Nate Holden, the ex-city councilman and state legislator, bopped into the HMS Bounty on Wilshire Boulevard last night confident of two things. For 40 years the political consulting firm of Cerrell Associates had held its Christmas party at the Bounty, and he knew that the party was Saturday. He was half right. There was a party at the Bounty, but it wasn't Cerrell's — it was Gregory Rodriguez's. The LAT op-ed columnist who lives in Koreatown swooped in and grabbed the Bounty when Cerrell abruptly vacated. He got a good crowd — including LAT Deputy Editorial Page Editor Michael Newman and editorial writer Robert Greene, community college trustee Kelly Candaele, the LA Weekly's Jill Stewart and Le Monde's Claudine Mulard — but not the group Holden expected. So Nate was redirected a few miles west to the relocated (and upscaled) Cerrell bash in the Stardust Lounge at the Beverly Hilton. That more suit-and-tie group included State Sen. Gil Cedillo, councilmembers Wendy Greuel, Bill Rosendahl and Jan Perry, school board member David Tokofsky, Times Poll director Susan Pinkus, NBC-4's Ana Garcia, CBS2's Mark Coogan, the Daily News' Rick Orlov, the LABJ's Howard Fine, former channel 2 political reporter Linda Breakstone and Villaraigosa adviser Richard Katz. Some made appearances at both ends of Wilshire, including planning commissioner Mike Woo and Council President Eric Garcetti's chief of staff, David Gershwin.

Party buzz: Mayor Villaraigosa is expected to back Tamar Galatzan over UTLA's candidate, incumbent Jon Lauritzen, in the Valley school board race.

Photo: mnc.net