Lungren Back in Congress 26 Years After First Term

Former California Atty. Gen. Dan Lungren had a strong sense of deja vu last week while standing in the East Room of the White House.

Twenty-six years after he was first elected to Congress and welcomed at a White House ceremony by then-President Carter, Lungren was back, this time being welcomed as a newly elected lawmaker by President Bush.

“It feels good to be back,” said Lungren, a conservative Republican elected in November to represent a congressional district that includes part of Sacramento County.

Lungren’s election was a major comeback, seven years after his failed bid for governor against Gray Davis had many people speculating that his political career was over.

Lungren represented the Long Beach area in the House of Representatives from 1978 to 1988, but left Washington and served for nine years as California’s top law enforcement officer before his attempt to win the governor’s office fell short.

He couldn’t stay away. “It’s a lot better to have a voting card in your hand than a [TV] remote,” Lungren said. “You can actually do something.”

In 1978, he was joining a House controlled by the Democrats and with a Democratic president. Now Republicans are in control.

In welcoming more than 40 newly elected lawmakers last week, Bush singled out Lungren, noting that Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney and Lungren all ran for Congress 26 years ago.

“I’m the only one who never won,” Bush told the legislators. “I ran in 1978, came in second in a two-man race. The vice president won, as did Dan Lungren. Welcome back.”

School Board President Doubles His Office Space

When members of the Los Angeles school board returned from winter break, they found that their president, Jose Huizar, and his staff had decamped to much larger quarters.

The move came as a surprise to most of those on the 24th floor of the Los Angeles Unified School District’s downtown headquarters.

Since the district moved to its current offices in 2002, board members have had similar-size quarters on a common hallway.

But Huizar’s new digs -- about twice the size of his old offices -- have their own entrance, lobby and private offices for some staff members, as well as a conference room.

Several board members criticized the move. But Huizar said he and his staff needed the added space, and were using offices that would otherwise be unoccupied. He said future board presidents would be able to choose whether to use the same facilities.

The downside to the new suite? No private restroom -- a perk that the other board members have. Huizar has to use restrooms down the hall. “I am surprised by how unused they are,” he said.

Support for Villaraigosa Short of an Endorsement

The candidate interview committee of the Los Angeles County Democratic Party failed to reach agreement Sunday on which candidate to recommend for endorsement in the race for mayor of Los Angeles.

The panel voted 11 to 8 for Antonio Villaraigosa, but the vote was short of the 60% support needed to make a recommendation to the 200 members of the party central committee. As a result, the central committee will consider an endorsement on Jan. 18 without a recommendation.

The state party spent hundreds of thousands of dollars backing Villaraigosa four years ago, and the councilman, who is running again, has put on another full-court press this time.

Councilman Jack Weiss and Doug Boxer, a former assistant deputy mayor who is the son of U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), sent a letter to party members last week urging them to back Villaraigosa.

“After Jim Hahn failed to receive the endorsement [in 2001], what did he do? Hahn bashed the Democratic Party as a liberal special interest group,” the pair wrote. They attached a copy of a mailer Hahn sent to Republican voters that said Villaraigosa was “backed by liberal Democrats,” including Boxer and the central committee.

Kam Kuwata, a campaign consultant for Hahn, noted that Villaraigosa waged his own campaign for Republican votes in 2001.

“He brought in Sacramento Republicans to help,” Kuwata said. “I think it’s a bit hypocritical of the three of them to be critical of any campaign for Republican votes.”

It’s Payback Time for San Bernardino County

For nearly a decade, San Bernardino County has lived under the shame of a series of corruption scandals that involved several high-ranking county officials and local businessmen.

Now, those convicted of participating in the bribery and kickback schemes are feeling the county’s wrath. A civil court victory last year won the county nearly $10 million in damages from half a dozen former county officials and businessmen, most of whom already have spent time in prison for paying or taking bribes in exchange for lucrative county contracts.

But the county is not done yet. Last week, San Bernardino County filed a civil lawsuit seeking punitive damages that could be as much as 10 times the amount of the original damages.

As part of the suit, county attorneys also are charging that former county Chief Administrative Officer Harry Mays transferred nearly half of his assets -- three homes, three cars and interest in a bowling alley, among other property -- to his wife and daughter during a divorce in 2000 to keep the county from claiming it.

Mays already owes the county $4.7 million from the original civil lawsuit, and county attorneys intend to make him pay up.

County Seals Will Not Be Replaced in Board Room

The room where the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors meets has lost part of its identity.

David Janssen, the county’s top administrator, decided last week that two 6-feet-in-diameter county seals featuring the now banned gold cross would not be replaced.

Supervisors changed the design of the county seal after the ACLU threatened last year to file a lawsuit over the cross. During the holiday season, county employees tried to replace the giant seals on the cheap, placing decals featuring the new version over the old seals. “It was a disaster,” Janssen said.

A few days later, the imprint of the cross could be seen through the decals. Janssen said he didn’t want to spend the money to erect new seals. “They want $3,000 to do it right and I don’t want to pay them $3,000 more,” he said.

The seals have been removed.

Points Taken

* Two months before the March 8 mayoral election, Mayor James K. Hahn is finally on the Web. While other candidates were touting their records on the Internet for months, the mayor’s reps explained that Hahn was perfecting his message. Now, visitors to www.jimhahn.org can read all the messages they please. Said Hahn: “I wanted a site that is substantive and useful to voters who want to know more about what I’ve done.”

* The local head of the Engineers and Architects Assn., which backs Antonio Villaraigosa for mayor, asked the Los Angeles Ethics Commission last week to investigate a mass e-mail backing Hahn that was sent to city employees by the head of a municipal employees union. Robert G. Aquino of the engineers union complained that city workers would read the e-mail on city time. Julie Butcher, head of the local Service Employees International Union, said she has a right to communicate with members and sent the e-mail from a union computer.

You Can Quote Me

“They charged the Harbor Department $85 to come up with a quote for me. I think my quotes are worth more than that.”

-- Los Angeles City Councilwoman Janice Hahn on a bill submitted by the public relations firm Fleishman-Hillard for drafting a press statement that included a quote from Hahn.

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Contributing this week were Times staff writers Cara Mia DiMassa, Hugo Martin, Jack Leonard and Noam N. Levey.