Legislators Take a Flying Leap

State Sen. Bill Leonard took a flying leap in Lodi on Tuesday--but it had nothing to do with angry taxpayers, or the plummeting popularity of politicians.

Leonard (R-Big Bear) and colleague Marian Bergeson (R-Newport Beach)--two conservative members of the Legislature’s staid upper house--just thought it would be fun to make like Evel Kneivel and take their first sky dive together.

So they and a number of their staff members took the afternoon off to drive to a small airport in Lodi, about 30 miles south of Sacramento, where they plunked down $135 each, packed their parachutes and jumped out of an airplane at 9,000 feet.

Leonard, 44, whose 25th Senatorial District stretches from Azusa to Big Bear, invited himself along after Bergeson issued a press release last week announcing her intention to make the jump.

“I saw her at a hearing last Wednesday in San Bernardino and I was giving her a hard time about it,” chuckled Leonard, who plays splat ball war games and harbors the dream of one day walking the spans of the Golden Gate Bridge with maintenance workers. “I was saying, ‘You’re a macho lady, Marian. . . .’ I can’t let (you) have all the fun.”

“It was neeeeeat!” gushed Bergeson, after she touched down. “. . . It’s the most exhilarating feeling. . . . It is almost euphoric.”

Bergeson, 64, said she got the idea for the daredevil stunt after her son raved about a recent jump of his own.

When she overheard two of her Sacramento staffers chatting about sky-diving a month ago, she demanded to come along.

“She said she really wanted to do it,” aide Chris Kahn said. “We said, ‘C’mon. . . !’ ”

Bergeson has faced her share of dangers before. She once broke her leg skiing, has gone para-sailing, and is the last one to leave the rides on her periodic excursions to Disneyland.

“This (sky-diving) is less dangerous than the Temecula cow chip throwing contest that I was involved in a few years ago,” she quipped before the dive, insisting she sought no political gain from her adventure.

Bergeson was the unsuccessful Republican candidate for lieutenant governor last year.

Before going aloft in a stripped-down small plane, members of the group watched a mandatory video and signed waivers acknowledging that the “tandem” jumps they were about to attempt were considered experimental--and potentially dangerous.

Then, each of them put on gray jumpsuits and, in turn, were fastened by the back to a sky-diving pro, who was responsible for pulling the rip cord after a 30-second free fall covering about a mile.

Both Bergeson and Leonard floated flawlessly to Earth, emotionally buoyed by the experience and vowing to try it again.

“That’s a piece of cake,” declared Bergeson, who had red marks on her forehead where her goggles had pressed against her face.

Leonard, who wore suit pants and a tie under his jumpsuit, declared the dive a “thrill” before heading off for a late afternoon meeting with Bob White, Gov. Pete Wilson’s chief of staff.

Although Tuesday’s sky dive came off without a hitch, there had been a quiver of anxiety beforehand. Mike Ward, the Senate’s budget officer, made sure to check the Legislature’s health and life insurance policies (there were no exclusions for sky-diving, so Bergeson and Leonard were covered).

Explained Ward, “With the Senate, we generally have an older bunch of members so it is a little surprising to have some of them take such risks.”