The State : Lompoc Elks Lodge Probed

The state attorney general’s office is investigating the Lompoc Elks Lodge because of charges by current and former members that the lodge rejected the applications of two men because they are black. The state is attempting to determine whether the lodge violated the Unruh Civil Rights Act, in which case the practice will be ordered halted, Deputy Atty. Gen. Louis Verdugo said. Dave Fort, the lodge’s exalted ruler, has acknowledged that the two prospective members--Joe Martin, a realtor, and Ernest Hutchinson, manager of Santa Barbara County Housing Authority’s Lompoc office--were rejected because they are black. But, he said, the lodge should not be subject to the court action because it is not a business. Smiley Wilkins, head of the Lompoc-Santa Maria chapter of the National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People, has asked local organizations to cut all ties with the lodge.