ELECTIONS ’88 SOUTHEAST / LONG BEACH : Parties Pour Thousands Into High-Stakes 63rd Dist. Race : Democrats Look to Challenger to Maintain Their Assembly Majority

When candidate Robert D. Epple arrived at Max Reardon’s door looking for a vote, the 76-year-old Downey resident had a thing or two to tell him. First, the retired teacher wanted to hear whether Epple, if elected to represent the 63rd Assembly District, would be just another cog in the political machine of Assembly Speaker Willie Brown (D-San Francisco).

“If you’re going to roll over and play dead anytime he looks at you, I don’t want to vote for you,” Reardon snapped.

It is a question that has been dogging Epple since the primary, when he defeated rival Peter Ohanesian with the blessing and financial backing of the state’s Democratic Party and leading Democratic elected officials who support Brown.

Now, Epple is in an election battle with incumbent Wayne Grisham (R-Norwalk), and the last thing he wants is for voters to think he is a Brown puppet. Registration is 57% Democratic and 35.5% Republican, but the mostly blue-collar district has conservative leanings and ample crossover votes. Before Grisham, Democrat Bruce Young held the seat. Young succeeded Robert McLennan, a Republican.

The Democrats want Grisham’s seat badly as they work to maintain their Assembly majority. At stake is the reapportionment in 1990, when the majority party will redraw district lines. The Democrats have pumped hundreds of thousand of dollars into their candidate’s campaign. Brown is counting on Epple’s support in his quest to retain his threatened speakership.

“I don’t deny Willie Brown is supporting me,” Epple said. “I’m sure he would rather have a Democrat here than a Republican. The people who back me don’t own me. I’m going to be voting for what’s good for the district.”

That is part of the message Epple is putting forth as he walks precincts during his final campaign push. Epple is flooding the district with mailers. Some of the pieces laud the community service of Epple, a lawyer who has been on the Cerritos Community College District Board of Trustees for nearly seven years. Others attack Grisham, describing him as an ineffective legislator who has done little for his district.

Epple said that if elected, his legislative priorities will be crime and auto insurance rates, which are some of Grisham’s priorities as well.

The challenger said he would like to put together legislation to mandate jail sentences for people caught using drugs because current sentencing patterns give the message, “Don’t sell drugs, but it’s OK to use them.”

Epple also said something needs to be done about an emerging gang presence in the Southeast.

Auto insurance rates have gotten out of hand, he said, but he does not fully support any of the insurance measures on the November ballot. The candidate said he does not find Propositions 100 and 103 objectionable, but Epple ideally would like to see no-fault insurance and regulation of insurance rates, with an agency patterned after the Public Utilities Commission approving rate increases.

Proposition 100 would require insurance companies to give “good driver” discounts. It would require the Department of Insurance to review and approve certain rates but would not regulate attorneys’ fees. Proposition 103 would require discounts for good drivers, but it also mandates insurance rate reductions. It would require an insurance commissioner to review and approve rate increases.

“I think they’re (insurance companies) entitled to make a profit, and the people are entitled to be treated fairly,” Epple said.

But first Epple must deal with the Brown issue, which the Grisham campaign has reinforced with mailers.

Brown Issue Born in Primary

The criticism originated in Epple’s own party, during the hard-fought primary race against Ohanesian. Epple and Ohanesian became players in the leadership struggle between Brown and the so-called Gang of Five, a group of maverick Democratic assemblymen who had joined with Republicans to push through legislation blocked by Brown.

Brown, who has counted 38 votes in support of his speakership, needs to pick up at least three more at the polls on Nov. 8. It takes 41 votes to elect a speaker.

Epple, a party activist from Norwalk, received the backing of the Democratic Party and the endorsements of more than a dozen leading Democrats who support Brown, as well as congressmen and about 20 labor groups. Ohanesian, a longtime friend of Gang of Five member Charles Calderon of Montebello, won the backing of the five Gang members, two labor groups and about 30 local elected officials.

Epple and his supporters spent about $600,000 to win the Democratic nomination, including $150,000 from the state party for mailers and $150,000 from Democratic Assembly members siding with Brown. The Gang of Five didn’t have the same kind of money to give. Ohanesian spent more than $310,000. Epple received 58% of the vote to Ohanesian’s 33%.

Outgunned From Afar

Although some local Democratic activists said Epple played the political game fair and square, others said it hurt to be outgunned by party officials far from their district. The district includes Artesia, Cerritos, Downey, Hawaiian Gardens, Santa Fe Springs, almost all of Norwalk, and parts of Lakewood, southern Whittier, eastern Whittier and Long Beach.

The local Hubert Humphrey Democratic Club, for example, endorsed Ohanesian. The club draws membership from Artesia, Cerritos, Norwalk and Lakewood.

“We felt that the fact that he was shoved down our throats by Willie Brown preempted the democratic process,” club President George Medina said. “We had no choice from the very beginning.”

Medina said the club automatically backs the Democratic candidate in the general election.

Earlier this month, Epple offended another group that could have provided valuable support. The Southeast Hispanic Political Coalition, a group of 25 elected officials and community leaders from various Southeast cities, decided against endorsing either candidate in the 63rd District race.

The group, whose members are mostly Democrats, was expected to endorse Epple but backed off when he merely sent a representative to a forum to explain his positions. Epple said he was not given adequate notice and he had scheduling conflicts that night. Grisham was there.

Voting as Trustee Attacked

Meanwhile, the Grisham campaign has attacked Epple’s voting record as a Cerritos College trustee. A recent mailer portrays Epple as a trustee who cut budgets for mathematics, reading and science classes while preserving spending for less important courses. Grisham mailers also say Epple wasted district funds by voting to increase the Board of Trustees’ monthly stipend and by filing a lawsuit against the college.

A review of board minutes shows that Epple voted in March, 1983, for a 20% spending cut in remedial English, math and reading classes--but so did every other board member. The vote took place when community college districts throughout the area were struggling to balance their budgets. The board made cuts in personnel and other courses the same night.

Epple argued against cutting the remedial classes even further, as one trustee wanted to do.

“We looked at the cost-effectiveness of the programs, the number of people involved,” Epple said.

In 1985, he wanted to increase the monthly stipend for trustees from $30 per meeting to $400 a month. The board voted to raise the stipend to $300 a month.

“There are people on the board who need to be compensated for time they would otherwise be working,” Epple said. “It also makes it a little fairer for those who would think of running.”

His lawsuit against the district arose from a dispute over whether the student store on campus should continue to sell state lottery tickets. The store won state approval and began selling lottery tickets with the blessing of the college administration. Soon after, the board split, 3-3, on the issue, and an administrative order was issued preventing further sales at the student store.

Suit Dropped Before Trial

Epple asked the Superior Court to require the college administration to rescind the order because the deadlocked board had made no decision. Epple said the issue became moot when a seventh member, who could break the deadlock, joined the board. Epple dropped the lawsuit before it went to trial. He said the board never took up the issue again.

Several board members, both Democrats and Republicans, said Epple is a competent board member who has shown strong interest in the college’s affairs. Epple has missed just one board meeting since July 1987, according to college spokesman Mark Wallace.

But Epple was recently criticized by some colleagues after the state Democratic Party issued a mailer on his behalf. The mailer was not printed on official college stationery, but across the top were the words Cerritos College. Trustee Harold Tredway wanted the district attorney’s office to investigate whether the mailer violated the state Education Code, which makes it a misdemeanor to falsely imply an endorsement by the college. The board decided to delay any action until after the election.

Epple denied that the mailer implied that the college had endorsed him and said it merely indicated he is a trustee.

Acting board President Mark Durant, a Republican who said he supported Epple in the primary, said he has switched his endorsement to Grisham because of the mailer.

College Shuns Politics

“The last thing in the world that college needs is politics involved,” Durant said.

Epple has been endorsed by Atty. Gen. John Van de Kamp, state Supt. of Public Instruction Bill Honig and Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Ira Reiner, all Democrats. He has also been endorsed by various state education and law enforcement groups and unions. Locally, he has been endorsed by school board officials and the Downey Police Officers Assn.

So far, Epple has generated more financial support than Grisham. As of Sept. 30, he had raised about $303,000 in monetary and nonmonetary contributions. Grisham had raised more than $208,000. Epple said he hopes to raise and spend about $500,000, about the same as Grisham.

Epple is mounting a strong mailer campaign that attacks Grisham on his committee voting record. From December, 1986, to the end of last month, Grisham missed 24% of his committee votes, according to Legi-Tech, a computerized information service. At a recent candidates forum in Norwalk, Epple confronted Grisham.

“What have you done for the people of our district that makes it worthwhile sending you back to Sacramento?” Epple asked. “I’m an alternative. I’m going to do the job. I’m going to work to make sure our district is well represented.”

“I thought you’d never ask,” Grisham said. “I have a reputation as being one of, if not the most, outstanding assemblymen in doing casework and helping people in this district.”

Grisham’s Custody Bill

Grisham later noted, for example, that he had sponsored a bill in response to a constituent whose abused 5-year-old granddaughter had been placed in a foster home even though the grandmother wanted custody. The bill, which became law in 1986, gave relatives preference for custody in child abandonment and abuse cases.

The Grisham campaign struck at Epple on Tuesday, when it released information indicating that Epple had pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count of public drunkenness and another misdemeanor count of failure to report an accident in a 1970 auto crash in the Long Beach area.

The Grisham move took the Epple campaign by surprise, but later in the day, spokesman Dirk Brazil acknowledged that Epple had pleaded guilty to the counts and paid a fine.

Epple was alone in his car returning from a holiday party when he hit an unoccupied parked car, Brazil said.

Brazil said the Grisham campaign was trying to obscure the real issues. Grisham said he would let voters decide whether the car incident is a relevant campaign issue.

Epple, 39, who has short, graying hair and a brush mustache, says he is walking precincts seven days a week. He patiently answers questions and deflects criticism of Brown and politicians in general. When Epple asks residents for their votes, he also asks about their concerns.

One man harangued Epple about various issues, ranging from illegal immigration to broken campaign promises. He finally pledged his support, but as the candidate walked away, the man had one parting shot, “Kiss Willie Brown for me once you get in there.”

“This district is very independent,” Epple said. “They don’t vote party. They vote the way they feel.”

No Role for FBI Inquiry

So far, the FBI investigation of several state legislators and officials has not become a factor in the campaign, despite each candidate’s close association with some of the people targeted.

The candidates noted the investigation is continuing and said they would not hold one another responsible for what a political associate may have done.

Epple has a private law practice in Bellflower. He said he handles mostly tax and bankruptcy cases. Epple ran an under-funded campaign for state Senate in 1980 and was easily defeated by incumbent William Campbell (R-Hacienda Heights).