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Subject: Drawing for a Room With a View; But for First-Termers, Hill Office Lottery
Date: Fri, 13 Nov 92 04:39:11 EST
Message-ID: <27.1992Nov13.043912@AmeriCast.com>

Drawing for a Room With a View; But for First-Termers, Hill Of-
fice Lottery Means Bottom of Picking Order<By Guy
Gugliotta=Washington Post Staff Writer= It wasn't the NBA draft,
but it had a lot of the trappings. Tote boards printed with red
and black grease pencil described the options. A mahogany box
held numbers for lottery picks. A 20-minute timer ensured there
would be no foot-dragging. And it all took place in the suitably
cavernous hearing room of the House Banking, Finance and Urban
Affairs Committee.

The subject was offices. With 110 members of Congress defeated or
retired, real estate in the House's three office buildings has
opened up as never before. In order of seniority, House Office
Building Superintendent Robert R. Miley has invited the nation's
435 members of Congress to pick new suites - if they wish - and
thus rearrange themselves for the new Congress.

For the old hands, the office shuffle offers an opportunity to
grab the elegant digs they may have been eying enviously for a
decade. For the newer people, there is a chance to change build-
ings or escape the loudmouthed Democrat/Republican whose bathroom
they have been sharing for the past couple of years.

Only one thing is certain: the 110 new first-termers are certain
to get the basement suites, the garrets, the converted broom
closets, the unobstructed views of the elevator shafts and the
10-minute walks to the House floor. They may have the biggest
class in 44 years, but they pick last, and in an organization
where almost everything is arranged by pecking order, they are
guaranteed the worst pick.  Yesterday, the "Watergate Class" of
1974 met to choose their suites. When they started nine terms
ago, there were 92 of them. Now there are 16. It was Miley said,
a typical round. Members or their designated representatives
gathered at the Banking Committee at noon sharp. Miley incorrect-
ly bade them "good morning" and reviewed the rules.

Behind him boards labeled Cannon, Longworth and Rayburn (the
three House office buildings) were filled with black squares,
each containing the room number of a vacant office. When a member
chooses a new office, the square is checked in red, and the
member's old office immediately becomes available and goes up on
the board.

After Miley finished speaking, one of his aides picked up a maho-
gany box, shook it several times, set it down, opened it and in-
vited the classmates to pick a number. The game began.

Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Calif.), neat and natty in a gray suit,
refused to tip his hand: "If I don't get what I want, you'll
write that I was disappointed." He was, he said laconically,
"looking for views." Waxman drew No. 13.

He approached Rep. James L. Oberstar (D-Minn.), dressed in chinos
and feeling expansive with No. 4. Oberstar wanted "space, espe-
cially for staff," and with a low pick, he could expect to get
it. Waxman looked relieved. The offices Oberstar was looking at
were not on his list.

Only 11 members of the class drew numbers. When a female staff
worker for Rep. John J.  LaFalce (D-N.Y.) picked No. 2, the audi-
ence responded "Oooh, aaaaah!" Nobody picked No. 1.

Once the lottery ended, Miley punched the clock. LaFalce had 20
minutes to choose an office. He would be followed by Oberstar,
then Rep.  Willis D. Gradison Jr. (R-Ohio) and on through Waxman
and Rep. Stephen L. Neal (D-N.C.), who picked No. 16.

After the first round of 20-minute windows, the members could
change their minds until noon today. Then Miley would lock in
their decisions and move on to the class of 1976.

LaFalce's intentions were not immediately known, but his staff
aide had been seen earlier in the week prowling around the Ray-
burn office of Rep. William D. Ford (D-Mich.), a lovely suite
with a nice view of the Capitol. "God it's beautiful!" said Jan-
ice MacDonald, Ford's executive assistant. "It's so stunning at
night!"

But apparently not stunning enough, for it was Ford, the 14-term
chairman of the Education and Labor Committee, who early this
week made off with reshuffle's grand prize, the 1,226-square-
foot, high-ceilinged, first-floor, powder blue Rayburn suite with
an even better view of the Capitol that was being vacated by Rep.
Charles E. Bennett (D-Fla.). Ford switched, MacDonald said, be-
cause the new office is only a short way from committee headquar-
ters.

Some moves may offer some clue to the future. Rep. Les Aspin (D-
Wis.) is rumored to be on President-elect Clinton's short list
for secretary of defense, but he decided to change House offices,
an indication he plans to stick around.

Aspin picked his new suite after beating Rep. Ronald V. Dellums
(D-Calif.) in the lottery. Not only is Dellums an Aspin class-
mate, but he also stands to succeed Aspin as chairman of the
Armed Services Committee if Aspin departs. After losing the draw,
Dellums, perhaps wisely, decided to stay put. Aspin's new office
is practically next door to the committee.< 02:22 11-13C9999-----

Copyright 1992, The Washington Post.  This story is from the
Washington Post's Capitol Edition On-Line and is not to be ar-
chived or redistributed.

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