After 4 Days at Hertzberg U., Freshmen Are Hugged Out

Like a jittery freshman wondering what to bring to college, Fran Pavley called ahead to see if she needed an extra suitcase.

After all, how was the newly elected assemblywoman going to lug home the 17 three-ring binders awaiting her in Sacramento at the freshman orientation for new Assembly members?

After spending four days at the orientation--dubbed Hertzberg U. after the scrupulous lawmaker who founded it, Assembly Speaker Bob Hertzberg of Sherman Oaks--Pavley and her fellow frosh returned home for Thanksgiving this week positively stuffed with legislative tips.

“It was like trying to drink water out of a fire hose,” said Keith Richman, a Republican from Northridge. “It was a lot of information.” (Pavley, a Democrat from Agoura Hills, found out that no spare luggage was required: Aides would mail her the hefty notebooks.)

So far, the 32 freshmen in this year’s class--five of them representing parts of the Valley--have been treated to lessons ranging from introducing a bill to hiring a chief of staff. Hertzberg himself led a rollicking tour of the Capitol, and the fresh-faced Democrats and Republicans mingled over bagel breakfasts and steak dinners, their partisan camps momentarily forgotten amid the cozy camaraderie.

“It’s been very worthwhile,” Pavley said. “I particularly enjoyed the all-day session on the different [Assembly] committees.”

The sessions combed through the mundane (the maximum size allowed for a district office is 1,500 square feet) and the significant (an ethical lawmaker never mixes discussions of policy with those of campaign fund-raising). And of course, the jovial Hertzberg made sure to dole out plenty of welcoming bearhugs to his newest colleagues, who will be sworn in Dec. 4.

“It’s hard to be anywhere near him without getting hugged,” said Democrat Paul Koretz of West Hollywood. “I don’t think it was the first time for anyone.”

CABBY BLUES: Those familiar Valley Cab Co. drivers have lately hit a series of legal bumps and political potholes.

In fact, the Los Angeles City Council this week came within one vote of running the firm’s 96 cabs completely off the roads and shifting the franchise for San Fernando Valley operations to San Gabriel Transit Inc.

Valley Cab has retained Ira Reiner, the former Los Angeles County district attorney, who filed suit against the city last week, alleging it did not conduct a study as required before it can award new or additional taxi service.

During Tuesday’s council meeting, Reiner sought a yellow light on the decision, cautioning the lawmakers to wait.

Franchises are often renewed, he said, but the city appears to be making a sharp U-turn on that practice with Valley Cab.

An evaluation of Valley Cab on several criteria--including company experience, customer service and other factors--was significantly lower than San Gabriel Transit, which was recommended to take over Valley Cab’s service area. Valley Cab had an average number of complaints lodged against it, on par with other firms, the city transportation department said. But Councilman Nate Holden agreed with Reiner’s argument, and Holden’s vote prevented the council from reaching the 12 needed for initial approval of the contracts.

In the second quarter, taxicab franchises were the fifth most lobbied issue in the city, according to city Ethics Commission reports. More than $98,000 was doled out.

With Valley Cab, which has been in business in the Valley for 20 years, hitting a rough patch, the other Valley franchisee is equally nervous.

“Today them, tomorrow us,” said Felix Prestin, vice president of United Independent Taxi. “It’s all politics.”

TRASH TALK: One good letter deserves another.

That seems to be the case with Sunshine Canyon Landfill.

City Atty. Jim Hahn fired off letters to several regulatory agencies last week, asking them to forward possible cases of violations at the landfill to his office for prosecution.

The dump responded with a Nov. 20 letter noting that the current operating portion of the landfill is in the county, “outside the city’s jurisdiction.” In other words, outside Hahn’s purview.

The letter invited Hahn, who is running for mayor of Los Angeles, to tour the dump and meet the staff at Sunshine Canyon.

Jurisdictional oversight of the dump may change, however.

This week, a judge ruled that the proposed landfill’s expansion into the city of Los Angeles--specifically Granada Hills--was adequately studied.

That was a solid win for Browning-Ferris Industries Inc., the operator of the dump who wants to expand it, but it was a loss to area residents who have long fought a bigger landfill operation.

PAC MAN: The city Ethics Commission recently decided that it may not legally get involved in allegations raised by a former aide to Councilman Alex Padilla.

The claims revolve around the troubled, and now sidelined, redevelopment project in the northeast Valley.

This summer, David Cervantes alleged that members of Padilla’s staff improperly campaigned on city time for pro-redevelopment candidates seeking seats on the Project Area Committee.

But the Ethics Commission recently said such elections don’t fall within the category of “elections” that are overseen by the panel.

Cervantes, who said he was fired in May from his post as a Padilla aide, said he has now filed complaints with the district attorney’s office.

“It was a misuse of [Padilla’s] position and city resources,” said Cervantes, who said buses were provided by a city contractor to bring voters to the PAC election.

David Gershwin, Padilla’s spokesman, said many of the councilman’s staff live in the 7th District, so many of them “on their own time and on their own dime” chose to support certain PAC members.

Redevelopment, he said, will continue to be a top priority for Padilla.

TAKE YOUR SWEET TIME: Anyone who had any lingering uncertainty about how rapidly the Los Angeles City Council moves, doubt no more.

The council acted this week on motions advanced by Ernani Bernardi, Richard Alarcon and Joy Picus.

Picus and Bernardi left the council years ago. Alarcon has been serving in the state Senate for more than a year.

The old motions, which were finally received and filed (permanently shelved) by the council Wednesday, included a report on a 1992 motion by Picus that called for a review of the Harbor Department’s car allowance.

Another motion from 1992 by Bernardi involved how to pay police officers for overtime.

Motions sometimes sit on the legislative shelves for years. The chair of a council committee can defer action indefinitely. The “inactive council files” are periodically purged, often when there is a change in chairpersons.

All of the old council files acted on Wednesday came out of the council’s Personnel Committee, whose chairwoman, Jackie Goldberg, will leave to take a seat in the state Assembly next month.

Picus, a Woodland Hills resident who left the council seven years ago, said she is not surprised that the council was still wrestling with one of her proposals.

“When I was on the council, I remember 10-year-old motions coming up from council members that had left the council long ago,” Picus said.

The former councilwoman is actually flattered.

“I think it’s really neat,” she said, “because it reminds people you were there.”