TERMED-OUT CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS RUNNING AGAIN?

Byline: RICK ORLOV Staff Writer

The Los Angeles City Council just might have created a political nightmare for itself with its decision Wednesday to ask voters for a third, four-year term.

That's because while many on the council were elected when their predecessors termed out, the ethics reform package on the Nov. 7 ballot would let those former council members also seek another term.

The result could be a field of ``new'' council candidates that sounds eerily familiar: Jackie Goldberg. Nate Holden. Cindy Miscikowski. Rudy Svorinich Jr.

Maybe even Laura Chick, Mark Ridley-Thomas or Richard Alarcon.

It would be deja vu all over again.

``I'm not sure the council members who voted for this are even thinking of that,'' Democratic consultant Rick Taylor said. ``But I wouldn't be surprised to see some of these people who have made public service their life look at this as a chance to come back to City Hall.''

The proposal -- developed by the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce and the League of Women Voters -- now goes to Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa for consideration. Spokeswoman Janelle Erickson said the mayor will make a decision in the coming days.

Ruth Galanter, who served on the council from 1987 to 1999 and saw her district shifted from the Venice area to the central San Fernando Valley, said she opposes the measure headed for the ballot.

But if it is approved by voters, she said, a comeback is a remote possibility.

``I like the idea even if I doubt I would run,'' she said. ``There are some I fear coming back, but I do have to say that if a Laura Chick, a Jackie Goldberg and I were there, it would be a far better place.

``At least we knew how to get things done.''

Miscikowski laughed when told she might be able to run for another term.

``It's not likely,'' she said. ``What would be funny, though, is if I did run and Ruth did, we would be running against each other.''

While there was little public debate on the issue Wednesday, City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo made a personal appeal to separate the issues in order to give voters a clear choice on the term-limits question.

The extension is tucked into a measure that includes ethics reform provisions that would place stricter limits on lobbyists, require annual ethics training for all top city officials and mandate fuller disclosure of contributors to independent expenditure committees.

Delgadillo also argued that the proposal is being placed on the ballot without having gone through any of the required procedures -- including a review by the city Ethics Commission.

And while Delgadillo has said the council could simply enact the ethics reforms, council President Eric Garcetti said he believes voters should decide the issues as a charter amendment to make it more difficult to change in the future.

Ron Gastelum, executive vice president of the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce, which proposed the measure, said the proposal reflects frustration with how the term-limit system has worked since it was inaugurated in 1993.

``Term limits were adopted as an experiment,'' Gastelum said. ``We are not seeking to eliminate them, but to tweak them to provide for a better quality of life for our city.''

Still, Svorinich, who came to the City Council as the owner of a paint store and now operates a lucrative consulting business, scoffed at the idea of running for the council again -- even though he says he would have sought a third term if it was possible in 2001.

``There's a time and place for everything in life, and that was a while ago,'' he said. ``I'm not saying I might not run for something else in the future, but not the City Council.''

Holden, who served on the council from 1987 to '99 after having served in the state Senate, was the only former council member to appear on behalf of the measure and reminded the council that he had pushed a similar proposal without success.

``The one thing I learned is that it takes so long to get some things done,'' Holden said. ``People want you to be able to deliver for them and, sometimes, you just can't do it in eight years.''

Would he run again if the opportunity was there? ``No,'' Holden said. ``At least, not now.''

rick.orlov(at)dailynews.com

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What happened

With little public debate, Los Angeles City Council members voted 14-0 Wednesday to ask voters in November to approve an ethics reform package that also would allow them a third four-year term. The public hearing ran about 20 minutes with no significant opposition. Councilman Jack Weiss was absent because he is out of the country.

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