Berman And D Agostino Campaigns

Trying to repair the damage caused by memos that forced him to divorce himself from the two men who had been guiding his political career, Los Angeles City Councilman Zev Yaroslavsky Wednesday moved to keep alive his quest for the mayor's office by hiring a full-time campaign adviser. Yaroslavsky also sought to appease an angry Mayor Tom Bradley, whose IQ was derided in the memo, telephoning the mayor in Hawaii.

Sheila James Kuehl, a Westside Democrat running for the state Assembly, recently made a pilgrimage to the Beverly Hills offices of BAD Campaigns. Kuehl, a women's rights attorney who played Zelda Gilroy on the old "Dobie Gillis" television show, was seeking support from the two political consultants for whom BAD is named--Michael Berman and Carl D'Agostino. For good reason. BAD is the operational arm of the Westside political organization headed by Berman's brother, Rep. Howard L.

West Valley school board candidate Elizabeth Ginsburg, a liberal who has attempted to woo Democratic voters in Tuesday's nonpartisan runoff election, Sunday lashed out against opponent David Armor's use of a slate mailer aligning him with the Democratic Party. The mailer, published by an independent campaign organization, was titled "Voter Guide for Democrats." Beneath the title the mailer read: "Take This With You To The Polls."

It was a bad election night for BAD Campaigns. The vaunted campaign management arm of the liberal political organization headed by Reps. Henry A. Waxman (D-Los Angeles) and Howard L. Berman (D-Panorama City) not only lost two U.S. Senate primaries, but it appears to be losing a state Senate seat sought by one of its closest allies in the organization's Westside stronghold. With an undetermined number of absentee ballots left to count, state Sen.

Embattled political consultant Michael Berman on Thursday suggested that Mayor Tom Bradley was guilty of using a double standard this week when the mayor condemned political memos Berman and a colleague had written for Councilman Zev Yaroslavsky. Berman told radio talk show host Michael Jackson that he had worked for Bradley during campaigns in 1969 and 1973.

Campaigning for mayor will not officially begin in Los Angeles for three weeks, but that did not stop Mayor Tom Bradley and City Councilman Zev Yaroslavsky from zinging arrows at each other Tuesday. Did they debate solutions to gang violence? Perhaps traffic snarls or smog? No, the clash was over attendance in City Hall, a less weighty topic but grounds for an unusually spirited exchange.

Democratic insurance commissioner candidate Walter Zelman has unveiled a television advertisement portraying him as the only major candidate who is taking no special interest money in the campaign. Zelman, former director of California Common Cause, says in his 30-second television commercial that his lack of special interest financial support means that "my campaign can't afford a major television ad campaign."

Democratic U.S. Senate hopefuls Mel Levine and Gray Davis got a scare over the weekend when production problems delayed completion of two key slate mailers, which had been scheduled to provide final one-two punches in their campaigns. Staff members of BAD Campaigns, the preeminent slate-mailer firm in the state, worked around the clock over the weekend and rushed mailers to post offices across Los Angeles County as late as the pre-dawn hours Monday, according to several campaign sources.

One by one, California lawmakers recently filed into a spacious office on the third floor of the Capitol to discuss an issue near and dear to their hearts--their own political survival. Awaiting them were Reps. Howard L. Berman (D-Panorama City) and Vic Fazio (D-Sacramento) and Berman's brother, Michael, armed with maps showing the racial makeup of various districts.

Despite attempts to distance himself from a brewing political crisis, Los Angeles City Councilman Zev Yaroslavsky is still being dogged by questions over two controversial memos that were used to help formulate his campaign strategy for next year's mayoral race.

Democratic U.S. Senate hopefuls Mel Levine and Gray Davis got a scare over the weekend when production problems delayed completion of two key slate mailers, which had been scheduled to provide final one-two punches in their campaigns. Staff members of BAD Campaigns, the preeminent slate-mailer firm in the state, worked around the clock over the weekend and rushed mailers to post offices across Los Angeles County as late as the pre-dawn hours Monday, according to several campaign sources.

Howard Cohen thought he was doing the right thing when he refused to pay $5,000 to appear in the "Pro-Choice Voter Guide." The first-time candidate for state Assembly was short on cash and had been warned the mailer was a profit-making venture, not a public service guide by an abortion rights group. That was two months ago. Today, Cohen is paying for his decision.

One by one, California lawmakers recently filed into a spacious office on the third floor of the Capitol to discuss an issue near and dear to their hearts--their own political survival. Awaiting them were Reps. Howard L. Berman (D-Panorama City) and Vic Fazio (D-Sacramento) and Berman's brother, Michael, armed with maps showing the racial makeup of various districts.

Last week, the day before the election, Los Angeles City Councilman Michael Woo rehearsed a graceful speech conceding defeat of the ethics control-pay raise measure. Like all the other City Hall insiders, Woo figured Measure H was a loser. Nobody, they thought, would support ethics reform and public financing of city election campaigns if it meant a pay raise for the mayor, the City Council, the city attorney and the controller. To the insiders' amazement, Measure H won.

Democratic insurance commissioner candidate Walter Zelman has unveiled a television advertisement portraying him as the only major candidate who is taking no special interest money in the campaign. Zelman, former director of California Common Cause, says in his 30-second television commercial that his lack of special interest financial support means that "my campaign can't afford a major television ad campaign."

Campaigning for mayor will not officially begin in Los Angeles for three weeks, but that did not stop Mayor Tom Bradley and City Councilman Zev Yaroslavsky from zinging arrows at each other Tuesday. Did they debate solutions to gang violence? Perhaps traffic snarls or smog? No, the clash was over attendance in City Hall, a less weighty topic but grounds for an unusually spirited exchange.

Howard Cohen thought he was doing the right thing when he refused to pay $5,000 to appear in the "Pro-Choice Voter Guide." The first-time candidate for state Assembly was short on cash and had been warned the mailer was a profit-making venture, not a public service guide by an abortion rights group. That was two months ago. Today, Cohen is paying for his decision.

It was a bad election night for BAD Campaigns. The vaunted campaign management arm of the liberal political organization headed by Reps. Henry A. Waxman (D-Los Angeles) and Howard L. Berman (D-Panorama City) not only lost two U.S. Senate primaries, but it appears to be losing a state Senate seat sought by one of its closest allies in the organization's Westside stronghold. With an undetermined number of absentee ballots left to count, state Sen.

Acrimony over strategy memos written for Los Angeles City Councilman Zev Yaroslavsky on Friday spilled over from his expected mayoral campaign into another of his political fights--the ballot initiative to prevent oil drilling in Pacific Palisades. The Los Angeles chapter of the NAACP said that because of the racial and ethnic gibes contained in the memos, Yaroslavsky should dump the firm that wrote them as consultants in the anti-drilling campaign.

Embattled political consultant Michael Berman on Thursday suggested that Mayor Tom Bradley was guilty of using a double standard this week when the mayor condemned political memos Berman and a colleague had written for Councilman Zev Yaroslavsky. Berman told radio talk show host Michael Jackson that he had worked for Bradley during campaigns in 1969 and 1973.