Term Limits Spell the End of Old Order : Government: The state Supreme Court’s upholding of Proposition 140 paves the way for a new generation of legislators.

SACRAMENTO —  For the better part of a decade, Westside voters have been offered few real choices in state legislative contests.

The nine Democrats who make up the area’s Sacramento delegation have seldom faced challenges in their own party primaries and have consistently coasted to reelection against token Republican opposition.

But the Westside’s cast of political characters appears headed for a shake-up as a result of two unrelated but parallel developments--the state Supreme Court’s recent decision upholding legislative term limits and the ongoing battle over redrawing district boundaries.

The high court ruled on Oct. 10 that Proposition 140, passed by voters last November, does not unduly restrict a lawmaker’s right to run for office or a voter’s right to choose a candidate.

The proposition limits Assembly members to three two-year terms and senators to two four-year terms. The provisions mean that all five of the Westside’s state Assembly members and one state senator--David A. Roberti of Los Angeles--must give up their current jobs by the end of 1996. The area’s other three senators--Herschel Rosenthal and Diane Watson of Los Angeles and Gary K. Hart of Santa Barbara--may leave their seats by the end of 1998.

The ban is for life: Lawmakers may never again run for the same office after reaching their term limits. That means that in the coming years, California’s political stage will likely be clogged with former Assembly members and state senators seeking new roles.

Some Democrats have indicated they intend to carry their fight against Proposition 140 to the U.S. Supreme Court. But most legislators are making plans to cope with its restrictions.

Even before the state high court upheld the initiative, the winds of change were in the air.

Fueling the change has been the once-a-decade redrawing of legislative and congressional boundaries. Republican Gov. Pete Wilson last month vetoed plans sent to him by the Democrat-controlled Legislature, throwing the remapping dispute to the state Supreme Court.

With redistricting on the horizon, several members of the Westside’s legislative delegation have been considering whether to run for other public offices. And aspiring candidates, like hungry young actors anticipating choice parts, have been poised to step into the political spotlight.

Together, the double whammy of reapportionment and term limits is expected to help raise the curtain on a new generation of state politicians.

One Westside legislative aide said the Proposition 140 decision “changes the natural progression in the political process.”

The aide noted that previously, “you sat and waited your turn” to run for office.

“Now, the turn is coming a lot more quickly for people, and between reapportionment and term limits you’ll see a lot more movement a lot more quickly,” said the aide, who asked not to be identified.

Another anticipated impact of the court’s decision is a further reduction in services available to constituents.

Proposition 140 reduced the Legislature’s operating budget by $70 million. Lawmakers predicted that for Westside constituents, the most immediate impact of the initiative will be a cut in staff members to field constituent complaints, ranging from pension checks to sound walls. Although the details are not known, Assemblywoman Barbara Friedman of Los Angeles deplored the “really dramatic effect” the initiative will have on staffing levels.

Just as Proposition 140 causes the ranks of aides to dwindle, reapportionment is expected to cause the number of lawmakers representing the Westside to drop.

The area’s population growth in the 1980s failed to keep pace with the statewide rate, making it probable that fewer districts will be based on the Westside. As one local official said, “There’s a plethora of candidates and a shortage of seats.”

The exact impact of reapportionment remains unclear. For example, plans approved by the Legislature would have erased the coastal district of Assemblyman Tom Hayden. But a plan released earlier this month by a bipartisan panel appointed by Gov. Wilson underscores how difficult it is for politicians to make firm election plans. Under the panel’s plan, much of Hayden’s Santa Monica-based district would be kept intact.

The Supreme Court is expected to resolve such disputes by issuing its map by the end of the year.

Although the 51-year-old Hayden has been widely regarded by colleagues as a possible congressional candidate, he has said he plans to seek to retain his Assembly seat next year. But with Proposition 140 requiring that he leave office in 1996, Hayden, first elected in 1982, is undecided about whether he would run again in 1994.

Other area lawmakers have publicly voiced an interest in running for different offices. Most maintain that their thinking has not been influenced by deadlines set by Proposition 140.

Watson, 57, who was first elected to the Senate in 1978, has announced plans to run next year for the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors seat now held by Kenneth Hahn.

Hart, whose district includes Malibu, has expressed interest in running for Congress, depending on the new shape of those seats. The 48-year-old Hart, first elected to the Senate in 1982, lost a hard-fought congressional campaign to incumbent Robert J. Lagomarsino (R-Ojai) in 1988.

Neither Roberti nor the Westside’s other senator, Rosenthal, 74, have plans to run for other offices. Roberti, 52, first elected to the Senate in 1971, plans to run for reelection next year for what will be his last term under Proposition 140. He has not discussed what he might do after being forced from office in 1996, according to an aide.

Rosenthal, first elected in 1982, said he plans to seek reelection in 1994. He indicated he would likely retire from public life when forced to leave the Senate in 1998.

In the Assembly, Los Angeles Democrat Gwen Moore has been mentioned as a potential successor to Watson or Rep. Julian C. Dixon (D-Los Angeles) if he chooses to run for supervisor. Moore, 50, first elected in 1978, acknowledged that she is reassessing her political options, but said that as of now she plans to seek reelection in 1992.

Friedman, elected last summer to succeed longtime Assemblyman Mike Roos (D-Los Angeles), said that having just arrived in the Assembly, she has not begun to think about her departure. Instead, the rookie lawmaker said she is focused on formulating a legislative package for her first full year in office.

But veteran Assemblymen Burt Margolin and Terry B. Friedman, both Los Angeles Democrats, definitely have their eyes on other offices. Margolin, 41, first elected in 1982, is raising money for a possible congressional campaign. The 42-year-old Friedman, who is not related to Barbara Friedman, has said he is interested in running for city attorney if James Hahn should step aside.

Terry Friedman added that he doesn’t “view with terror the prospect of not being in office. I think there are other ways to have a productive life.” Friedman, who practiced law before first winning his Assembly seat in 1986, said he might consider teaching at a law school in the future.

While the incumbents weigh their options, a drumbeat is beginning to sound for their prospective Democratic replacements (Westside districts are expected to remain overwhelmingly Democratic, regardless of the final reapportionment plan adopted). Among the names being mentioned are Mark Slavkin, who represents most of the Westside on the Los Angeles school board; Connie Jenkins, a member of the Santa Monica-Malibu school board; Peter Taylor, a former legislative aide who is now finance chairman of the state Democratic Party; J.J. Kaplan, an aide to Sen. Roberti, and Dennis Zane, senior member of the Santa Monica City Council, who has announced he will resign Jan. 1 to concentrate on his career and family life.

In addition, several candidates who lost to Barbara Friedman in the Democratic primary for the 46th Assembly District have the resources to mount another campaign, according to consultants. They include John Emerson, chief deputy city attorney; Tong Soo Chung, a founding partner in the area’s largest Korean-American law firm, and Bob Burke, a land-use planning expert and a member of the board of the Human Rights Campaign Fund, the nation’s largest lesbian and gay organization.

Term Limits: Who’s Leaving When Under the term-limit initiative upheld earlier this month by the state Supreme Court, all of the 80 members of the Assembly must give up their current seats in 1996. But the term limits for California’s 40 state senators takes effect on a staggered schedule, with some required to give up their current seats in 1996 and others in 1988. Here are the departure years for Westside legislators. 1996: David Roberti 1998: Gary Hart 1998: Herschel Rosenthal 1998: Diane Watson