Former California Atty. Gen. Dan Lungren had a strong sense of deja vu last week while standing in the East Room of the White House.
Twenty-six years after he was first elected to Congress and welcomed at a White House ceremony by then-President Carter, Lungren was back, this time being welcomed as a newly elected lawmaker by President Bush.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Thursday January 13, 2005 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 1 inches; 51 words Type of Material: Correction
Lungren's career -- The Inside Politics column in Monday's California section said Dan Lungren was elected to Congress in November, seven years after his failed run for governor against Gray Davis. It was six years. The column also said Lungren served nine years as the state's attorney general. He served eight.
"It feels good to be back," said Lungren, a conservative Republican elected in November to represent a congressional district that includes part of Sacramento County.
Lungren's election was a major comeback, seven years after his failed bid for governor against Gray Davis had many people speculating that his political career was over.
Lungren represented the Long Beach area in the House of Representatives from 1978 to 1988, but left Washington and served for nine years as California's top law enforcement officer before his attempt to win the governor's office fell short.
He couldn't stay away. "It's a lot better to have a voting card in your hand than a [TV] remote," Lungren said. "You can actually do something."
In 1978, he was joining a House controlled by the Democrats and with a Democratic president. Now Republicans are in control.
In welcoming more than 40 newly elected lawmakers last week, Bush singled out Lungren, noting that Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney and Lungren all ran for Congress 26 years ago.
"I'm the only one who never won," Bush told the legislators. "I ran in 1978, came in second in a two-man race. The vice president won, as did Dan Lungren. Welcome back."
School Board President Doubles His Office Space
When members of the Los Angeles school board returned from winter break, they found that their president, Jose Huizar, and his staff had decamped to much larger quarters.
The move came as a surprise to most of those on the 24th floor of the Los Angeles Unified School District's downtown headquarters.
Since the district moved to its current offices in 2002, board members have had similar-size quarters on a common hallway.
But Huizar's new digs -- about twice the size of his old offices -- have their own entrance, lobby and private offices for some staff members, as well as a conference room.
Several board members criticized the move. But Huizar said he and his staff needed the added space, and were using offices that would otherwise be unoccupied. He said future board presidents would be able to choose whether to use the same facilities.
