‘Opening Shot’ Comes as Council Closes Debate on Sculpture Plan

The editor of a nationally circulated newsletter for collectors of Olympic pins had issued a call-to-arms.

“No one messes with the Olympic spirit, not even the mayor of ‘An Olympic City with a Heart,’ ” Nelson wrote in the May issue of his newsletter published in Tucson.

Nelson urged his readers to write “a short, polite note” to Mayor Barry L. Hatch about the clash over whether a sculpture dedicated to the 1984 Olympic Summer Games outside City Hall should be replaced with a statue honoring George Washington.

But before Nelson’s readers could react, the debate seemed over.

The City Council unanimously decided last week not to replace the Olympic sculpture.

Even so, Nelson boasted in an interview: “The pin collectors of America should be claiming victory.”

20,000 Readers

“I’m mad as I can be about the mayor’s position on the Olympic sculpture. I don’t think they should move it,” Nelson wrote in the newsletter he sends to 20,000 readers who collect, buy and swap commemorative pins dedicated to the Olympics.

Hatch had proposed relocating the Olympic sculpture and putting in its place a statue of Washington adorned with plaques of the U.S. Constitution. The City Council in March narrowly approved a proposal to spend $50,000 in city funds for the statue, though no decision was made on its location. Last week the council rescinded its vote, deciding to create a committee that would seek private funding and find a site for the Washington statue.

Because Monterey Park was host to the 1984 field hockey championships, the community bills itself as “An Olympic City With a Heart.” The statue was dedicated as an Olympic torch runner passed City Hall en route to the Games’ opening ceremonies in Los Angeles.

“I’ve been publishing my newsletter for four years, and I never thought I’d have a battle with City Hall,” wrote Nelson, a retired marketing professor in Tucson who says he is the principal retail distributor of Olympic pins in the country.

“I hope this opening shot is heard all the way to the headquarters of the International Olympic Committee in Switzerland,” he wrote.

Hatch and other city officials say they have not heard from pin collectors or readers of Nelson’s newsletter. City officials said they received a facsimile of Nelson’s newsletter at City Hall. But the mayor said: “Nobody mentioned the newsletter to me.”

Hatch said the only criticism he recalled was a letter from someone “either in Santa Monica or Woodland Hills.”

“Mostly I received lots of calls of support,” he said.

Hatch said he received a book on George Washington from William B. Allen, the Claremont graduate school professor who is chairman of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. Allen, editor of the book, which is a collection of letters and addresses by Washington, autographed the book for Hatch by signing it: “For Barry Hatch, one who serves in the spirit of Washington.”

Hatch says he doesn’t know why people were so upset with his wanting to move the Olympic statue, which he calls “stupid-looking.”

Surprised by Concern

“Funny how they’d be more concerned about the Olympic statue, than they would about Washington,” he said. “I’m not putting down the Olympics. I’m just saying the Olympics takes second place to the Constitution and George Washington.”

Nelson said upset pin collectors have begun to write to him. He said he did not know the number of letters he had received, but he cited one from a woman in Montebello, who had written: “Good luck in your fight with the mayor of Monterey Park. I live just over the hill in Montebello. The citizens of Monterey Park are not too thrilled with the mayor’s idea.”

Nelson says his goal in alerting his readers was to make sure the Olympic monument stayed put. “I didn’t want to generate any hate mail,” he said. “And nobody should get high blood-pressure about this.”