Appointee Finds There Is Trouble in a Name

Accusations of political misconduct against Gov. Gray Davis by former state coastal commissioner and convicted felon Mark L. Nathanson emerged in the closing days of the governor’s race and had one political appointee muttering to himself, “Here it goes again.”

The grumbling came from Marc B. Nathanson, Democratic Party activist, broadcast industry leader and, until recently, presidential appointee and chairman of the board that oversees all international broadcasting by the U.S. government, including Voice of America.

Westwood resident Marc B. laments that people frequently confuse him with Mark L.

“I’ve had people cancel meetings on me because they thought I was the other one,” Marc B. says. “People talk to you funny. They are cold all of a sudden when they hear your name.”

Part of the problem is that the two Nathansons are close in age, both have long been active in California politics and both have lived on the Westside of Los Angeles. Besides serving as chairman of a company that owns 23 radio stations, Marc B. is a Gray Davis appointee to the state board overseeing the Anti-Terrorist Information Center. Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca has appointed Marc B. to a homeland security advisory board.

Convicted racketeer Mark L. Nathanson was in the news this month after court records were released indicating that he attempted to convince prosecutors to cut his sentence in 1993 by offering to implicate Davis in improper fund-raising. Prosecutors found no evidence of wrongdoing and concluded Mark L. Nathanson lacked credibility.

Marc B. can’t wait for the latest publicity to die down. His wife is a psychologist, and he said six of her patients recently offered their condolences.

“They said, ‘We’re very sorry to hear about your husband,’ ” Nathanson said, laughing.

Come to Think of It, They’re All for Pelosi

In some political contests, endorsements are of dubious value. But in congressional leadership races, they really do matter. And early endorsements can make the difference between winning and losing.

Thus the significance of the list of 111 early supporters that Nancy Pelosi of San Francisco released when she claimed victory over Martin Frost of Texas this month in the contest to become House Democratic leader.

And thus a small surprise: Only 31 of the 33 newly elected California House Democrats were on the list.

On the pro-Pelosi roster were the Sanchez sisters, Linda and Loretta, and new member Dennis Cardoza, who captured Gary Condit’s old seat in the Central Valley. But conspicuously absent were Reps. Ellen Tauscher of Walnut Creek and Brad Sherman of Sherman Oaks. Aides to the two missing members swear that the omissions were inadvertent.

Tauscher in fact had supported a Pelosi rival, Steny Hoyer of Maryland, the year before, during Pelosi’s ultimately successful race for minority whip. But this time, Tauscher was quoted in the San Francisco Chronicle on Nov. 9 -- the day after the list was released but five days before the leadership election -- as saying that she would back Pelosi because she had “the pedigree of a good leader.”

As for Sherman, aide Matt Farrauto blamed an oversight. “It was, I guess, clerical,” he said. He called Sherman “a strong Pelosi supporter.”

Signs of Movement in Hahn’s Taiwan Policy

The mayor of Taipei has threatened “drastic action” if Los Angeles fails to acknowledge that its Taiwanese sister city is not in the People’s Republic of China.

When L.A.’s “Sister City Monument” went up in September, the downtown sign placed Taipei in Taiwan, with no mention of China. Chinese Consulate officials complained that the sign contradicted U.S. and Chinese policy that considers the island of Taiwan a province of mainland China.

Just before Los Angeles Mayor James K. Hahn left for a trade mission to Asia, a city crew changed the sign to put Taiwan in China. Taiwan’s Central News Agency reported that Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou lodged protests. Taiwanese in Southern California have also contacted L.A. City Hall to express their displeasure.

Hahn is scheduled to visit Taipei on Tuesday.

When the Wedding Gift Registry Goes Public

When it comes to giving wedding gifts, Los Angeles City Controller Laura Chick splurges more than Councilman Tom LaBonge, but not as much as Councilwoman Cindy Miscikowski.

At least that’s the impression one might get from the latest strange filing with the city’s Ethics Commission, thanks to a law which required Councilwoman Wendy Greuel to report the gifts she received when she tied the knot with literary agent Dean Schramm in July.

The result is a who’s who list of City Hall insiders and an indication of how tight they are with a dollar.

Miscikowski and her husband, CRA commissioner Doug Ring, gave Greuel a gift worth $78, while Chick spent $64 and LaBonge and his wife spent $53.

State Sen. Gloria Romero sent flowers worth $65. San Fernando Valley political fund-raiser and former city Library Commissioner Lucy McCoy went all out, spending $187 on her gift to the new couple.

Just as interesting is who is not on the list. Greuel invited only a few council colleagues to her nuptials, reportedly leaving some of the others with hard feelings.

Senators Say Chaplain Was a Real Godsend

As a Presbyterian minister, Lloyd Ogilvie is used to working with a higher power, but these last eight years have given new meaning to those words.

Ogilvie is retiring as chaplain of the U.S. Senate in March and will return home to Hollywood, where he served for 22 years as minister at First Presbyterian Church of Hollywood.

Ogilvie said he decided to leave Washington to be closer to his wife, who is being treated for acute lung difficulties at a hospital in California.

Senate party leaders Tom Daschle and Trent Lott said Ogilvie helped steady the Senate in difficult times.”He has been a real source of strength and comfort to countless members of the Senate family, from senators to staffers to elevator operators,” Daschle said. “Whatever the crisis -- from political strife to terrorism attacks to the deaths of Paul Coverdell, Paul Wellstone and others we love -- Dr. Ogilvie has helped us find a way to move forward.”

Points Taken:

* Democratic political consultant and lobbyist Joe Cerrell always sends out a clever invitation to his firm’s annual holiday bash. This year he pokes fun at Wall Street woes, sending an invite in the form of a faux certificate of stock with the assurance, “This share won’t plummet in value on over-inflated earnings, poor CEO leadership or idle speculation ... because this offer is only good on one day.” It goes on to say, “Don’t expect Martha Stewart, Ken Lay or Dennis Kozlowski to attend.... They have other federal ‘offerings’ they must attend to.”

* In his unsuccessful bid for the Los Angeles City Council last year, Assemblyman Tony Cardenas (D-Panorama City) got hammered by eventual winner Greuel for his ties to Indian gaming groups, several of which gave him thousands of dollars in political contributions. Well, Cardenas is running for a different council seat now, and it appears the last experience affected him. Cardenas leads fund-raising in the 6th District race, having raised more than $140,000, but not one penny has come from Indian gaming.

* The Anaheim Angels keep basking in the glow of their improbable World Series championship. Rep. Ed Royce (R-La Habra) won House approval on Nov. 15 of a congressional resolution to honor the team for winning the series. “For those of us who grew up in Orange County, this is an amazing and unforgettable moment in our history,” Royce said.

* In the space of less than one month, Mark Ridley-Thomas will have held three important positions. A longtime Los Angeles city councilman, Ridley-Thomas takes the oath of office soon to become a state assemblyman. In the meantime, with Mayor James K. Hahn and Council President Alex Padilla traveling in Asia on a trade mission, Ridley-Thomas, who is also council president pro tem, found himself holding down the fort this past week as acting mayor.

* Maria Contreras-Sweet, secretary of the state Business, Transportation and Housing Agency, has been a chief spokeswoman for the Latino community, but she recently sent a holiday e-mail message to state workers in which she misspelled the name of its most prominent civil rights leader. One of the highlights of the year, she said, was “donating thousands of books on an annual basis to children of migrant farm workers in honor of Ceasar Chavez.”

You Can Quote Me:

“I thought about dressing someone up as a Pilgrim, but having a Pilgrim walking across the street wouldn’t get the same attention.”

Los Angeles City Councilman Dennis Zine on why he has asked his police officer son, Chris Zine, to dress up as a turkey and repeatedly cross the street at a signalized crosswalk on Sherman Way as part of a Thanksgiving-themed sting this Wednesday to nab motorists who do not yield to pedestrians.

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Nick Anderson, Richard Simon and Massie Ritsch contributed to this report. Regular columnist Patt Morrison is on vacation.