TRANSITION WATCH

STOP SIGN: After 45 minutes of discussing the nation’s transportation woes, the big moment arrived: President-elect Bill Clinton asked Rep. Norman Y. Mineta (D-San Jose) why he wanted to be secretary of transportation. “Who said I did?” came the startling response. . . . Sources say that Mineta believes he can accomplish more as new chairman of the House Public Works and Transportation Committee. But he has not ruled out a move to the Clinton Cabinet if there is a second term. . . . Mineta’s red light complicates Clinton’s search for Californians and Asian-Americans in his Administration. Another strong possibility, Rep. Robert T. Matsui (D-Sacramento), also has signaled disinterest. He’s excited about taking over a House Ways and Means subcommittee. . . . Banker Bill Daley, brother of Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley, would have the pole position for transportation secretary, except that Clinton may have to use the position to help fulfill his pledge of racial and gender balance.

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ALL IN THE FAMILY: Sylvia Panetta is thinking of running for the House seat being vacated by her husband, Rep. Leon E. Panetta (D-Carmel Valley), Clinton’s designated director of the Office of Management and Budget. . . . She has run his Monterey office for 16 years and “knows the issues,” an aide notes. If she wins election, her husband can stop taking “red eye,” cross-country flights every weekend to see her.

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HUNK OF HAMBURG: Among the House’s 110 freshmen, one Californian stands out: Rep. Dan Hamburg (D-Ukiah). First, his dark good looks (often hyped by a Don Johnson-style three-day-old beard) have women on Capitol Hill calling him Super-Hunk. Second, he is the only man in the House who doesn’t wear a tie, traditional part of the congressional male uniform. . . . Hamburg says that constituents in his rugged district like the informal touch. But he has a fallback in case an officious doorkeeper bars him from the House chamber: He carries a Western string tie, or bolo, in his jacket pocket. . . . Hamburg, 44, also may be the only member of Congress who learned to speak Mandarin before living and teaching in China.

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NOUVEAU CLOUT: With winds of change about to whistle through the White House, lobbyists and law firms are hustling to trim their sails. . . . Some clients are trading in their Republican-tinted lawyers for Democratic in-crowders. “The Japanese are out lawyer-shopping like crazy,” one lobbyist says. . . . Many firms are beefing up specialties to cope with expected Democratic activism in everything from environmental law to plant safety. Health care experts and pork-barrel wizards (to grab funds from jobs-creating public works bills) are in particular demand. . . . Some lawyer-lobbyists’ stock is shooting up: Thomas H. Boggs, son of two former Louisiana House members (a magazine headline next to his photo reads: “Ready to Cash in on Clinton”). . . . Tim Chorba, Clinton’s roommate from Georgetown University--and law partner with newly nominated Commerce Secretary Ronald H. Brown. . . . Jack Quinn, general counsel in Vice President-elect Al Gore’s 1988 presidential bid--and law partner with Peter Grossi Jr., a Clinton classmate at Yale Law School.