Isler Came in Behind Miscikowski, Now Behind Her All the Way

Despite finishing a distant third in the 11th City Council District election, Mark Isler continued to be involved in the race this week when he endorsed second-place finisher Cindy Miscikowski.

Isler, a Van Nuys resident, was the only Republican in the field of four candidates vying to succeed retiring Councilman Marvin Braude, for whom Miscikowski worked 22 years.

Isler accused Miscikowski foe Georgia Mercer of waffling on the issues to suit her audience.

“She tried to be all things to all people,” said Isler. “It goes to show you that Georgia is willing to say and do anything to get a vote,” Isler said.

Of course, Miscikowski had endorsements from Braude, Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky and numerous City Council members going into the primary.

But that didn’t keep Mercer, a Tarzana resident and former mayoral aide, from scoring an upset. She outpolled Miscikow-ski by 600-plus votes and won in her opponent’s home territory of Brentwood.

“Mark Isler will not deliver this election for Cindy any more than Zev Yaroslavsky and Marvin Braude have been able to,” said Mercer consultant Larry Levine.

Still, Mercer tried hard to win Isler’s support, calling often, he said.

Consultant Rick Taylor, who’s running Miscikowski’s campaign for the June run-off, said the endorsement is significant because after attending 20 or so campaign forums with the other candidates, Isler has a basis for comparison.

Seeing Red

For any self-respecting commie basher, things have been a little slow lately. Not only is the Cold War over, but with North Korea facing famine, China going proto-capitalist and Cuba a perceived threat only to south Florida, it’s slim pickin’s.

But with the rescue of 71 of 72 hostages from the Japanese ambassador’s residence in Lima by Peruvian security forces last week, County Supervisor Mike Antonovich--a noted red-baiter going back more than 20 years--got in a dig or two at the expense of the old enemy while congratulating Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori.

“In the bold tradition of Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher, I applaud your well thought out, decisive stroke against the communist guerillas,” the letter read. “With this action, you step into the front ranks of those world statesmen who have taken courageous stands in the defense of liberty.”

Cash Flow

Los Angeles Councilman Joel Wachs has nothing against those who want to get to the bottom of the Whitewater scandal.

What he can’t stomach is the increasing cost of the matter, particularly the cost to the city of Los Angeles.

The council hired a private attorney in February to help investigate the 1994 hiring of former Associate Atty. Gen. Webster L. Hubbell as a lobbyist for Los Angeles International Airport.

Hubbell, a central Whitewater figure who served a 16-month prison term after pleading guilty to federal fraud charges, was hired by former Airport Commission President Ted Stein and paid $24,750 for work that records indicate he may not have performed.

Stein, an Encino developer, testified before a federal grand jury in February about hiring Hubbell. A key question for the special prosecutor was whether the Clinton administration helped Hubbell get the lobbying job, as well as other consulting work.

The investigation is intended to find out whether Hubbell actually completed the work he was hired to do and examine the circumstances surrounding the hiring.

Wachs has no problem with investigating the matter. His concern is that the city has already spent $25,000 to have private attorneys look into it. Last week, the city controller’s office asked for an additional $25,000 to complete the investigation.

“We are spending more to investigate the guy being hired than we paid to hire the guy,” he complained. Nonetheless, the council voted approved the additional outlay.

Name Games

Leonard Shapiro, a Granada Hills retiree and self-described City Hall gadfly, has for years tried to persuade the Los Angeles City Council to create something similar to the Little Hoover Commission, a bipartisan watchdog agency that investigates various state agencies.

Under his proposal, a Little Hoover Commission for L.A. could investigate waste and corruption in City Hall.

But alas, the response to the activist who is often called the “loudest man in City Hall” has been silence.

Hoping to get some attention for his proposal, this week Shapiro suggested that perhaps he could attract support for the idea if the name were changed.

While testifying before an ad-hoc committee on the budget, Shapiro again proposed the watchdog agency to Councilman Richard Alatorre, head of the committee.

But now he tacked on a new name: “The Little Alatorre Commission.”

Alatorre chuckled but didn’t buy the old idea with the new name--even his own.

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