Critics Peck at New PAC in West Hollywood

The soap opera that is West Hollywood politics has a new plot twist that pits some city business leaders against political activists who suspect that a power play to control City Hall is afoot.

The latest dust-up stems from the decision by the West Hollywood Chamber of Commerce to form a Political Action Committee “as a vehicle for influencing local elections,” according to a chamber letter. The PAC has interviewed the nine candidates seeking three council seats in the March 4 election and has made contributions to Mayor Sal Guarriello, Councilman John Heilman and Heilman ally Abbe Land. The organization is also considering whether to make formal endorsements.

The problem, the activists say, is that the chamber gets $40,000 annually in taxpayer money from the city, thanks to the mayor and council.

Although the PAC pledges that it will not use taxpayer money, Councilman Steve Martin and others say the chamber should not get involved in City Council elections, because that body is a financial source for the chamber.

“It seems like a way the chamber could provide payback to City Council members who were supportive,” said Martin, who recently drew the chamber’s ire for proposing a business tax increase. Allies of the mayor said privately that they are targeting Martin for replacement.

Complicating matters is that the PAC is headed by lobbyist Steve Afriat -- who ran Guarriello’s campaign four years ago, was co-host of a recent fund-raiser for him and represents major developers building in the city.

Critics question the impartiality of the PAC endorsement process, given that Afriat and others who have already taken sides in the race conducted candidate interviews for the PAC. “It is so incestuous,” said council candidate Jerome Cleary.

The chamber’s chief executive, Hillary Selvin, defended the creation of the PAC, saying, “It’s a political process, and we all have a lot at stake.” As for making formal endorsements, she said, “we haven’t decided whether we are going to take that leap.” Afriat said the mixed reaction to the PAC activity has officials rethinking how involved they will become.

Suit Alleges Anti-Tax E-Mails Blocked

All the talk in Sacramento of raising taxes has sparked a flood of angry letters and e-mails from state residents, but not all of them have reached the desks of state legislators.

The Campaign for California Families and United States Justice Foundation have filed a lawsuit alleging that the state’s Legislative Data Center recently put a block on hundreds of anti-tax e-mails coming from residents who sent them through the campaign’s Web site.

“The state has no right to interfere with the ability of the people to communicate with their elected representatives, or to destroy the written petitions of the people,” said Richard Ackerman, an attorney for the foundation.

Jim Gillis, who manages the data center, said he could not comment because of the pending litigation, but one state official said the block was only temporary and had been established for technical, not political, reasons. “Because so many e-mails were coming in, it was slowing down the system,” the official said.

Steve Maviglio, a spokesman for Gov. Gray Davis, said he was unaware of any interruption in e-mails going to the governor. Davis, he said, receives about 40,000 e-mails and letters a week on various issues, including the budget.

The Campaign for California Families found a way to get around the block and last week said 1,000 new e-mail messages had successfully been sent to the governor and each legislator.

“The state of California can’t silence the people,” said the organization’s executive director, Randy Thomasson.

But How Does This Guy Really Feel?

Think California is the only state nutty about its initiatives? In Washington, a Seattle computer programmer and technical writer is circulating an initiative that asks voters whether they think Tim Eyman, the state’s most prolific initiative author, is a horse’s rear end (to use a somewhat less colorful term than the initiative). David Goldstein told the Spokane Review newspaper that his effort was an attempt to highlight how lax the state’s initiative laws are.

Eyman called the idea hilarious and said the publicity would help him.

Washington voters have approved at least one of Eyman’s initiatives each year for the last four years, including imposing car license fees of $30.

Senator Defends O.C. Business Council

Orange County’s only Democratic state senator has leaped to the defense of the Orange County Business Council, accused by Republicans of skewing its annual pro-business scorecard to favor Dems.

Sen. Joe Dunn (D-Garden Grove) said protests by Sen. Dick Ackerman (R-Orange) and Assemblyman John Campbell (R-Irvine) reflect a shallow view of what is “pro-business.”

For example, the council supported a bond measure to provide $2.1 billion for affordable housing, which was approved by voters but opposed by Republicans in the Legislature.

The lack of affordable housing is the largest obstacle for businesses seeking to invest in California, Dunn said.

“Wise policymakers know that the political process is usually not about picking between correct and incorrect solutions to community problems, but more about picking between a variety of correct solutions,” he said.

Council Membership to Increase to 15 1/2

Los Angeles Councilwoman Wendy Greuel will have a new constituent in June -- a baby boy.

The 41-year-old lawmaker and her husband, literary agent Dean Schramm, disclosed last week that Greuel is 4 1/2 months pregnant.

Greuel, who married Schramm in July, said she has had a hard time in recent weeks keeping the secret from her colleagues (a few of them guessed). She decided that she couldn’t wait any longer.

“We are really blessed,” she said. “We thought it would take a long time to get pregnant. We were pleasantly surprised.”

Greuel, who is running unopposed for reelection to the 2nd District seat in March, said she would take some time off during the council’s summer break, but would otherwise keep a full schedule.

The last time a Los Angeles councilwoman was pregnant in office was 18 years ago, when Gloria Molina was expecting

Points Taken

With a vote scheduled for next month in the contest between Duf Sundheim and Bill Back for the chairmanship of the state Republican Party, Back, a retired mathematician, got a leg up last week by securing the endorsement of the California Republican Assembly, one of the largest conservative organizations in the state.

More than 2,000 teenagers from 87 YMCAs throughout California are primed and ready for the 55th annual Model Legislature next month, but requests by the group to have Gov. Gray Davis join other state officials in addressing the young people have so far gone unheeded. “He made it last year but missed the two years before,” said group leader Bud Sheble. “Since Earl Warren he is the only governor not to attend.”

Former Assemblyman Richard Katz, who has been helping the governor renegotiate energy contracts, was formally appointed by Gray Davis last week as special advisor to the governor on energy issues. Katz will not get any pay beyond his salary as a gubernatorial appointee to the State Water Resources Control Board.

You Can Quote Me

“There’s no question that, of the six on this stage, I have picketed more than any of them. I probably have picketed some of them.”

The Rev. Al Sharpton, one of six declared presidential candidates who attended a Washington, D.C., bash put on by NARAL Pro-Choice America to mark Roe vs. Wade’s 30th anniversary, after he noted abortion foes were picketing the event.

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Mark Barabak, Jean Pasco, Michael Finnegan and Tina Daunt contributed to this week’s column. Regular columnist Patt Morrison is on vacation.