They’d Like Someone to Face Down the ‘Terminator’

Pundits and partisans have tried to bring down Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger -- with no success. Now you can add Los Angeles building inspectors to the list.

The governor’s face, glaring from a three-story-tall mural promoting his last “Terminator” movie, still adorns the side of a building in the Cahuenga Pass seven months after inspectors sought the removal of the gigantic advertisement.

City prosecutors say the mural is illegal and filed criminal charges in October against Robert Lusk Davis, the building’s owner, to force him to remove the artwork, which advertises the release of the DVD for Schwarzenegger’s film “Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines.”

Davis is fighting the charges.

The criminal complaint does not name Schwarzenegger, nor does it go after Warner Bros., which paid for the ad.

Still, with the court case dragging, the president of the Cahuenga Pass Neighborhood Assn. wants the governor to step in.

“He is not directly responsible,” said Joan Luchs. “But I would love to see the governor have it removed because it is not compatible with the neighborhood and it is illegal.”

The governor isn’t going to step in because it’s a matter between the city and the film’s production company, said Terri Carbaugh, a spokeswoman for Schwarzenegger. “He has no control over that,” she said.

While his face stays up, the governor’s ego was taken down a notch last week.

Mexican President Vicente Fox was quoted as saying he looked forward to meeting Schwarzenegger someday.

“I am somewhat upset by that. I actually sat next to him at a party,” Schwarzenegger joked with reporters.

Apparently Fox had forgotten the two were table mates at a soiree hosted by movie producer Mike Medavoy a few years ago.

Sheen Joins PETA in Support of Foie Gras Bill

The brouhaha over foie gras in California has caught the attention of the president. Or at least someone who plays one.

Actor Martin Sheen, President Bartlet on the television show “The West Wing,” sent a letter to the state Assembly last week saying he was fed up with the way ducks and geese are force-fed to produce the delicacy known as foie gras (French for “fatty liver”).

Joining with the group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, Sheen called on the Assembly to support a bill, up for a vote this week, that would ban the sale and production of foie gras in California.

“I was shocked to learn from my friends at PETA about the extreme cruelty involved in foie gras production, where terrified ducks and geese have long pipes shoved down their throats -- up to three times a day -- through which inordinate amounts of food are pumped into their stomachs,” Sheen wrote.

“If such methods were used on dogs and cats, there would surely be multiple counts of felony cruelty-to-animals charges filed.”

“That is ignorant,” retorted Jonathon Rider, a San Francisco restaurateur who opposes the bill that was passed last month by the Senate.

Rider said that the procedure is not cruel, and that state legislators should listen to experts who know about the practice, and not a celebrity.

But he is not hopeful Sheen will be ignored.

“This is California, where we elected an actor as governor, so of course his word will mean more than the word of experts,” Rider groused.

Hahn Neighbors Give Activists a Soaking

Animal rights activists who recently demonstrated in front of the home of Los Angeles Mayor James K. Hahn found themselves getting soaked when neighbors with water guns came out to chase them away.

A dozen members of the Animal Defense League said they picketed Hahn’s San Pedro house June 13 to protest what they see as inhumane conditions in city animal shelters.

But they were surprised when neighbors armed with Super Soaker squirt guns -- including two kids and their mother -- ambushed them.

“They just started pelting us with water. We were really drenched,” said Jerry Vlasak, an ADL spokesman. “One little kid had a second water gun slung over his shoulder like a little Rambo.”

Vlasak said the demonstrators got to make their point face to face when they arrived. Hahn was outside tending to his lawn. The mayor walked into his garage and shut the door behind him, but not before cursing at them, Vlasak claimed.

Hahn’s office denied that he cursed and said there is an area near City Hall where demonstrations can be held.

“I don’t think anybody would prefer to have demonstrators at their home,” said mayoral spokeswoman Shannon Murphy.

One of the mayor’s neighbors, who was not part of the confrontation, said the animal rights folks should limit their demonstrations to City Hall.

“Let them go someplace else and demonstrate, instead of coming into the mayor’s neighborhood where he has kids,” said George Chapman.

GOP Rapper Records Song in Reagan’s Honor

Steve Gooden, a.k.a. the Republican Rapper, or TRQ (The Right Question), has made a semi-career out of being the odd man in the room.

But his embrace of the GOP won him some brief acclaim when he was photographed for USA Today saluting the casket of former President Reagan in Simi Valley.

Gooden, who is African American, said he felt like a “speck of pepper in a sea of salt” at the services for the 40th president, who received less than 15% of the black vote in each of his presidential victories.

Undeterred, Gooden headed last week to a Huntington Beach sound studio and recorded a rap song in Reagan’s honor called “Tear Down This Wall.” Among the lyrics: “No more walls of hatred, no more black or white; no more babies dying, just because momma’s got rights.”

Gooden hopes to perform his ode to Reagan this summer at the Republican National Convention.

Points Taken

* The former top cop from the Clinton administration will be on hand next week when the state’s private eyes gather in Newport Beach for their annual convention. Former U.S. Atty. Gen. Janet Reno is scheduled to deliver the keynote address when the California Assn. of Licensed Investigators holds its conference.

* The invitation promises that Rikki Klieman, legal analyst for the “Today” show and former Court TV anchor, will talk about high-profile celebrity cases, including the Robert Blake murder trial, when she speaks at a VIP reception sponsored by the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce next week. Klieman may have the inside scoop on the Blake case, which was investigated by the Los Angeles Police Department. She is married to Chief William J. Bratton.

* In seeking reelection, Los Angeles City Councilman Jack Weiss has history on his side. Weiss said he has been endorsed by the four politicians who represented his 5th Council District before he did, going back 50 years. Weiss was endorsed by Mike Feuer, Zev Yaroslavsky, Ed Edelman and Roz Wyman, who was elected in 1953. Only one other candidate, Gregory K. Martayan, has filed papers to raise money for the 5th District.

You Can Quote Me

“There’s enough of this nefarious conspiracy cabal talk going on in this town to last me a lifetime, and I’m not going to sit here and take it.”

-- Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, after the Board of Supervisors drew new criticism for voting last week for the third time to expunge a small cross from the county seal.

This week’s contributors included Times staff writers Sue Fox, Evan Halper and Jean O. Pasco.