Whatever the Fashion in Hair, Politics Is Never Out of Style in This Shop

Rueben Martinez first cut hair when he was just 10 years of age, clipping the locks of his family and friends in the little Arizona copper-mining town of Miami, about 80 miles east of Phoenix.

“I was just good at it,” Martinez said. “Nobody taught me how to do it.”

Today, he scissors the heads of Santa Ana’s downtown elite, his soft leather chair in his 3rd Street shop serving as intermittent sanctuary to local political figures, high-level bureaucrats and established men and women of business.

“They tell me everything ,” he said, flashing a wide grin. “Not only do they leave looking good, they leave feeling good too.”

An engaging man with long, curly hair and a thick, gray mustache--the only visible concession to his 48 years--Martinez is hardly at a loss for words when the bigwigs put their heads in his hands. He is a political and social dynamo himself, actively involved in four campaigns and a host of community activities. “I know what’s going on around town, I can tell you that,” he says.

Indeed, he has been cutting Santa Ana City Manager David N. Ream’s silvery strands for 10 years and Vice Mayor Patricia McGuigan’s brown, wavy hair for almost as long. Councilmen Dan Griset and Miguel Pulido are regulars. Even Mayor Dan Young stops by “a few times a year,” Martinez said.

In fact, the only council member whose hair he hasn’t cut is John Acosta, who sports a flattop. “He likes to joke that I cut it that way,” Martinez said.

He has cut the hair of former Gov. Edmund G. Brown Jr., former Rep. Jerry Patterson and former Assemblyman Richard Robinson of Garden Grove, all of whose campaigns Martinez assisted.

His current list of involvements is almost as long as his list of customers--and it keeps his telephone ringing off the hook while his patrons are wrapped under collar and sheet.

A member of the county Democratic Central Committee and the party’s state executive board, he is scheduled to be a delegate for Michael S. Dukakis at the national convention. He is also treasurer for a 72nd Assembly District candidate, Rick Thierbach, and is on the finance committee for a 38th Congressional District candidate, Jerry Yudelson. Both are Democrats who happen to have their campaign offices above his shop in the city’s old Pacific Building, distinguished by its smart blue awning and smoky basement pool hall.

“They call it Democratic Towers,” he said with a laugh.

Martinez is also on the campaign finance committee for Dan Young, who is running in the city’s first citywide mayoral election in November and is the target of a recall effort by residents angered over the council’s refusal to agree to the police union’s demands for a new contract.

The recall campaign has put Martinez in a tough spot. A longtime friend and supporter of Young, Martinez also supports the Police Benevolent Assn. The association’s president, Sgt. Donald Blankenship, and other police officers are regular customers.

A few weeks ago, Martinez was asked by Young to attend his local fund-raiser, which was to be picketed by recall supporters, including police union members.

“I called up Dan Young and said I couldn’t be at the fund-raiser,” Martinez said. “Some of those people demonstrating are my customers, and besides, I don’t cross picket lines.”

Then there are the civic involvements: memberships in LULAC (League of United Latin American Citizens), the Santa Ana and Hispanic chambers of commerce, the Santiago Club. He is chairman of Santa Ana’s fall festival, Golden City Days, and route manager of the Christmas season’s Toys on Parade.

Somehow, Martinez--who happened to letter in baseball, football, basketball and track in high school (“Sports and ladies, that was my life back then,” he says)--finds time to run and bike enough to keep fit for the Los Angeles Marathon, which he enters each year. He recently returned from San Francisco, where he ran in the annual Bay to Breakers race.

“Running is my release,” said Martinez, who has three grown children and three grandchildren. “That’s where I do my thinking and write my speeches.”

Said City Manager Ream: “He’s not only an excellent barber, but he’s also a real pleasure to spend some time with. He’s one of the real true Santa Ana supporters.”