The Initiative That Could Give L.A. Government a New Face : Politics: Limiting elected officials to two consecutive terms may be the only sure way to clean out City Hall.

Backers of an initiative limiting elected city officials to two consecutive terms are optimistic that their proposal will qualify for the November ballot. “Elective Offices--Limitation of Terms,” as the measure is known, contains an explosive provision: It would be retroactive.

“The response has been wonderful,” says Laura Lake, when asked how the signature-gathering has been going. The UCLA professor and slow-growth activist predicts the measure will easily get the 205,000 valid signatures it needs to qualify. The deadline is June 19. Grass-roots supporters include homeowner and senior-citizen groups, chambers of commerce and feminist organizations.

The initiative’s timing, it seems, couldn’t be better. Veteran city-watchers, citing the growing anti-incumbent mood in the electorate, believe that if the two-term proposal qualifies, it will pass.

If true, the political landscape of Los Angeles would be radically altered. For starters, Mayor Tom Bradley, City Atty. James Hahn and Controller Rick Tuttle could not seek reelection to their current posts in 1993. Only three incumbent City Council members--Ruth Galanter, Nate Holden and Richard Alatorre--could run for second terms in 1991. Those who would be barred from another council term by the initiative: Council President John Ferraro, Joel Wachs, Robert Farrell and Hal Bernson. In 1993, Joy Picus, Joan Milke Flores, Zev Yaroslavsky, Ernani Bernardi, Michael Woo, Marvin Braude and Gilbert Lindsay would have to find another job or seek another office.

Ferraro’s attitude toward the proposed City Charter amendment is representative of City Hall’s. “Bureaucrats would have more power, creating a lack of stability and experience that comes with elective office,” he says.

But voters may be more interested in a politician’s ethical standing than in his or her experience. If so, the City Council’s systematic dilution of the proposed Ethics in Government Act could fuel support for the two-term limit. “(The Council’s action) further illustrates,” says Lake, “how incumbents circumvent reform, something not possible with the proposed Charter amendment.”

In the end, city officials may retain their privilege of receiving such gifts as candy and ballpoint pens. But that may turn out to be an act of political suicide.

An early test of Sen. Alan Cranston’s reelectability in 1992 will come soon after the November elections, when the Senate Democratic Caucus elects a Whip, the No. 2 leadership position, for the next session. Possibly sensing that Cranston has been weakened by the Lincoln Savings & Loan scandal, Sen. Wendell H. Ford (D-Ky.) has announced he’ll run for the post. Ford, chairman of the Senate Rules Committee, lost his 1988 bid to dislodge Cranston, but many observers believed the Kentucky senator waited too long before challenging the Californian.

All of which makes Cranston’s nearly decade-old PAC, the Committee for a Democratic Consensus, a pivotal weapon in his battle to reclaim his political image. The political action committee was formed to aid colleagues seeking reelection. Ford has no such PAC.

Cranston will no doubt use the net proceeds from his PAC’s $2,500-per-person annual Super Bowl junket, which includes a San Francisco 49ers-Denver Broncos game ticket, to help some of the 16 Democratic senators on the ballot this fall and thereby line up some support of his own come November.

L.A. whispers. Sources outside the campaign say that Democratic gubernatorial candidate Dianne Feinstein has canvassed Los Angeles TV stations on the availability and cost of air time--a telling clue that the former San Francisco mayor remains serious about taking on John Van de Kamp for the nomination.