WOBURN - Former Woburn representative and long-time Woburn resident Nick Paleologos is knee deep into the theater and Hollywood these days but he's also never very far from politics.

Paleologos, who works out of the Stuart Street Playhouse as a producing director in Boston and from his home in Concord, has been recently associated with "Chitty, Chitty, Bang, Bang" on Broadway and on the London Stage (it's still playing there).

But, as a veteran Democrat and political observer, Paleologos doesn't like what he sees about running campaigns, fund raising and other excesses in grass roots politics these days.

"You have to be a multi-millionaire first to even get into politics," lamented Paleologos to the noontime Rotary Club luncheon this week at the Holiday Inn Select.

Only well-heald individuals, he said, need apply for state or federal political offices. Others, namely the average person, he added, will be excluded by the money factor.

Paleologos, who was Woburn's State Representative for 14 years (1976-1990), was member of the Class of 1971 at Woburn High School and has teamed with classmate Fred Zollo in Hollywood, Broadway and London productions over the same years and since 1990.

He also just opened The Flea Theater for comedy off Broadway in New York City.

In 1973, he pointed out, he had an idea about running for the Woburn School Committee, and had hardly addressed the issue of raising funds. He reasoned at the time it would cost about $300, so a friend gave him the $300. However, it cost $900 by the end of the successful campaign...and he began giving campaign finances some serious thought.

"There are so many factors to discourage people from running for public office these days," intoned Paleologos. "The cost of running is getting prohibitive and only for the rich."

"My advise," concluded Paleologos at one point, "is to go out, make a million or more and then run for office. Avoid the first few steps!"

Holding a story about Duval Patrick, a gubernatorial candidate in his hands, he showed how the Boston media portrayed Patrick's vacation home several weeks ago in the western part of the state.

The helicopter shot, he said, looked menacing and a bit hostile to start with but in reading the article, the article only focused on which millionaires would be running for governor and lieutenant governor. The scenario, he said, is not a healthy one for democracy or the state.

"There are just so many factors to discourage the average person from running for public office," he surmised, citing the fund raising as nearly impossible for the average person given the constraints in the state and federal campaign laws. The winners, he said, are the millionaires and the TV media and the losers are the public in general.

In the article on Duval and others, he said, the focus was entirely on wealth and not on the issues. He used other examples like Democratic Senator Paul Simon from Illinois in 1996 who had to give up the fight because he couldn't raise $25 million that it costs for a senate re-election campaign.

"It's a case of: Only The Wealthy Need Apply," Paleologos added.

"What we need is good, caring people in government and it's not happening," he said.

The U.S. House of Representatives represents $1 billion in spending for 435 House seats, he added, and the 33 senate seats are in the $4 billion range. Some one-third of the amount, he said, goes to the media, who aren't about to fight the system.

There's a lot of talk about campaign finance reform, he said, and the fact it needs tightening. But, he pointed out, an individual can contribute $10 million or more of one's own private funds to a campaign but the law for governor puts a $500 limit on the amount outsiders can contribute.

As far as public money is concerned, he feels the check-offs exasperates things, just millions more to the media coffers. "The bottom line is a person cannot afford to run."

"Why is TV quiet on the issue?" he asked. "The reason is they get the money."

"The airways belong to the public. We must encourage the widest public participation that we can," he said.

In all, concluded Paleologos, "I see this as an alarming trend. It's the fact that no citizen of average means need apply."

The system as it works now, he said, only benefits the wealthy politicians and the media.

Also, he said, there are so many other factors that discourage people from running for office.

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Nick Paleologos recently opened the comedy production "Mercy on the Doorstep" in his newly-opened 88-seat The Flea Theater off Broadway at 41 White St.in New York. (www.theflea.org) and is the Producing Director at the Stuart Street Playhouse.