Democrats’ <i> Wunderkind</i> Sets a Fast Pace

In 1982, Chris Townsend had an agonizing choice to make: accept a scholarship at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, internships offered by the British Parliament and by the People’s Republic of China overseas or a fellowship with the public affairs-oriented Coro Foundation.

But Townsend never left Orange County to take advantage of those opportunities.

Instead, he has become the Wunderkind of the Democratic Party in Orange County politics in the short span of three years. He jet-sets around the country with his boss, wealthy Laguna Beach developer and Democratic fund-raiser David Stein, hobnobs with U.S. Sen. Gary Hart (D-Colo.), California Lt. Gov. Leo McCarthy and U.S. Cabinet officials in Washington, spreads the word about “baby boomers” and their political tastes, organizes and raises money for social and political causes, and takes time out to play basketball with the Irvine Skyscrapers, a recreation league team.

“Most people are surprised when they find out I’m only 24 years old,” said Townsend, whose official title of public affairs director of the Stein-Brief Group development company belies the political nature of his work.

Townsend has his work cut out for him.

Nationally and in Orange County, the Democratic Party is losing registered voters to the GOP. The county Republican Party in recent elections has toppled the county’s lone Democratic congressman and unseated all but two of the five Democrats who were state legislators in 1978. And local divisions within the Democratic Party reflect national struggles between traditional and labor-oriented leaders who supported former Vice President Walter F. Mondale in the 1984 Democratic presidential primaries, and a new breed of activists--like those who supported Hart’s candidacy--who call for new candidates and programs.

“I see my role as helping the party to redirect its energies toward the future, to make sure that we don’t dwell on old rhetoric and get stuck on supporting old candidates with old slogans and programs that the ‘baby-boom’ generation--those born between 1946 and 1962--cannot identify with,” Townsend said.

“The way I like to do this is by helping to provide the political structures that appeal to the ‘baby boomers,’ so that they will want to get involved politically.”

The recently formed Democratic Associates, for example, is one of Townsend’s pet projects. He helped start the volunteer fund-raising group, most of whose members are younger, upwardly mobile professionals.

The Associates have held several events, including a reception for U.S. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) at UC Irvine earlier this year.

Townsend has had to overcome initial reluctance from some people to take him seriously. And Townsend himself has had to confront his own prejudices about the business community in which he now operates.

“Some people may have been jealous,” said Denny Freidenrich, a Newport Beach-based public relations consultant. “After all, here’s this young kid who drives around in a Mercedes and who has done more at his age than most people do in a lifetime. He’s performed extremely well.”

But the boyish, curly-haired Townsend is not without critics.

Some Democratic Party activists said he makes too many promises and is unflinching in his advocacy of political positions taken by Stein.

For example, Townsend was criticized by some in the party for the way Orange County delegates were chosen for the Democratic convention in San Francisco last year. Several prominent people who were bypassed, such as former state Democratic Chairman Richard J. O’Neill of San Juan Capistrano, were offended at the time.

But County Democratic Chairman Bruce Sumner, as well as Stein and others who were privy to the decisions, said Townsend was not to blame.

“Some mistakes may have been made, but if so, they were made by others in the Hart campaign, primarily in Los Angeles,” Sumner said.

Townsend said pretty much the same thing: “We hardly had anything to do with it. Most of the decisions were made by people in Los Angeles who were running the Gary Hart campaign.”

Acknowledges Complaints

Townsend acknowledged that some Democratic activists may have grounds for their complaints that he has not followed through on his promises that he could give people access to Stein.

“That’s a difficult part of my job,” Townsend said. “Everyone wants to get to David (Stein). I’m sure that every once in a while there’s been a miscommunication. And more than once in a while there’s been disappointment for people who wanted more than we could deliver.”

He acknowledged that some critics believe he merely parrots Stein’s political positions, regardless of their merit. But Townsend added: “That’s because we mesh pretty well. . . . I can’t remember when we’ve ever had a significant disagreement. When we disagree, it’s usually because I’ll propose that Stein-Brief contribute a certain amount of money to a particular cause, and David (Stein) will opt for a smaller or larger amount.”

Republicans’ Feelings

Republicans seem awed by Townsend, but also have mixed feelings.

For example, Laguna Niguel political activist Paul Christiansen, who has dealt with Stein-Brief on the issues of sewage pollution at Salt Creek and proposed offshore oil drilling, said of Townsend:

“He’s smart. . . . He’s everywhere at once. When a coalition of coastal communities agreed to hire a professional public relations consultant last week to fight offshore oil, it was Townsend who arranged for Denny Freidenrich to be considered . . . 20 minutes later Friedenrich (a Democrat and friend of Stein) is given a $6,000 retainer to mount our campaign against offshore oil. That certainly shows that he has clout. Nobody really questioned it.

“But I recall that on the sewage issue Townsend did not return any of my calls for three months and I told David (Stein) about it. . . . It seems that they’re extremely active when it suits them, as it does with the offshore oil issue. And the reason is political. They (Stein and Townsend) are out to control the political agenda, and they’re quite good at it. It astounds me.”

Lincoln Club Member

Tim Carlyle, an attorney and Stein-Brief’s vice president for commercial sales, is a member of the Lincoln Club, an exclusive, influential volunteer Republican fund-raising group dominated by wealthy business executives. Carlyle said he can envision some Democrats thinking that he (Carlyle) might be a GOP “mole” in the Stein-Townsend political operation but that Townsend and others have never expressed any concern about it.

“My dealings with him (Townsend) have all been favorable despite our political differences,” Carlyle said. “I maintain my interests politically and he maintains his. However, my involvement with Stein-Brief is on the business side, and his isn’t.”

Meanwhile, Bill Schreiber, a Republican and district aide to Rep. Robert E. Badham (R-Newport Beach), said, “We’ve dealt with him (Townsend) on strictly issue-oriented matters and not party-oriented stuff. That’s been our agreement. On the offshore oil issue, its our feeling that whatever sources we can tap (in opposition to offshore drilling) we will tap, even if it means going into Democratic circles. Chris (Townsend) seems to have a great deal of integrity.”

Townsend is the first to admit that Stein’s wealth and influence is largely responsible for his rise from relative obscurity to political prominence. Stein, 37, founded the $1,000-per-year Democratic Foundation of Orange County, raised more than $250,000 for Hart’s 1984 presidential campaign and is a confidant of several state and national elected officials.

Kept in Touch

While serving as a Coro Foundation intern in 1981, an experience that led to the fellowship offer the following year, Townsend researched the workings of the California Coastal Commission for Stein and then went on to other activities, always staying in touch with Stein socially.

Stein recalled recently: “I really liked him. . . . I wouldn’t say we agreed on everything, because we didn’t. I had more experience in the real world, the world of finance. But he had a very good head, and I was impressed. I kept throwing things at him.

Townsend said he gradually became more impressed with Stein and his partner, Barry Brief, as they spent more time together just having fun.

Then “one day Chris called me and said he had all these choices to make (about his future) but that he really wanted to work for the Stein-Brief Group,” Stein recalled. “I told him there wasn’t a job at Stein-Brief. But we continued to talk, and he eventually created a job for himself.”

Organized Receptions

Townsend became more directly involved in Democratic politics by standing in for Stein at various gatherings of well-to-do donors. He organized some of the political receptions that Stein gave for such officeholders as state Assembly Majority Leader Mike Roos (D-Los Angeles).

He also started attending county Planning Commission meetings where Stein-Brief development projects were being discussed.

In the 1984 elections, Townsend’s role suddenly grew. He helped raise tens of thousands of dollars for Hart’s presidential effort, organized activities for Hart’s Orange County delegates to the Democratic Convention in San Francisco, ran successfully for the county Democratic Central Committee, and took care of the day-to-day operations of the Democratic Foundation as well as founding the Democratic Associates.

Townsend also mapped out Stein-Brief’s strategy for community involvement, overseeing the company’s donations to more than 20 nonprofit organizations, including $10,000 to the South County Youth Shelter. He has also helped raise $200,000 for the Orange County African Relief Fund and several thousand dollars for Pro Peace, a volunteer political action group.

“He went from being Dave Stein’s person to being his own personality, with his own energy and influence,” Stein said. “People would say that you had to talk to Chris in order to get to Dave Stein. Now they say maybe it’s better to talk to Chris and not talk to Stein.”

Townsend is unmarried. His father is a marriage and family counselor, his mother an assistant superintendent in the Los Angeles Unified School District.

Although he is only 24 years old, Townsend is comfortable with his role as one of the county’s political heavyweights.

“I was born on the day John F. Kennedy was elected president,” Townsend said. “I’ve always wanted to be involved in government or politics . . . . I was always active in student government in high school. I knew that I would always be involved with the public sector. What surprised me was that I’m working in the private sector and finding out that it has meant a tremendous amount of personal growth.

“I grew up in Seal Beach, which is really more like Long Beach than the rest of coastal Orange County,” Townsend said. “I didn’t know anything about the county, really. I never understood what south Orange County was about until I began working for Stein-Brief. Now I think of it as the last frontier, the place where young entrepreneurs can make a difference.”

Townsend attended Huntington Beach High School, where he was active in student government. He graduated from Claremont Men’s College with a degree in political science. “I found at Claremont that there were a lot of Republicans, and we could talk about political philosophy and still remain friends,” Townsend recalled.

As for his own political aspirations, Townsend said he may run for higher office someday, but he worries about the “wear and tear” he has seen on candidates and “the loss of privacy they endure.”

Townsend remains committed to Hart and is gearing up for a possible 1988 presidential bid by the Colorado senator. He sees Hart and his youthful followers as examples of what the Democratic Party needs in the future.

“The battle being waged right now is for the hearts and minds of the ‘baby boomers’ who are just now coming of age,” Townsend said. “And there’s a big difference between the oldest ‘baby boomers’ and the youngest, at opposite ends. They think differently. They act differently. The older ones are into Ronald Reagan right now because that’s all they know. Their memory of a Democratic president is of Jimmy Carter, the hostage crisis in Iran and all that negative stuff.

“But the younger ones--well, they’re important. They’re up for grabs.”