Democrat Was Down in the Valley, Out of the Fold

Partisan national politics stops at the water’s edge (wink, wink), and local nonpartisan politics stops at the San Fernando Valley.

The Valley’s Democratic Party is castigating one of the party’s top state leaders for hopping the partisan fence on behalf of a newly elected City Council member who happens to be a Republican.

In a zinging letter, Valley Dems took Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante to the woodshed for walking precincts with his longtime pal, Republican Dennis Zine in the recent nonpartisan election for the 3rd District council seat. The Valley Dems had endorsed fellow partyer Judith Hirshberg, who lost by 88 votes.

“Demoralizing,” was Jeff Daar’s word for it. Another couple of words he directed at Bustamante were “strong disappointment.”

Bustamante’s words include these: “It pains me that the Democratic Party of the San Fernando Valley sees it that way. Dennis Zine is a friend and we support our friends. . . . If this had been a partisan race I likely would have seen things differently.”

Don’t Pack Those Bags Yet, George

They may not be tapping their feet in Madrid yet, but soon. . . .

Confirmation hearings on the nomination of Orange County businessman George Arygros to be ambassador to Spain are on hold at least until September.

Why? Because the California attorney general’s office is investigating Argyros’ company after some former renters charged that Arnel Development illegally withheld security and cleaning deposits from them.

“The committee is awaiting the results of this proceeding in California,” said a Senate Foreign Relations Committee staff member. Congress is in recess during August.

So, while D.C. is backing off, California is not. First, the staff of the Orange County D.A. filed charges earlier this year against the development company, but then their boss, Republican Tony Rackauckas, tossed out the case (and didn’t that raise a stink about Republicans protecting their own . . .).

At that point, Democratic Atty. Gen. Bill Lockyer decided to step in. And now Lockyer’s office is looking into allegations of unlawful business practices. And didn’t that raise another stink about a Democrat going after a Republican White House nominee.

No Holds Barred in Boho Grove or Politics

The Bohemian Grove, once the haunt of writers and other scalawags, is now summer camp for the rich and powerful who get to play dress-up, stage plays and urinate outdoors. (It goes without saying that the Boho Boys are all of them men.)

Former L.A. mayor and possible future Republican gubernatorial candidate Richard Riordan spent some time recently among the invitation-only redwoods. That prompted Democratic Party campaign advisor Bob Mulholland to send a fax to “Dick Riordan, Out in Space”--really, to political reporters:

“When you were in your toga with the Texas energy boys, did you mention Governor Davis’ demand that they pay back California the $8.9 billion that they overcharged? Or did you just compare the size and color of your togas?”

Riordan’s new spokesman, Dan Schnur, Pete Wilson’s former spokesguy and himself no slouch in the stinger department, fired back with, “We’ll be happy to read and respond to Mr. Mulholland’s letter as soon as he can assure us that none of Governor Davis’ supporters or donors have ever visited the Bohemian Grove, but judging from this week’s campaign finance reports, it looks like the best place to ask questions of the quote-unquote Texas energy boys is at a Gray Davis fund-raiser.”

Gentlemen, gentlemen--it’s only August 2001. Save something for the election year.

Short Takes

* The ultraconservative Young Americans for Freedom, who like the fact that they’ve been called the thugs of the GOP, hosted their guru, National Review publisher William Rusher, at the group’s state convention in Newport Beach. The event was enlivened by a taped message from Vice President Dick Cheney, a past YAF supporter, for a roast of recent past YAF chairmen.

* Silicon Valley millionaire Ron Unz, who sponsored and funded the ballot measure eliminating bilingual education in California, is now “ready to demolish” bilingual ed in Massachusetts with a similar initiative campaign, the Boston Globe reports.

* San Francisco hired its fifth elections chief in the last six years, bringing Tammy Haygood into a department that is in the middle of a fraud investigation.

* If anyone doubted that Jim Hahn, the new mayor of Los Angeles, is your regular-guy Angeleno, here’s proof: He showed up at last Wednesday night’s Dodger game--and left in the seventh inning, along with almost everyone else.

* Tipper Gore heads to Sacramento on Oct. 18 to address the eighth annual A Woman’s Day Professional Conference and Exposition, sponsored by the Sacramento Bee newspaper.

* In a summer no-brainer, a Fox News/Opinion Dynamics poll released last weekend found that more Americans believe there is intelligent life on other planets (54%) than in Washington, D.C. (48%).

Word Perfect

“[Ferguson] wants to be able to go home . . . and read a story to his kids between votes.”

A spokesman for New Jersey Republican congressman Mike Ferguson, who outbid Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer for a 2,700-square-foot, three-bedroom Washington, D.C., townhouse next door to Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft, which means great security and a few bars from Ashcroft’s hourlong evening piano recitals. The spokesman said the key was those three magic words: location, location, location--and there’s the report too that Ferguson agreed to pay more than $30,000 above the property’s $668,000 asking price.

*

Columnist Patt Morrison’s e-mail address is patt.morrison@latimes.com. This week’s contributors include Anja Gupta, Norman Kempster, Patrick McGreevy, Jean O. Pasco and Stuart Pfeifer.