Outspent 5 to 1 : Saldana Faces Long Odds in 21st District

When Gilbert R. Saldana won the June Democratic primary in the 21st Congressional District, the quaint resort town of Avalon honored him with a parade, island-style. Fireboats shot water plumes, harbor sirens wailed, and about 350 of the town’s 2,200 residents turned out.

“The people here are very proud of him,” said City Councilman George Scott.

It was a satisfying moment for the young, articulate city councilman, who has made a fast start in politics, albeit from the tiny and isolated base of Santa Catalina Island.

Saldana, 27, now runs against long odds in the general election. In the strongly GOP 21st District, which sprawls across southern Ventura County, the northern San Fernando Valley and includes Catalina, he faces the Republican mayor of Simi Valley, Elton Gallegly. Saldana is being outspent by about 5 to 1.

But looking beyond the current race, Democratic strategists see a bright future for Saldana. He said in a recent interview that if he loses on Nov. 4, he will move to the Los Angeles or Ventura area when his council term ends in 1988 and consider entering state politics.

“I do want to have a future in politics,” said Saldana, who describes himself as a political moderate.

‘Security Blanket’ Discarded

“When people are raised on an island, they tend to have a very insular mentality,” commented Don Haney, editor and publisher of the weekly Catalina Islander. “Gil has broken loose from the security blanket of Avalon.”

First elected to the council in 1980, Saldana became the country’s youngest mayor in 1982, when he was 23. He was commuting by boat four days a week to California State University, Long Beach, where he studied political science. He still needs three courses to complete his bachelor’s degree.

His stint as the youngest mayor produced a flurry of articles in national magazines such as Time, People and Us. He even got a mention in “Ripley’s Believe It or Not.”

“Gilbert understood that kind of publicity didn’t hurt him at all, but he was promoting Avalon at the same time,” recalled Rudy Piltsch, a former mayor of Avalon and senior vice president of the Santa Catalina Island Co., which owns more than 90% of the city’s land.

On Catalina, Saldana is a household word. Saldana’s grandfather arrived on the island in 1915, when chewing-gum magnate William Wrigley made him the superintendent of gardening at his estate and the rest of the island, which Wrigley owned at that time.

Saldana himself sells real estate and manages the 12-room Catherine Hotel. His mother is the Avalon postmaster, and his father runs Lolo’s Barber Shop, a revered gathering spot where locals discuss sports and politics amid Naugahyde chairs and campaign signs. In all, there are more than 90 Saldanas, the island’s largest family.

“How do you think I got elected?” Saldana joked. “With a bloc like that, how could I lose?”

With so many Saldanas in close-knit Avalon, some residents said they were reluctant to criticize the congressional candidate.

“Gil is very well-meaning and hard-working, but even us who will vote against him for Congress won’t speak openly about it,” said one Republican businessman who would speak only on the condition that he not be identified. “You have to understand that there are enough Saldanas living in town that we’re wrapped up with one or another.”

Honing Political Skills

Saldana’s performance in his first two years on the council was a bit uneven, “a learning curve,” observed Piltsch. “He’s matured greatly. He shows the political skills of bringing people together.”

Saldana’s style is more outspoken than most council members, and he is praised for gracefully meeting the demands of local office in Avalon, where a politician walking to the market can expect constituents to walk up and complain about broken street lights and noisy hotel bars. He said he thinks his age and family history have worked for him in his job on the council.

“I think I’ve added a certain perspective to the council, from the long-range youth view,” he said.

With the city squeezed by a modest $5-million annual budget, Saldana has specialized in rehabilitating the town’s aging public works by going after federal and state money.

Modernization Drive

He led a lobbying effort in Washington and Sacramento to secure a $3-million grant to modernize Avalon’s sewage-treatment plant, getting the money added to the federal 1986 Clean Water Act. The bill passed Congress and now awaits President Reagan’s signature.

The modernization, ordered by the federal Environmental Protection Agency to boost the plant’s capacity to process sewage produced by a million visitors yearly, forced the city to slap a moratorium on housing, business and resort development in 1984. The moratorium is still in effect.

Saldana also overcame initial opposition in 1984 to launch the Community Improvement Agency, which was formed to shore up retaining walls, pave streets, build public restrooms and supply the city’s share of money for the sewage plant.

“Once we’re capable of developing, we’d like to see more first-class hotels built,” Saldana said. “But we want to keep the same hometown, relaxing atmosphere. No crime. No smog. No freeways. If we don’t keep it that way, people won’t visit.”