Wrapping Up 3 Decades of Lawmaking

SACRAMENTO —  Manhattan Beach’s Robert G. Beverly sat amid bare office walls and packing boxes in his fifth-floor office overlooking Capitol Park this week, cleaning out the remnants of a nearly 30-year legislative career.

Beverly expressed mixed emotions about leaving, but term limits gave him no choice. This week, when a new Legislature is sworn into office, Sen. Beverly will be gone.

Leaning back in his chair, the well-dressed 71-year-old Republican lawmaker looked over the cardboard boxes filled with photos of his 27th District, a Los Angeles Raiders pennant, a spittoon presented to him as a gift and his trademark cigars. There’s so much, Beverly says, he doesn’t have room at home for it all.

It has been a good life. Beverly, who is eligible for a $4,200-a-month pension, has relished his status as a senior legislator from Los Angeles County, saying that among the things he will miss are “the friendships, the prestige, being able to do something about some problems, having some influence.”

One of his favorites was a 1980 law that allowed diners to take home an unfinished bottle of wine from a restaurant. “If you don’t finish your wine you can take it in a boozer bag,” Beverly said. “Jerry Brown signed that. He had some difficulty. We finally persuaded him it was a temperance measure. Rather than drink it, you took it with you.”

Beverly is one of 10 senators forced to leave office this year by voter-imposed term limits. Others departing the 40-member Senate from Southern California include Newton Russell (R-Glendale), Lucy Killea (I-San Diego) and Don Rogers (R-Tehachapi).

Like Beverly, these seasoned professionals are filing away documents and countless memories--recollections of scores of behind-the-scenes deals and compromises stitched together in late-night bargaining sessions. With term limits, no one in the future will be able to rack up as much experience in the Capitol.

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As he prepared to leave office, Beverly agreed to an exit interview in which he reflected on his nearly three-decade legislative career with a mix of wit and frankness.

Beverly, an attorney, was first elected to the Assembly in a 1967 special election. Nine years later, he stepped up to the Senate and, for the most part, coasted to reelection every four years.

But in 1992, he had to spend nearly $500,000 against an unknown Democrat to retain his seat. In contrast, Beverly said, his first race cost about $20,000.

The rising cost of campaigns bothers Beverly, whose opponent four years ago accused the senator of paying too much attention to lobbyists and their clients.

“The need for money does disturb me to some degree. The tremendous amounts that are being spent now are obscene. . . . It’s not fun asking people for money,” Beverly said.

The increased emphasis on fund-raising isn’t the only thing that’s different.

When South Bay voters first sent Beverly to Sacramento, the Legislature was an almost all-male club. The Assembly that Beverly joined had only three women, and none served in the Senate.

On Monday afternoon, when freshly minted lawmakers are sworn in for a new legislative session, the lineup will include 20 assemblywomen and seven female state senators, including Beverly’s successor in the upper house, Democrat Betty Karnette of Long Beach.

“The major change up here is the number of and influence of women legislators. It’s probably been an improvement or a plus for the Legislature,” the gravelly voiced Beverly said.

Along with the growth in minority lawmakers, the influx of women has brought “additional viewpoints” on issues such as child care and parental leave, Beverly said.

In his mind, the presence of women “probably improved our behavior too, frankly,” prompting his male colleagues to act “more gentlemanly, more polite.”

Beverly said he might put some of his knowledge to use as a gubernatorial appointee--but probably not in a full-time slot. Otherwise, he plans to spend time with his family and read for pleasure, which excludes government reports filled with jargon.

As a moderate Republican closely aligned with the past two GOP governors, Beverly’s name often has been floated as a potential appointee to higher office.

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Even as his staff was taping boxes this week, speculation focused on Beverly as a possible gubernatorial appointee to the State Board of Equalization seat being vacated by Brad Sherman, who was recently elected to Congress.

“I haven’t sought it and nobody from the governor’s office has talked to me about it,” Beverly said. “I’d listen to the proposal but I don’t have that deep an interest in it. [But] what do we say in politics? We never close the door.”

But Beverly is shutting the door on a lengthy legislative career that saw the one-time Manhattan Beach mayor become part of the Senate’s inner circle, rising to membership on the powerful Rules Committee.

As a lawmaker, the Massachusetts native focused on local concerns--from stopping a coastal freeway to providing funds to rebuild a pier--as well as larger pro-business issues such as overhauling the state’s commercial code.

Although he said he will miss the political life, Beverly acknowledged that he is ready to leave.

But with a smile, citizen Beverly joked that he’s not quite prepared to shed all the trappings of power, especially the title “senator.”

“I might use the title to try and get a restaurant reservation,” he quipped. “It comes in handy.”