Deukmejian to Open 2nd Term With Festivities

Actor Charlton Heston, an Air Force band and an expatriate comedian from Russia will help George Deukmejian launch his second four-year term as governor of California with two days of inaugural festivities beginning today.

The Republican governor’s formal swearing-in ceremony is scheduled for 11 a.m. Monday on the Capitol steps. But the inaugural festivities will begin 15 hours earlier with an evening musical and comedy review honoring Deukmejian today, and they will conclude with an Inaugural Ball for 3,000 guests Monday evening.

Deukmejian is scheduled to deliver a 20-minute inaugural address Monday morning immediately after California Chief Justice-designate Malcolm Lucas administers the oath of office to the 58-year-old governor.

Showcases His Goals

By tradition, the governor’s inaugural address showcases his goals in the broadest of terms, with few specifics, as Inauguration Day is dominated by formal ceremonies and parties.

The governor’s detailed proposals for the coming year are traditionally unveiled in his annual address to Legislature, which is scheduled Wednesday, and his budget message, which is due Saturday.

Although far more modest than the star-studded extravaganza of Ronald Reagan’s gubernatorial inauguration two decades ago, Deukmejian’s inaugural plans are more elaborate and involve more participants than all of the combined events of the other six state officials who will also be holding inaugural ceremonies Monday in the state capital.

Like his first inauguration four years ago, which made enough profit to purchase a gubernatorial residence to replace the sold governor’s mansion, Deukmejian’s celebration of the start of his second term is all being financed by sales of tickets, which range from $25 to $625 for different events.

Buffet Reception

The highest priced item is a $625-per-person buffet reception for 800 to 1,000 people with Deukmejian in the rotunda of the state Capitol.

That event, today’s theater show tickets at $25 to $130 each, and the Monday evening Inaugural Ball at $100 per person are expected to bring in $650,000 to $750,000.

Inaugural Committee spokeswoman Christine Samuelian said prices on each event are about 25% higher than comparable events in Deukmejian’s first inauguration four years ago but the financial goal is simply to break even overall.

Actors Charlton Heston and Kirk Douglas, singers Charles Aznavour, Paul Anka and Leslie Uggams, Russian comedian Yakow Smirnoff, whose American citizenship Deukmejian sponsored last year, the Sacramento Symphony and a U.S. Air Force Band from Travis Air Force Base are among the entertainers scheduled to appear today at the Governor’s Inaugural Entertainment Gala.