Perhaps Certain Organizations Are a Tad More Equal Than Others

The 4th Annual San Diego Regional Conference for Women plans to open today on a joyous note of inclusion.

The rhetoric is that all women and all points of view are welcome at the conference, which is expected to draw 4,500 women to the Convention Center.

But the reality is that two groups had to fight to be included: Planned Parenthood of San Diego, and a mail-order condom service called My Choice.

The conference is hosted each year by Ernest Dronenberg of El Cajon, a member of the state Board of Equalization since 1978 and often discussed as a possible Republican candidate for other offices.

Dronenberg created the conference (and serves as its board president) separate from his state duties and has always stated that he has no political motives.

Yes, but you can decide for yourself whether Dronenberg’s political views (conservative, anti-abortion) influence the conference.

Two weeks ago, Dronenberg informed Planned Parenthood that its application to rent booth space had been rejected, despite the fact that conference organizer Karen van Dyke had invited the group’s participation.

More than 100 companies will have booths to hawk their services or wares.

Dronenberg’s rejection letter, attached to the group’s $1,000 check, provided no explanation for the decision.

But in a back-and-forth with Lenore Lowe, Planned Parenthood’s director of communications, Dronenberg said the group was considered too controversial.

(The San Diego chapter is one of the few Planned Parenthood chapters nationwide to provide on-site abortions. As such, it has been picketed by the anti-abortion movement.)

“We object to Mr. Dronenberg or anyone being the gatekeeper to decide what information women can receive,” Lowe said.

Dronenberg was peppered with calls from local feminists, including members of the conference’s advisory council, asking/insisting/demanding that Planned Parenthood be included.

Ashley Phillips, advisory council president and executive director of the Womancare health clinic, warned Dronenberg of the potential fallout if Planned Parenthood were barred.

She told him that it was likely that the conference’s two keynote speakers, Betty Ford and Marlo Thomas, might not attend or might make statements of protest. Both are supporters of Planned Parenthood.

Dronenberg relented, although with a twist.

He approved Planned Parenthood’s request but also invited participation by Concerned Women for America, an anti-abortion group run by Beverly LaHaye, wife of the fundamentalist Rev. Tim LaHaye.

Along with Planned Parenthood, Susan Vacca of San Diego was also initially rebuffed. She has just founded My Choice, a mail-order service to sell condoms to women who are too shy to go to the drugstore.

Vacca was informed by conference staffers that there was no room for her booth. “I got angry,” she said.

She threatened to picket and go to the media. Suddenly, space was found and Vacca will have a booth.

Van Dyke, the organizer, says Vacca’s problem was simply a matter of finding space. On Planned Parenthood, she referred all questions to Dronenberg.

But his state staff was insistent Thursday that he was being held virtually incommunicado in a meeting and thus was unreachable.

Parole Call: Perot’s Got Her Vote

People, politics and other things.

* Ex-Rolodex Madam Karen Wilkening hopes her parole (she’s up for review next month) will be dropped so she can vote in the presidential election.

Her candidate? H. Ross Perot, who, like Wilkening, is a risk-taking entrepreneur.

* CBS newsman Mike Wallace is due in San Diego this weekend to interview Police Chief Bob Burgreen for a “60 Minutes” segment on gay cops nationwide.

Wallace will also talk to San Diego cops who are gay.

* Jack Orr has it figured out: “How can you tell when Bill Clinton is lying? When he’s not inhaling, of course.”

* When Gary Naiman was running Pioneer Mortgage in La Mesa, he was known as quite a talker. But now the firm is bankrupt (leaving investors out $200 million).

During a deposition Thursday by attorneys for angry investors and business partners, Naiman invoked the 5th Amendment an estimated 300 times.

He would give only his name and his wife’s name. He also refused to provide a handwriting sample.