California Elections : Opponents Hope to Pin Carpetbagger Label on Candidate Hope

John Paventi runs the Republican Party in Ventura County, but he complains that his contact with the man who many think may be the next GOP congressman representing more than 60% of the county has been almost non-existent.

“I’ve spoken to Tony Hope only at the very beginning of his campaign,” said Paventi, chairman of the Republican Central Committee in the county. “He called me from a pay phone in Thousand Oaks and said he was looking for (Paventi’s office) at 800 S. Victoria. I said, ‘The reason you can’t find it is that 800 S. Victoria is in Ventura, 20 miles from you.’ ”

Paventi’s pique may be suspect. He is backing Simi Valley Mayor Elton Gallegly, Hope’s main rival in the June 3 GOP primary election which in all likelihood will determine the next lawmaker to represent the overwhelmingly Republican 21st District in southern Ventura County and the eastern San Fernando Valley.

But the story illustrates a thorny problem that has been dogging Hope since he entered the race in February, one that has become a prime focus of a tussle with Gallegly that has turned so far on personalities rather than issues or ideas.

Since the son of entertainer Bob Hope quit his job as a Washington lobbyist and moved into the district this year, Hope has been fighting off allegations that he is a carpetbagger, trading on his father’s name and money-raising power to capture the seat being vacated by incumbent Rep. Bobbi Fiedler (R-Northridge).

If Hope is unfamiliar with the streets in the district, his detractors ask, how could he begin to understand the concerns of its voters? More embarrassing to the neophyte politician, however, was a revelation, uncovered and spread by Gallegly, that Hope had not registered to vote in Washington for a decade.

“It’s really hard to believe a person’s going to be effective if he can’t figure out how to register to vote,” Gallegly said, jabbing at his opponent.

But Gallegly has his own problems: Campaign finance reports show that almost half of the mayor’s contributions have come from land developers and others associated with the construction industry. Many of these contributors have invested in development projects in Simi Valley, a burgeoning city of 92,000, where growth is a hotly debated issue.

In several cases, developers have contributed to Gallegly’s campaign shortly before the Simi Valley City Council was scheduled to vote on their construction projects. At least twice, Gallegly, a real estate broker, provided the swing vote needed to approve the projects.

Such controversies have come to overshadow the campaign, in part because Gallegly and Hope both profess to be ideological clones of President Reagan and defer to his leadership on virtually all policy matters that they might have to deal with in Congress.

Polling done by the candidates so far has been sketchy and inconclusive and neither man can lay claim to being the front-runner, a somewhat surprising development in the eyes of some political leaders in the area. In March, Assemblyman Tom McClintock (R-Thousand Oaks), a well-known and popular Ventura County figure, pulled out of the contest, claiming that Hope was a virtual shoo-in because his family ties could help him raise $1 million for the race, far more than any other candidate could hope to net.

Hope has tapped his paternal contacts for contributions, but the total has been far more modest than McClintock predicted. Hope and Gallegly say they are budgeting about $400,000 for their respective campaigns, but both candidates have been close-mouthed about how they plan to spend most of the money.

In stark contrast to Hope and Gallegly, a third Republican candidate in the race, dark horse Tom La Porte, is mounting a low-budget campaign stressing detailed plans to reduce the national debt and perk up the economy. For example, La Porte has proposed accelerating Reagan’s scheme of selling off government assets. He is disillusioned with Reagan’s tax reform program, proposing instead that the government encourage savings by exempting from income taxes a large share of interest and dividend income.

“I’m talking about pocketbook issues, the economy,” La Porte said. “I’m talking about things neither one of those candidates wants to deal with because they’re tough subjects.”

Indeed, both Hope and Gallegly stress their credentials more than their thoughts while out pumping hands at a non-stop procession of women’s teas, Town Hall meetings and breakfasts hosted by civic groups.

Points to Experience

Hope argues that his years representing a large accounting firm in Washington and serving on two presidential commissions have given him a good insider’s knowledge of the workings of the federal bureaucracy. But controversies over the voter registration and carpetbagger charges have muddied the public-spirited image Hope has tried to create for himself.

In defending himself, the 45-year-old attorney contends that he twice attempted to register during the 10 years he lived in the nation’s capital, but foul-ups at the registrar’s office kept his name off voter lists. California voters have proved sensitive in the past to charges that office seekers themselves had failed to vote. In 1982, then-Lt. Gov. Mike Curb lost the Republican primary for governor in part because of questions raised about his failure to cast ballots in previous elections.

Hope, who moved to Northridge from Washington only recently, says he anticipated questions about his commitment to the district. However, he readily reminds listeners that he grew up in the district and that his two children, now teen-agers, were born there. Once voters become acquainted with him, Hope suggested, they will realize that he is not just “a pile of money from a distant planet.”

Gallegly, 42, takes a different tack, stressing his familiarity with needs of the district and dedication to an area where he has lived for nearly two decades. He has been mayor of the burgeoning Ventura County community for six years.

Contribution Question

He insists that accepting contributions from people with a vested interest in City Council actions is neither legally nor ethically a conflict of interest. (Spokesmen for the state’s Fair Political Practices Commission and the Federal Election Commission say there is nothing legally wrong with the practice). Gallegly, who said he never considered abstaining from voting, said he would have favored the projects.

Although voter registration in the district is overwhelmingly Republican, six Democrats are mounting half-hearted, low-budget efforts to become their party’s nominee for Congress. The best known is Gilbert Saldana, the vice mayor of Avalon on Santa Catalina Island.