Gun Boosters’ Recall Campaign May Be a Weapon for Roberti

IF YOU HAVE LEMONS: Can state Sen. David A. Roberti(D-Van Nuys) turn the recall campaign that’s been leveled against him into political lemonade? Some believe he can.

The recall has not yet qualified for the ballot, but it looks like it might. On its face, the move to prematurely oust Roberti from his Senate seat seems like a nagging political lemon, especially as Roberti tries to develop momentum for his run for California treasurer.

To turn this liability into an asset, Roberti must make it appear that his recall foe is a fanatical gun lobby, angry over his authorship of a 1989 law banning the sale of assault rifles.

Internal memos of the recall movement leaked to the media and public statements of several of its leaders have made such a portrait seem credible.

Now, it is argued, being the target of a gun-lobby recall campaign can give Roberti a certain cachet in Democratic Party circles that could provide a big boost to his campaign for treasurer.

During a recent talk show interview with former state Democratic Party chairman Phil Angelides, an announced candidate for the treasurer post, former Congresswoman Bobbi Fiedler asserted that the recall could give Roberti a “unique opportunity” to put his own candidacy on the map.

Angelides did not bite completely, but he did tell Fiedler that he supported Roberti’s pro-gun control stance.

“It’s a high-risk thing,” speculated Assemblyman Richard Katz. “But there’s the potential for David to use the recall to boost his visibility tremendously.”

As has already been reported, Roberti’s efforts to portray himself as a high-minded and courageous victim of the gun lobby got a boost after Sarah Brady, head of the nationally prominent group Handgun Control Inc., called Roberti a gun-lobby “martyr” and pledged to support his fight against the recall.

“If we can’t make this turn out best for David, we should be in a different business,” added Harvey Englander, one of Roberti’s many political consultants.

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ROBBINS RELEASED: With about $50 in his pocket, former state Sen. Alan Robbins was transferred from the Lompoc federal prison camp to a Hollywood halfway house this week to complete the final two months of his sentence in connection with his guilty pleas to political corruption charges.

Federal prison officials said that Robbins, 50, will be confined for two weeks to the Vineland Halfway House, then gradually be given liberty to find a job and possibly spend weekends at home before being released.

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RIDGE REDUX: Make no mistake about it, the Riordan Administration has been up to its eyeballs in the Warner Ridge project, according to Robert Gross, president of the Woodland Hills Homeowners Organization.

In fact, Gross contended this week that he was blackballed from landing a job in the mayor’s office because of his vociferous opposition to Warner Ridge. Deputy Mayor Michael Keeley cast the blackball, telling him to his face that he would never work for the Riordan Administration because of the homeowner group’s stand on the issue, Gross said.

Formerly a partner in the law firm of Riordan & McKinzie--the mayor’s firm--Keeley represented Morgan Guaranty Trust, the bank deeply involved in financing the controversial effort to develop the Warner Ridge property. Keeley could not be reached for comment Thursday about Gross’ complaint.

This week’s news, of course, was that Morgan Guaranty had balked at providing $100 million in long-term financing to Warner Ridge’s developers, prompting 20th Century Industries--the project’s prospective tenant--to bail out of the project. Without financing and a tenant, the project looked doomed.

As of Thursday, the Riordan Administration was still trying to determine if it would be a conflict of interest for the mayor to be involved in efforts to salvage the Warner Ridge project--and lobby 20th Century against leaving the West Valley--given his law firm’s prior relationships.

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ON THE MOVE: To be eligible to run for seats in the state Assembly, school board members Mark Slavkin and Julie Korenstein must live in the districts represented by those seats.

So Slavkin has moved to a new house in West Los Angeles, just west of Century City, to run for the seat currently held by Assemblyman Burt Margolin (D-Los Angeles). And Korenstein will have to move from Tarzana to the East Valley to run for the seat held by Assemblywoman Barbara Friedman (D-North Hollywood).

It would be the second time Korenstein relocated for political reasons. She moved out of her Porter Ranch home last year after the school board was redistricted.

Korenstein said she doesn’t mind leaving Tarzana and that she has lived all over the San Fernando Valley.

“I lived for 10 years in that (East Valley) area,” Korenstein said. “If you live in the San Fernando Valley, you just find yourself a place to live. I know the Valley. It’s the area I know the best.”

Korenstein, who has taken the preliminary step of filing papers necessary to run for the 40th Assembly District seat, said she is waiting for Friedman to announce her plans before collecting signatures to be eligible for the ballot. There is wide speculation that Friedman will run for Roberti’s seat, who cannot seek reelection due to term limits.

Slavkin faces four opponents for the 42nd Assembly District seat being vacated by Margolin, who has said he will run for state insurance commissioner.

Slavkin and Korenstein were reelected to four-year terms on the school board last year.

“We had to move and we did,” Slavkin said. “Although I never want to do it again.”

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HOOP HARMONY: Rose Castaneda, district director for Rep. Howard L. Berman (D-Panorama City), is organizing a 3-on-3 basketball tournament for youths in the northeast Valley. The goal is to promote racial sensitivity and teamwork.

Castaneda and other organizers hope to begin the first San Fernando Inter-Racial Basketball Tournament on or about March 1 and continue play at various parks and playgrounds for a month. Each team in Berman’s ethnically diverse, low- and moderate-income district will be required to include players from at least two racial backgrounds. Females will also be eligible.

Following the championship contests in the junior (11 to 15 years old) and senior (16 to 21) leagues, the players will discuss racial tensions in community forums. Castaneda hopes to include sessions in the Los Angeles County Jail and juvenile justice system.

Castaneda said that Berman will provide initial financial support from his campaign funds and additional contributions are being solicited from elected officials, businesses, individuals and community groups. The registration fee will be $1 per player.

The program was the brainchild of Ruben Ledesma, 23, a Pacoima resident and former member of a gang called the Pacoima Project Boys. Ledesma is a Los Angeles Housing Authority case manager at the San Fernando Gardens Community Service Center, as well as a leader of a program spearheaded by Castaneda that encourages gang members to seek jobs or attend college.

“I was seeing a lot of racial tension around this community,” Ledesma said. “Most of the stuff was coming from the prison system and it was spilling into the street. I just thought about this basketball thing to let the community know it’s not all like that and it doesn’t have to be like that. That we could work together for a positive purpose.”