Rohrabacher stocking needs press secretary

Alicia Robinson

Here’s a Christmas gift idea for friends of Rep. Dana Rohrabacher: a

new press secretary. After nearly five years with the surfing

congressman, Aaron Lewis, 32, is leaving for the private sector.

Lewis announced he’ll be leaving Friday to become North American

director of media and government relations for Arianespace, a

Paris-based company that launches communications satellites.

“I’m very happy about the new move, although I had to think long

and hard about leaving Dana because he’s such a great boss,” Lewis

said. “It’s just been a real adventure. We’ve been in the middle of

some very fascinating things, from the shuttle disaster to Reagan’s

funeral.”

Lewis has spent the last decade working for California

politicians, including Rep. Chris Cox, former Gov. Pete Wilson and

Rep. Jerry Lewis. No replacement for Aaron Lewis has been named, but

the competition to work for a senior Republican congressman is

expected to be fierce. Rohrabacher was traveling and could not be

reached for comment Wednesday.

Rohrabacher lands an out-of-this-world award

Rohrabacher and Rep. Jerry Lewis have had a press secretary in

common, and after today they’ll share another distinction. Both were

slated to receive awards tonight from the California Space Authority,

a nonprofit corporation that represents the state’s business and

government interests in the space industry.

It’s the first time the space authority has given the awards,

which recognize people or agencies that have made significant

contributions to the development of space travel, said California

Space Authority spokeswoman Janice Dunn said. Rohrabacher was chosen

because he’s backed a variety of legislation promoting the space

industry and is in his eighth and final year as chairman of the House

Space and Aeronautics Subcommittee, she said.

Other honorees were Rep. Jane Harman and the Mojave Aerospace

Ventures team, which launched the first privately funded, manned

space flight.

Cox praises outgoing

homeland security czar

House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Chris Cox praised the

work of department Secretary Tom Ridge on Tuesday, when Ridge

announced he’s leaving by Feb. 1.

“Under his stewardship, we have made our homeland more secure on

virtually every front,” Cox said in a statement. “While more remains

to be done, the job of securing the American homeland is certainly

well begun. These achievements are all the more remarkable given the

enormous internal management challenges Secretary Ridge faced upon

taking over a new department made up of 22 previously independent

legacy agencies.”

Cox, who represents Newport Beach, was often quoted in news

stories on Ridge’s departure, but it was tough to find mention of him

as a possible new homeland security chief. In the recent past, Cox

has been suggested for high-level appointments including CIA director

and attorney general.

A few more nails driven

into El Toro runways

Orange County supervisors last week voted to rescind certification

of two environmental reports that supported a plan to turn the closed

El Toro Marine Corps Air Station into a commercial airport. A group

of El Toro airport opponents urged the move, pledging to drop pending

lawsuits over the airport issue if the reports were decertified.

“With the passage of Measure W in March 2000, as well as the

Navy’s announcement to sell the base and the planning of the Great

Park by the city of Irvine, the certification of these documents is

no longer necessary,” wrote Orange County Supervisor Bill Campbell in

a recent newsletter, referring to the countywide vote to zone the

former Naval base as parkland.