Rogan Fast With the Fax While Berman Shuns Spotlight

As the House Judiciary Committee continues to clog the nation’s airwaves with spirited lawyerly discourse about President Clinton’s “sexual relations with that woman,” the two Valley-area representatives on the panel are showing their markedly different political stripes.

Of course, Howard L. Berman (D-Mission Hills) and James E. Rogan (R-Glendale) belong to political parties with largely opposing views of Clinton and the ongoing impeachment proceedings.

But Berman and Rogan also have different approaches to sharing their experiences participating in the historic, highly partisan debate over the president’s future. One does. Another doesn’t.

Rogan, a former prosecutor and judge who represents Burbank, Glendale and Pasadena, knows the spotlight is on--and he practically begs for a close-up.

After Rogan quizzed Barbara Battalino, a Veterans Administration psychologist who was convicted of perjury for lying about sex in a civil case, his office faxed a transcript of the testimony to the press.

Here is a snippet:

Rogan: “Dr. Battalino, your case intrigues me. I want to make sure I understand the factual circumstance. You lied about a one-time act of consensual sex with someone on federal property. Is that correct?”

Battalino: “Yes, that is absolutely correct.”

Rogan [after asking a few background questions]: “Dr. Battalino, during your ordeal, during your prosecution, did anybody from the White House, from the Justice Department, did any members of Congress, did any academics from respected universities ever show up at your trial and suggest you should be treated with leniency because everyone lies about sex?”

Battalino: “No sir.”

Perhaps Rogan was trying to convince his wife of the importance of the Judiciary Committee’s work--he recently had to cancel their anniversary dinner after one of the hearings dragged on into the night.

By contrast, Berman, who represents most of the East Valley, has failed to send any communiques to the local press, as is his custom. That is not to say he has been quiet, however.

Washington politicos say Berman has taken a significant role in the proceedings as well--working to build bridges between Democrats and moderate Republicans having second thoughts about voting for impeachment.

“I am not a judge,” Berman said during Wednesday’s testimony. “I look at this and apply common-sense rules. And it seems--I come to the conclusion--in this case, I hate to say it, I think the president lied.

“I may care whether it’s perjury,” he added, “but for this purpose that isn’t my job to try and analyze that.”

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PLAYING HOOKY: After more than a week off, the City Council was summoned to its chambers Tuesday morning by the anxious rasp of Councilman Joel Wachs exhorting his colleagues to get to work.

With former City Councilman Richard Alarcon’s seat vacant and Councilwoman Jackie Goldberg out with a back injury, Wachs feared the 15-member council might fall short of the 10 members needed for a quorum.

When the perpetually tardy lawmakers trickled in, there were exactly 10. Besides Alarcon and Goldberg, three others were absent--one sick, one excused for the week and one visiting a sewage treatment plant in her district.

And so Wachs, himself filling in for absent President John Ferraro, barreled into the agenda at a brisk clip.

But his plucky pace failed to hold the meeting together. Councilwoman Rita Walters had to leave for a news conference, while Laura Chick was excused early for another engagement at 11:30.

“Council members are going to have to exercise discipline,” Wachs said wearily after the meeting dissolved. “I’m encouraging each council member who’s well, who’s in town, to be here.”

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SPINNERS: Now that Louisiana Republican Bob Livingston has won his bid to be the next House speaker, he has anointed one of his earliest supporters--local Rep. Howard P. “Buck” McKeon--as his official water carrier.

McKeon (R-Santa Clarita) was one of four House members named by Livingston to the newly created post of assistant to the speaker--an extra set of eyes, ears and political pom-poms for Newt Gingrich’s successor. The other assistants are Sonny Callahan (R-Ala.), Michael P. Forbes (R-N.Y.), and Anne M. Northrup (R-Ky.).

“The way [Livingston] explained it to me was that we would help him communicate his agenda,” McKeon said. “I’ve worked with people on both sides of the aisle, and that’s going to be more important than ever now.”

Already, McKeon’s diplomatic skills are being put to the test.

One of Livingston’s earliest proposals--extending the legislative workweek from three to five days--has raised the blood pressure of many House Republicans, who worry they won’t be able to spend much time in their districts, schmoozing with constituents and gearing up for the seemingly endless election cycle.

Livingston believes Republicans should keep their nose to the grindstone in Washington to keep their ambitious promises to voters.

“This is the kind of thing Buck will be doing, gauging support for things,” McKeon aide David Foy said. “A lot of members have talked to Buck about it. . . . The idea that members are opposing this because they’re slackers is not true. They have raised some legitimate concerns.”

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CALLED ON THE CARPET: Having thwarted the will of the City Council before, Rick Caruso, the Department of Water and Power Commission president, has been called onto the council carpet to report on potential uses for Chatsworth Reservoir.

Angry that Caruso brushed off a council directive earlier this year to lease the 1,300-acre site to the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, Councilman Hal Bernson introduced a motion requesting Caruso’s appearance next week at a council meeting. The council unanimously approved the measure Tuesday.

The animosity over the reservoir came to a head in September, when the council voted 6 to 4 to reappoint Caruso, a prominent developer who recently built the Commons at Calabasas, to head the DWP board. The controversial move was opposed by Bernson, environmentalists and others who want to preserve the dry reservoir as a nature refuge.

“We feel that this is a major issue involving one of the last remaining open spaces in the city,” said Ali Sar, Bernson’s spokesman.

As president of the commission, Caruso has the power to chart his own course, since the council can only overturn a commission decision after the fact. Caruso did meet with conservancy director Joe Edmiston this week, but the two did not reach an agreement on the reservoir. Caruso did not return calls for comment.

When he was reappointed to the DWP board, Caruso promised to order a 90-day study of alternative uses for the reservoir, a DWP-owned site that he has proposed for development, perhaps for soccer fields.

Well, as Bernson not so subtly reminded him this week, time’s up.

“The council directed him to negotiate a contract with the conservancy, and he’s sitting on it because he has a different agenda, obviously,” Sar said. “The councilman’s really disturbed about this thing.”

Bustillo is a Times staff writer and Sue Fox is a Times correspondent.