OXNARD : Sculptor Completes 8-Foot Bust of Perot

An eight-foot-tall bust of Ross Perot, originally scheduled for completion on the undeclared candidate’s birthday June 26, is finally ready to take its place outside Perot’s Ventura campaign office.

“It was a lot of work,” said Michael Racine, an Oxnard sculptor and jeweler. Creating the 300-pound plaster-of-Paris bust took Racine and 12 other volunteers more than 40 hours, he said.

Racine said he made the bust because the Perot campaign “reflects that the people are doing it for themselves rather than having a demagogue doing it for them.”

The plaster-white sculpture, which cost Racine $250 in materials, will probably not be painted. “I kind of like it stark,” he said. “It looks more like Mt. Rushmore.”

The bust will be placed in front of the Ventura campaign offices on Main Street once the proper permits are obtained, Racine said.

In another campaign development, the Ventura office announced the appointment of Dionne Tyronce, 22, as multicultural coordinator for Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo and Ventura counties.

Tyronce, a former customer service representative and saleswoman at Gold Coast Sales in Ventura, has lived in Ventura County for 16 years. She was appointed by W. E. Ransbottom, the Central Coast coordinator for Perot.

Tyronce will be a full-time volunteer, devoting most of her time toward building support for Perot among minority voters.

“I originally got involved to learn more about Ross Perot,” Tyronce said of her decision to accept the post. “But after the L. A. riots I thought it was time for all races to start working together.”

Tyronce said she plans to organize voter registration drives and community meetings that focus on Perot’s views and ideas. The first such event is scheduled this Sunday at 2 p.m. in Oxnard’s Community Center Park, she said.