Attacks Beilenson Record : Marmillion Puts His Criticisms in Writing

Flanked by advocates for the disabled, feminists, students and animal rights, Democratic congressional candidate Val Marmillion charged Thursday that U.S. Rep. Anthony C. Beilenson (D-Tarzana) has opposed the interests of the elderly, Southern California motorists, veterans and others and has lost touch with his constituency.

Marmillion, a West Hollywood businessman, particularly emphasized Beilenson’s 1984 vote against Social Security cost-of-living increases and his proposed 25 cents-a-gallon increase in the federal gasoline tax. He called the Social Security vote an act “of broken faith with the American people” and termed the gas tax regressive and especially harmful to San Fernando Valley commuters, the poor, students and those on fixed incomes.

Marmillion sought to spell out his differences with the six-term incumbent at a news conference called to unveil a 36-page booklet, outlining his positions, that he is sending to 100,000 registered Democrats. Aides said the unusually detailed brochure--the first piece sent to voters after several months of door-to-door stumping--is a cornerstone of Marmillion’s uphill June 7th primary campaign in the 23rd District.

The campaign is spending $40,000 to $50,000 on the mailing, called “Political Access,” said campaign coordinator Norma Jane Sabiston. Marmillion said he has raised $80,000 for his campaign.

“We’re using a book instead of a potholder because people have the right to know the difference between two candidates,” Marmillion said. “What our campaign is trying to do is reach out to people and their causes.”

Marmillion’s charges drew an angry response from Beilenson.

Picked ‘Out of Context’

“I’ve voted 8,000 or 9,000 times in the 12 years I’ve been here, and it seems to me these issues he brings up are not serious or substantial,” Beilenson said in a telephone interview from Washington. “Obviously, you can pick a dozen or several dozen votes out of context.”

Beilenson said he hopes to raise enough money to respond to the brochure with a mailing of his own to the 157,000 registered Democrats in the district, which stretches from West Hollywood to Malibu and across the Santa Monica Mountains to the western San Fernando Valley. Beilenson, who had garnered only $25,000 as of late March, has vowed to raise only as much as is necessary to answer Marmillion’s charges.

Marmillion used the setting of the news conference, the first of his campaign, to demonstrate his point of speaking out on behalf of groups that need stronger representation in Washington. It was held in the parking lot, rather than the auditorium, of the Greater Los Angeles Press Club because the building does not have access aids such as ramps for the handicapped. Yvonne and Lou Nau, disabled activists from Tarzana who participated in the event, are wheelchair-bound.

Speaking above the din of trucks and car radios from nearby Vermont Avenue, helicopters overhead and even a lawn mower across the street, Marmillion said the parking lot was chosen “to make a point about the campaign in a very visual way, but also in a sensible way.”

‘Beilenson Myth’

He said he seeks to contrast what he calls “the Beilenson myth” of a favorable record on such issues as support for the elderly, environmental protection and women’s rights with a far different reality.

“Many of the incumbent’s votes and positions on key issues show indifference rather than independence--a tendency to be out of step with those he represents,” Marmillion’s brochure states.

On Social Security, Marmillion cites Beilenson as one of four House members who voted against Social Security cost-of-living increases in October, 1984. He also points out that Beilenson was the sole House member to oppose a measure to exempt Social Security income from taxation in 1980.

“Social Security is funded out of the pockets of individuals and, as such, should not be a part of any plan for cuts in benefits,” Marmillion said in the brochure.

Beilenson said both measures were “demagogic, self-serving votes that were put on the floor so people could go home and say they supported Social Security. Neither was a real vote, neither had real meaning, neither affected the real world. I’m a strong supporter of Social Security. Everybody here and everybody in senior citizen groups knows it.”

The gas-tax proposal, Marmillion said, “is something I would expect from an East Coast representative whose constituents have access to adequate public transportation. It must be stopped. I will fight against any gas-tax legislation.”

Beilenson said he proposed the gas-tax bill in the context of reducing the federal deficit, which is projected to be $146.7 billion in 1988. In addition to raising $25 billion, boosting the gas tax from 9 cents to 34 cents would discourage consumption and make the United States less dependent on oil from the Middle East, he said.

Marmillion’s brochure even attacks what is regarded as Beilenson’s major legislative achievement: creation of the Santa Monica Mountain Recreation Area in 1978. Marmillion charges that Beilenson “has failed to prevent the loss of millions of dollars earmarked for acquiring parkland in 1988. As a result, the size of the recreation area is likely to be reduced from 100,000 acres to only 57,000 acres.”

Beilenson responded: “I carried the bill that established the park and I have acquired, with help from others, the $80 million we’ve had voted for it in the last eight years. We’ve succeeded in getting 15% of all the money spent” for park acquisition nationwide. It is not a matter of losing money, he said, but of failing to obtain as much as hoped for in the budget process.

Last year, $1 million was appropriated for the recreation area.