Bob Hertzberg says no, he's not running for office

Remember the speculation that former Assembly Speaker Bob Hertzberg might be getting ready to make another run for office? Our own David Zahniser has a definitive answer.

That was fast.

Attorney and former state Assembly Speaker Bob Hertzberg invited 35 of his closest friends Wednesday to the Palm Restaurant, the steakhouse in downtown Los Angeles. Then he lowered the boom, saying he's not running for anything, this year or next.

Only last week, Hertzberg told The Times that he had not ruled out a run for city attorney or even mayor in 2009. But at lunch, he told the assembled group -- a crowd that included City Controller Laura Chick, political consultant John Shallman, attorney Mickey Kantor and lobbyist Tim McOsker -- that he will instead continue to work professionally on "green technologies," such as wind turbines and lightweight solar panels.

Hertzberg sounded only slightly wistful about his decision. "It would be fun to be in the game," he said hours later.

With a runoff in the county supervisor's race and the presidential contest finally sorted out, there should be plenty to watch from the sidelines.

--Veronique de Turenne

 

Comments

[tommy_lack]

Did a tree just fall in the forest? It's amazing Huggy put an event together to simply to tell people he's not running.

[susan]

Guess he tested the waters and found that any possible positions were locked up as far as the big donors and kingmakers are concerned. Unless you lived in the valley over years ago or read a couple of political blogs that specialize in gossip, you don't even know who the guy is. Sounds like he's making money selling green technology.

[Eric Beck]

Too bad. Hertzberg is one of the most ethical and effective politicians in the history of California politics. But then, I'm not surprised. Politics in this country has become uglier and uglier, gridlock in the State houses seems to rule the day, and good men and women are only marginalized by the system. Why would someone like Hertzberg want to deal with that crap?