the school district’s administrators.

Columnist Patt Morrison’s e-mail address is patt.morrison@latimes.com. This week’s contributors include Megan Garvey, Carl Ingram, Patrick McGreevy, Dan Morain, Jean O. Pasco and Massie Ritsch.