New rides for lawmakers from cash-poor state

46FB5081.JPG Event on 4/28/04 in San Francisco. Phil Matier and Andy Ross for their column logo. Liz Mangelsdorf / The Chronicle 46FB5081.JPG Event on 4/28/04 in San Francisco. Phil Matier and Andy Ross for their column logo. Liz Mangelsdorf / The Chronicle Photo: Liz Mangelsdorf, SFC Photo: Liz Mangelsdorf, SFC Image 1 of / 5 Caption Close New rides for lawmakers from cash-poor state 1 / 5 Back to Gallery

California's multibillion-dollar deficit hasn't stopped the state from shelling out an estimated $1.3 million to keep 40 new and returning lawmakers rolling in style during these toughest of times.

Nearly all 28 of the newly sworn-in members of the Assembly, plus several of the 52 holdovers, have leased new wheels through the state - at a cost well below what the average wage slave pays at the dealer. On the Senate side, nine of the 11 new members - all of whom just moved over from the Assembly - picked up new rides along with their new titles.

Among them, San Francisco Democrat Mark Leno, who has a new, $32,000 Toyota Camry hybrid.

Contra Costa County's newly minted Sen. Mark DeSaulnier and fellow Democrat Joe Simitian of Palo Alto both have new, $34,000 Nissan Altimas.

While most members have gone hybrid green with their car selections, there's one notable exception.

Republican Sen. Bob Huff of Diamond Bar (Los Angeles County), who proudly declares on his Web site that he has led the fight to cut government waste and has never voted for a tax increase, ordered himself a brand-new, 2008 Cadillac CTS - priced at $46,000.

Under government rules, the legislators lease their vehicles from the state with the help of a monthly $350 to $500 auto allowance. The amount varies based on the lease terms and whether the member serves in the Assembly or Senate.

Any costs above that come out of the legislators' pockets - which, in the case of the Senate, is anywhere from $35 a month for a new Chevy Malibu hybrid to $280 for a Lexus hybrid.

Of course, lawmakers also get free gas and maintenance.

Legislators routinely trade in their cars after their leases expire - usually around 75,000 miles - at which point the cars are sold off for no more than a third of their original value, with the state getting the proceeds.

Contra Costa Sen.-turned-Assemblyman Tom Torlakson's 2000 Chevy Camaro sold for $6,000, and the 2005 Lincoln Town Car driven by termed-out Democratic Sen. Edward Vincent of Inglewood (Los Angeles County) fetched $11,000.

As for Huff, he said he was happy to dump the Ford Explorer he had been driving in the Assembly because "frankly, it was a piece of junk."

"I understand the perception that I'm driving a Cadillac," Huff told us by cell phone Friday, stuck in a Southern California traffic jam in his new red wheels. But it's hardly top of the line, he says, and it still costs him $200 out of his own pocket.

"At least I'm buying American," he said. "But I'll take my hits and move on."

Hot call: Once again, San Francisco Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin has gotten himself in the middle of a phone fight - this time with former Supervisor Angela Alioto.

To hear Alioto tell it: "He calls me up at 9 at night, at my home, and tells me: 'Who do you f-ing think you are? If you don't stop what you are doing, I'm going to ruin your life.' "

To which Alioto said she replied: "Listen, you little twerp. Don't threaten me or even try to threaten me." Then she hung up.

Peskin confirmed making the call, but said Alioto's version of the brief conversation was "a complete fabrication."

"All I said was, 'I would like you to stop spreading false statements about myself and my wife,' " Peskin said.

Alioto and others have been raising the roof in North Beach over the pull that Peskin - and his wife, Nancy Shanahan, of the politically powerful Telegraph Hill Dwellers Association - seem to have when it comes to getting building permits in the neighborhood.

The latest spat was over the shrine to St. Francis of Assisi that Alioto is building onto the North Beach church of the same name - and the Planning Department's refusal to issue her all the permits.

"Peskin controls the budget at the Planning Department. He pulls strings like you wouldn't believe," Alioto said. "You go down to there to get a permit, and the first thing they say is, 'You need a letter from Peskin's wife, Nancy Shanahan.' Who made her so powerful?

"I've had 30 North Beach businesses in my office wanting to sue" over the couple's alleged misuse of Peskin's city power, said lawyer Alioto.

"Not true," Peskin shot back. "And that is why I called her. Angela is the bully. She's the one bullying the neighborhood, and it is conduct unbecoming."

Maybe, but this isn't the first time we've reported about Peskin's phone calls - and we doubt it will be the last.

Budget blues: One of the big-ticket items contributing to San Francisco's budget crisis is the $70 million in annual raises due to be handed out before July 1 that Mayor Gavin Newsompromised to nearly all 27,000 city workers before his re-election.

Police and firefighters, for instance, are in line for a 7 percent pay hike, and members of the Service Employees International Union - who account for half the city's workforce - are due for a 3.75 percent kick up.

The raises help explain why the city is facing an immediate shortage of as much as $125 million, with a lot more to come next year.

As of Friday, none of the unions had volunteered any salary give-backs or freezes - nor was the mayor's office asking them to make any concessions.

Newsom went to the unions for help just a few months back, with minimal results.

Now, the mayor is demanding that all city departments cut their budgets by 7 percent.

And the mayor is especially aiming his ax at the offices of independently elected City Attorney Dennis Herrera, District Attorney Kamala Harris and Public Defender Jeff Adachi- most of whose combined 432 attorneys earn more than $100,000 a year each.

The biggest money makers are in Herrera's shop, where 35 lawyers each makes between $175,000 and $197,000, city records show.

Herrera said it's silly "to scapegoat any class of employees" when the city's annual budget has swelled to $6 billion, and he points out that his office has been making-do with 41 fewer attorneys than his predecessor.

"I'm a team player," Herrera said, "and I recognize that we all have to pull together to do our part. And I plan on doing so."

EXTRA! Catch our Web page at www.sfgate.com/matierandross.