Get Another ‘Idiot Patriot,’ Iacocca Challenges Hodel : Irked Over Ouster From U.S. Panel

An irked Lee A. Iacocca said today that he was shocked at his ouster as chairman of a government advisory commission on the Statue of Liberty restoration, saying the government will have trouble finding another “idiot patriot” to contribute time and effort toward worthy projects.

“In the end, a beautiful project gets hurt; I don’t get hurt,” the Chrysler Corp. chairman said.

At a news conference, Iacocca first joked about his dismissal, then said the decision by Interior Secretary Donald P. Hodel to dismiss him without debate “borders on being un-American” and added, “I do not appreciate being disenfranchised on a whim.”

Iacocca said he will remain as head of the fund-raising foundation because “I still got about 35 million bucks to pick up” to complete the drive to restore the statue and rehabilitate nearby Ellis Island, the entry point for millions of immigrants, including Iacocca’s parents.

Hodel said Wednesday that he fired Iacocca because the chairman would face a conflict of interest if he headed both the volunteer foundation that has raised $233 million and the commission set up to advise the government on how to spend the money. (Story on Page 18.)

Hits Luxury Hotel Plans

Iacocca rhetorically asked Hodel: “Where is that (conflict)? Could you please finally answer that question?”

“I will oppose any effort to commercialize this project,” he said in reference to what he said are government plans to provide tax shelters by building a luxury hotel and conference center on Ellis Island.

“Why should there be a luxury hotel and conference center on Ellis Island, gateway for millions of immigrants?” he asked.

“I’m not about to meekly surrender more than $230 million to the National Park Service,” Iacocca said. “That’s a deal I will not bug off.”

The National Park Service is an arm of the Interior Department and polices the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.

(In Washington, a Parks Service official who demanded anonymity charged today that it was Iacocca who engineered a “gross commercialization” of the Statue of Liberty.

Iacocca’s Other Points

(The senior official said use of the statue’s torch in a Rose Bowl parade and other commercial efforts were, “in effect, promotion campaigns for new Dodge truck sales.”)

Iacocca, who was appointed head of the federal group in 1982, also raised these points:

--Why was he fired only three months after Hodel reappointed him and four months before the 200th-anniversary party for the Statue of Liberty?

--Why did the secretary want him off an advisory commission that Hodel recently had called a “nothing” body?

Iacocca, the nation’s best-known businessman and one who has been mentioned as a possible presidential candidate, said he had been asked whether he would volunteer again “considering all the crap I’ve taken from the government.”

Recalls Praise by Baker

His answer: “You’re damn right I would.”

Iacocca noted that he was fired two days after Treasury Secretary James A. Baker III handed him a $24-million check for the foundation and praised his efforts as a “classic example of American voluntarism.”

He noted the irony of it, saying the whole philosophy of the Reagan Administration is less government in the private sector.

Chrysler Corp. said Iacocca’s fans swamped company telephone lines today with calls of protest at his firing.

“We can’t answer the business calls because the lines are jammed up,” Chrysler spokesman John Guiniven said. “They’ve been ringing off the hook since 7:30 this morning. . . . We had over a hundred (calls) last night.”