HERTZBERG MOVES INTO POWER OFFICE; ASSEMBLYMAN'S SURROUNDINGS REFLECT RISING POLITICAL FORTUNE.

Byline: Paul Hefner Daily News Sacramento Bureau

There's a John Gamble poppy landscape on one wall, a Grace Hudson portrait of an Indian child on another and a Wooten desk - the kind John D. Rockefeller liked - in one corner.

And in the stately hush of the restored Capitol, with its 18-foot ceilings and gold-leaf inlaid moldings, on a marble-topped Victorian table, sits a single book: a history of the San Fernando Valley.

The book - and for now the office - belong to Assemblyman Robert Hertzberg, D-Van Nuys, who has climbed swiftly from the ranks of freshman lawmakers to become one of the Legislature's new power brokers.

Hertzberg played a key role in rallying support for Antonio Villaraigosa, D-Los Angeles, who was sworn in Thursday as Assembly speaker. One of Villaraigosa's closest advisers, Hertzberg is widely expected to land a top job in the Assembly leadership.

``Let's just put it this way,'' Villaraigosa said. ``He's the go-to guy.''

Having a Los Angeles lawmaker in the speaker's post - and a Valley legislator in his inner circle - is bound to bring political dividends to the area, said Assemblyman Tony Cardenas, D-Panorama City.

``There are a lot of little nuances that come up before things hit the whole Legislature,'' Cardenas said. ``At the end of the year, it's those little nuances that add up.''

Hertzberg and his staff moved last weekend from the Capitol annex that houses most lawmakers to the restored West Wing - into the same offices that Villaraigosa occupied as Assembly majority leader.

In political terms, the move for Hertzberg is the equivalent of trading a condo in Pomona for an estate in Bel-Air.

Furnished with Victorian-era antiques and oil paintings borrowed from museums and private collectors, the suite is one of only two leadership offices in the Legislature's lower house.

``We like to think of them as functional museums,'' said Koren Benoit, Senate curator.

Benoit said political work in the restored offices tends to take on a kind of quiet reverence.

``It's almost like there's a different set of rules,'' she said. ``There's kind of a hushed quality.''

Hertzberg has noticed the difference himself.

``I stand up straighter in that office,'' he said.

Hertzberg is already chairman of the Assembly's Public Safety Committee, but several other jobs are considered higher in the Assembly's pecking order, including the now-vacant job of majority leader.

Neither he nor Villaraigosa were ready to talk about what other post, if any, Hertzberg will take on.

``He'll make those decisions soon, but the focus right now is on those school bonds,'' Hertzberg said. ``That's the most important thing for us to address.''

Lawmakers have spent months trying to agree on a package of legislation that would put on the ballot a series of bond measures to pay for school construction projects.

Hertzberg's colleagues cited several factors in his quick ascent, including term limits, which are gradually sweeping more veteran lawmakers from office.

He and Villaraigosa have been political allies for years. Hertzberg served as treasurer for Villaraigosa's first campaign and he was among his chief lieutenants in his bid for the speakership.

``Antonio has a number of very close advisers. I'd certainly put Bob in that category,'' said Assemblyman Dennis Cardoza, D-Turlock.

They are close friends as well. The pair shared a Sacramento apartment during last year's legislative session. Their families spent the day together on a recent trip to Sea World, said Cardoza, whose family was also along for the outing.

But Hertzberg brings more to the table as well. He got more than a dozen bills through the Legislature and signed by the governor his first year in office, and has won wide praise from moderates and conservatives as a consensus-builder.

Hertzberg was only a step behind Villaraigosa as he took the podium Thursday on the Assembly floor. He gave the thumbs-up sign to supporters and helped lead the applause during Villaraigosa's acceptance speech.