<i> Snapshots of life in the Golden State.</i> : ‘JFK’ Aside, Single-Ballot Theory Favors Clinton

Arkansas Gov. Bill Clinton has the votes to win the presidential nomination, but Jerry Brown has the support of the best-known members of the California delegation to the Democratic National Convention in New York.

Serving as an at-large delegate for the former California governor is celluloid conspiracy devotee Oliver Stone, director of the controversial pseudo-history, “JFK.”

Delegate Don Novello, better known as Father Guido Sarducci of “Saturday Night Live” TV fame, is also pledged to support Brown at this month’s convention. Honest to God.

POLITICAL WATCH

More celeb support: The California Clinton delegation is not without its own Hollywood figures. Actress Mary Steenburgen is a longtime friend of the Clintons who grew up in North Little Rock, Ark. Also backing Clinton is AIDS activist Elizabeth Glaser, the wife of actor-director Paul Michael Glaser, whose 7-year-old daughter died of the incurable disease.

Breaking up is hard to do: Support for splitting California into two or three states has apparently yet to translate from the ballot box to a mass political movement.

In the June election, 27 rural Northern California counties voted in favor of a breakup. But at a subsequent rally to establish a platform and agenda for a new state, fewer than a dozen public officials showed up at the cavernous Redding Convention Center.

Moreover, these politicos left before the speeches began, according to an account in the Lassen County Times.

“The arena stood empty and the event was a flop,” the Susanville-based newspaper reported. “There is still some major promotional work to be done before another star is added to Old Glory.”

California Cities: Rich and Poor

Below are the top 10 wealthiest and top 10 poorest cities in the state, ranked by per capita income, according to 1990 U.S. Census data. Four of the wealthiest and three of the poorest are in Southern California.

PER CAPITA CITY COUNTY INCOME FOR 1989 * 1. Rolling Hills Los Angeles $85,199 2. Hidden Hills Los Angeles $75,677 3. Belvedere Marin $71,464 4. Indian Wells Riverside $70,411 5. Woodside San Mateo $68,236 6. Atherton San Mateo $63,919 7. Hillsborough San Mateo $63,302 8. Los Altos Hills Santa Clara $62,223 9. Portola Valley San Mateo $55,721 10. Beverly Hills Los Angeles $55,463 1. Orange Cove Fresno $4,385 2. Parlier Fresno $4,784 3. Mendota Fresno $4,920 4. San Joaquin Fresno $5,356 5. Huron Fresno $5,501 6. Coachella Riverside $5,760 7. Farmersville Tulare $5,858 8. Cudahy Los Angeles $5,935 9. McFarland Kern $6,056 10. Bell Gardens Los Angeles $6,125

* Income earned in 1989 and reported in the April 1990 Census. Source: U.S. Bureau of the Census

--Compiled by statistical analyst Maureen Lyons and researcher Tracy Thomas

TRAFFIC TIME

Lettuce fine U: Now that motorists can no longer avoid paying their tickets by attending traffic school, attendance at the one-day academies has plummeted.

Department of Motor Vehicle officials say enrollment has dropped 25% and 13 schools have gone out of business since the legal change took effect last August.

But for those still wanting to wipe tickets off their driving records to save on insurance premiums, there is no need to fret. As of now, 464 traffic schools, offering lures ranging from comedy teachers to free pizza, continue to operate.

MEDIA WATCH

No. 1 on the Richter scale: This month’s unfortunate timing award goes to Outside magazine, which predicted in its latest issue that Joshua Tree--a stone’s throw from the epicenter of the recent magnitude 7.4 earthquake--would be among “the next wave of dream towns” for Americans seeking an idyllic new residential setting.

Numbers game: So how many people attended the recent Gay Freedom Day Parade in San Francisco?

The Oakland Tribune and San Francisco Examiner set the number at 300,000. The San Francisco Chronicle reported the crowd at 400,000 strong. And the Contra Costa Times weighed in at half a million people.

EXIT LINE

“California earthquake you just don’t know what you’ve done. We might fall off in the ocean but you’ll never make us run. You’re a partner of the devil and we ain’t afraid of him. We’ll build ourselves another town so you can tear it down again.”

From country singer-songwriter Rodney Crowell’s ballad, “California Earthquake.”