Bush Visit on Tuesday Sends County Officials Scrambling

President Bush is coming to Orange County next week. But don’t mark your calender just yet.

The date and time--even the nature of the event--has changed almost hourly in recent days, much to the chagrin of frazzled county officials who are coordinating logistics for the visit with White House aides.

Thursday was the coup de grace.

After officials were told that Bush would deliver an anti-drug speech Wednesday at a remote south county ranch once used by smugglers, the local-level planning for the high-level visit began in earnest in Supervisor Thomas F. Riley’s office.

The Board of Supervisors meeting Wednesday was canceled. Nearly 1,500 invitations to the private event were printed at taxpayer expense. Bulletins outlining the President’s itinerary were dispatched or sent to key county agencies.

Then came a phone call to Marilyn Brewer, one of Riley’s staffers, about 3:45 p.m.

Bush’s visit had been switched to Tuesday at noon.

Brewer hung up the phone and walked into her boss’s office to deliver the news.

“The supervisor looked me and said, ‘You’re kidding me,’ ” she recalled. “I looked at him and said, ‘I wish I was.’ ”

Stop orders were immediately placed on all preparations and county officials raced to make revisions.

Said one aide for another supervisor: “It’s been like a fire drill around here lately. Nobody knows what is fact and fiction.”

The facts, as of Thursday night, surrounding the presidential visit were these:

As part of a West Coast trip, Bush will come to Orange County Tuesday morning. Traveling aboard Air Force One from Northern California, he is scheduled to land between 11:15 and 11:30 at El Toro Marine Corps Air Station, a White House spokesman said. The President will then be flown by helicopter to Rancho del Rio, the isolated and scenic hideaway of a former drug smuggler. He will then tour portions of the canyon retreat, replete with a vineyard, a wine press and eight stone houses.

Seized during a 1985 drug investigation, the ranch is to form the backdrop for Bush’s latest pitch against drugs. During his 90-minute stay, he is scheduled to talk with narcotics agents and address an invitation-only gathering of 1,000 to 1,500 local elected and law enforcement officials.

Bush will present Sheriff-Coronor Brad Gates and other law enforcement officials with $4.39 million in cash--their share of money confiscated during a heroin bust made by the Orange County Regional Narcotics Suppression Task Force on Feb. 10, 1988.

At 1:30 p.m., the President’s helicopter is scheduled to whisk him away to a Beverly Hills hotel, where he will stay overnight before meeting Wednesday with former President Ronald Reagan.

Riley said Gates told him that the cost of staging the event will be paid out of the money the Sheriff’s Department receives.

“The sheriff has offered to do that,” Riley said. “I think that is kind of the good sheriff. It’s right in the spirit of this whole thing. . . . I just hope this thing comes off. Lots of people are walking on eggshells around here.”

The White House spokesman said that a luncheon will be part of Bush’s ranch stop. But that word had not reached Riley’s office late Thursday.

“That’s news to us,” Riley aide Brewer said. “This thing has become so cumbersome and crazy. It’s hard to keep track of who’s coming and going.”

Going to see the President may be an adventure in itself.

Barely Accessible

The ranch, tucked deep in the Cleveland National Forest near the juncture of Orange, San Diego and Riverside counties, is 4 miles from Ortega Highway. It is accessible by narrow dirt road only.

At this point, the plan is to take invited guests and the media to the ranch in Orange County Transit District buses. Those with weak constitutions hold on.

The buses are “obviously not made to travel on these roads, but they’re about the only things that will carry so many people comfortably,” said OCTD spokeswoman Joanne Curran. “This will be fun.”

Transit officials are concerned whether the suspension systems on the buses can carry a full load on such a steep, winding road. About 30 buses--almost every bus in the county not in normal service--will be used to ferry visitors to the one-time drug den. County crews spent Thursday laying gravel over the roughest spots in advance of a scheduled test-drive today by a fully-loaded, 40-passenger bus.

If it fails, Curran said, there are no backup plans.

“We’ll know by noon today,” she said.

The entrance to the ranch road is about a quarter of a mile south of Caspers Regional Park, which will be the staging area for arriving guests.

Fire Officials Concerned

On the heels of a relatively dry winter, county officials expressed concern about the fire hazard posed by so many vehicles driving over dry grass in the remote area. Firefighters were surveying the situation at the ranch Thursday, and county officials have requested at least five trucks for the event.

“It’s very dry out there, so we’re going to have our engines out there,” County Fire Department Capt. Hank Raymond said. “We’re going to be a little pro-active.”

And how are all those reporters and White House officials traveling with the President going to communicate with the outside world from this remote corner of the county? The phone company has the answer.

“We can use microwave, we can use cable, and it can all be put up pretty quickly,” Pacific Bell spokeswoman Linda Bonniksen said.

Then there is the guest list. Who’s on it, who’s not?

Riley said that White House officials requested a crowd of up to 1,500.

“They thought that would make the proper backdrop for this event,” Riley said. “You know, the President has been less than happy with the press response to his drug war. So he wanted something real visual for the cameras. I’m just glad we can help. It’s a good cause.”

It is a handpicked audience, for sure. Simple, one-page invites will be sent to all city council members and mayors in the county, as well as local state Senate members, Assembly members and congressional representatives. Selected county department heads will also be included, as well as a group of Gates’ friends and supporters.

GOP Officials Left Out?

Some local GOP officials may be conspicuously absent from the guest list.

Greg Haskin, executive director of the Orange County Republican Party, said the party had few details about the Bush visit.

“Our understanding at this point is this is not a partisan political event and we have not been asked to play a role in it,” Haskin said.

As of Thursday afternoon, he said, party officials had been telling people who called the local office to gather at 9 a.m. at Caspers Park Tuesday to be taken by shuttle to the event.

Those going are best advised to wear comfortable shoes. Riley said the only guaranteed seating is for a small cadre of VIPs who will sit with Bush. Among the lucky ones are the five supervisors, mayors from each city in the county, and state and congressional lawmakers.

Spouses will have to stand.

Arriving on time may be hardest for the supervisors. Because the dates were switched at the last minute, the supervisors could not cancel their regularly scheduled Tuesday morning meeting which begins at 9:30 a.m. To legally cancel, the board must give notice 3 working days before the meeting. Brewer said Riley is considering calling the session to order and then continuing it to Wednesday.

Times staff writers Claudia Luther and James Gerstenzang contributed to this story.