Berman’s Apologies Have Personal Touch : Politics: The Valley congressman calls constituents who have complained about his check overdrafts at the House bank. Most other lawmakers give their aides that chore.

WASHINGTON —  Eadie Gieb was surprised to pick up her phone Monday evening and find Rep. Howard L. Berman on the other end of the line.

The Sylmar resident had called Berman’s district office earlier that day to express her dismay over his 67 check overdrafts at the scandal-plagued House bank.

“He told me he wanted to extend a personal apology for having been involved in that, and that he recognizes now that it was wrong,” said Gieb, a lifetime Republican. “It was pretty commendable that he would take the time.”

Reflecting the volatility of the issue, Berman (D-Panorama City) said in an interview Thursday that he has telephoned most of the dozen or so people who left their name and number or wrote him about the overdrafts in the past week since the House Ethics Committee made his bank record public.

“I regret having been part of the process,” Berman said. “It creates an impression, which, in some cases, has been distorted beyond the error I committed. It was a question about my personal conduct, and I thought people were entitled to have a direct answer.”

Berman’s treatment of the check controversy is unusual. A survey of other San Fernando Valley-area lawmakers who wrote overdrafts found that Reps. Henry A. Waxman (D-Los Angeles) and Anthony C. Beilenson (D-Los Angeles) are responding to constituents the way they usually do: Staff members handle calls or the office sends an individually tailored letter in reply.

Rep. Elton Gallegly (R-Simi Valley) said he has taken or returned occasional bank-related calls himself, but that it was consistent with the way he handles constituent correspondence on other sensitive issues. In general, he, too, responds with letters.

Waxman wrote 434 checks without sufficient funds during the 39-month period ending Oct. 3 that was reviewed by the House Ethics Committee; Beilenson and Gallegly had five each. None of the representatives were among the 22 members deemed “abusers” by the ethics panel.

The lawmakers or their aides reported that they have received relatively light reaction to their check records from constituents.

Indeed, there are indications that the issue has lost steam with the public. The House bank was not mentioned once during 50 to 60 meetings that Beilenson has held with various groups in his 23rd District during the past two weeks, an aide said Thursday.

Waxman’s Los Angeles and Washington offices have received 30 to 40 calls and letters in the past week, administrative assistant Phil Schiliro said. About five were supportive; the rest were either critical or requested more information.

Waxman is responding with letters of regret that say the overdrafts “created the appearance of impropriety,” Schiliro said.

In general, members have taken pains to point out that the bank’s shoddy management was at least partially responsible for their overdrafts, and that no taxpayer funds were lost and no House rules were broken. All told, 325 current and former House members had overdrafts, including 31 of the 45 incumbent California lawmakers.

The four Valley lawmakers each say that they never had a check bounce. Beilenson and Gallegly say they were never even informed they had overdrafts. The bank sometimes held deposits, including paychecks, several days before posting them.

In many cases, the public has been understanding, the lawmakers said.

“Given an opportunity to explain, we’ve had no one who was aggressive or challenging or stated any opposition,” said Gallegly, who reported that his office received as many as 80 calls in about 10 days when the media focused intensely on the issue four to five months ago.

Beilenson received 15 calls and letters after he disclosed his five overdrafts.

“Only one expressed anger at him,” an aide said. “Most asked how many he had.” When they were informed, she said, “they all thought that this was not serious at all.”

Berman said that his calls to constituents were intended to address his personal credibility, not political fallout. “Nine calls do not make an election,” he said.

Gieb, 41, a free-lance writer who has never voted for Berman, says she telephoned the lawmaker after reading a newspaper story quoting a Berman aide saying that his office had received no calls in the immediate aftermath of last week’s overdraft disclosure.

Gieb said she told the aide about her “real disappointment over the fact that my congressman had been involved with the House bank” and wrote overdrafts. Gieb said she added that this was “indicative of a bigger problem in this country”--taxing, spending and regulatory policies that fueled the federal budget deficit and undercut American industry.

When Berman called, Gieb said, they discussed the checks and economic issues for about 10 minutes. She indicated that this gave her new perspective on him--although reservations remain.

“It made me wonder about this perception I had that he has been very out of touch with his own district,” Gieb said. “If I could see some indication that he was going to stop being tax-and-spend, I would look at him with more friendly eyes.”