Tom Hayden To Run For Assembly Seat

Peggy Clifford

Mirror Editor

   Citing unfinished business and a more amenable political climate in Sacramento, State Senator Tom Hayden told the Mirror on Tuesday that he will run for the 42nd District Assembly seat in the 2000 election. 
   Prevented by the term limit statute from running for re-election to the State Senate at the end of his current term, Hayden said he wanted to remain in state government because, after 16 years of Republican administrations, working with the new Democratic administration headed by Governor Grey Davis, he has been able to make significant progress on a number of fronts. “Things are going well this year,” he said. 
   Both Sheila Kuehl, who represents the 41st Assembly District, which includes Santa Monica, and Wally Knox who is the current Assemblyman for the 42nd District, which includes Beverly Hills, West Hollywood, West L.A., Hollywood and a portion of the San Fernando Valley, are barred from seeking re-election by term limits. Both Democrats, they both plan to run for Hayden’s seat in the State Senate next year. 
   Hayden has chosen to run in the 42nd District because, he said, on the basis of returns in the last election, it’s more progressive than the 41st, and because it’ll be easier to pursue some of the Los Angeles issues he’s most concerned with—such as the Belmont School controversy and MTA—from there. 
   Speaking about term limits, Hayden said that, in principal, it was a good idea, as it has reduced the enormous advantage incumbants once had and has enabled some talented, fresh and and diverse people to win public office, but, he said, the law needed some revisions. For one thing, he said, lobbyists have no term limits and so they have a distinct advantage over elected officials. For another, he thought the term limits themselves should be increased to eight to ten years for Assembly members and 12 years for State Senators. 
   Finally, commenting on Los Angeles city Council member Ruth Galanter’s call for public acquisition of the Ballona Wetlands, Hayden said it was “A step in the right direction,” adding that it was vital that the Wetlands be preserved.