Foes of Special Sea World Bill Cite Wilson’s Brewery Stock : Politics: Governor, who owns Anheuser-Busch shares, must decide on measure allowing sales of hard liquor at the theme park owned by giant brewer.

Gov. Pete Wilson, who has owned more than $100,000 in Anheuser-Busch stock, must now decide whether to sign into law a loophole allowing the beer giant to sell hard liquor at its Sea World park in San Diego.

State conflict-of-interest law says that as governor, he would have no problem approving the special interest bill, which exempts Anheuser-Busch Companies Inc. from California law prohibiting liquor manufacturers from selling alcoholic beverages at retail outlets.

But opponents of the bill still say the governor’s beer stock underscores the kind of troubling financial and political connections that have allowed the St. Louis-based brewer to command special treatment from Sacramento.

The company has donated $480,000 to legislative campaigns over the last five years, according to records compiled by California Common Cause, a government watchdog group. The contributions range from $20,400 to Assembly Speaker Willie Brown to $100 to Sen. Diane Watson (D-Los Angeles).

“We see this as one example of our elected officials operating under the influence of alcohol company contributions,” said Judy Winston, chair of the San Diego County Council on Alcohol Policy.

Dan Schnur, Wilson’s communication director, maintained that the governor decides whether to sign a bill based only on public policy, not on his own financial portfolio.

“The fate of every bill that reaches the governor’s desk is decided solely on its merits,” Schnur said.

Records show Wilson did not receive any Anheuser-Busch contributions, but his 1991 economic interest statement shows he owned more than $100,000 of company stock in a blind trust administered by his close friend, San Diego attorney John G. Davies.

Schnur said there has been a “dispersement” of stock some time ago from the trust but the governor doesn’t know how much, if any, is left.

No matter how much stock he may still own, Wilson can avoid any whiff of controversy by ignoring the Sea World bill. If he doesn’t directly sign it into law or veto it, the measure then automatically becomes law without his signature July 20, 12 working days after it crossed his desk.

The Sea World loophole passed the Legislature with hardly a stir yet has fanned the flames of discord in San Diego, where opponents of the measure say the theme park is being transformed into a beer-marketing center to influence the young.

The park’s previous owner--Harcourt Brace Jovanovich--sold beer, wine and mixed drinks from food outlets and stands throughout the popular tourist destination in Mission Bay.

State law prohibited transfer of that liquor license to Anheuser-Busch when it bought the park as part of the Sea World chain in 1989. California “tied-house” restrictions prohibit any alcohol manufacturer, distiller, bottler, importer or wholesaler from engaging in “on-site” retail sales of alcoholic beverages.

Anheuser-Busch got around part of the restrictions by building a demonstration brewery at Sea World, thus allowing sale of beer and wine. But park officials say the prohibition against hard liquor has dried up half the business by convention groups using the park after-hours for private parties.

“After we acquired the park, Sea World lost over half of its convention business because . . . we couldn’t offer a full bar,” said L. Michael Cross, Sea World’s general manager. He declined to say how much business was lost except to characterize it as “meaningful.”

To get relief, Anheuser-Busch asked Assemblyman Richard Floyd (D-Carson) to carry a special tied-house exemption. Although his bill doesn’t mention Sea World by name, it applies only to a marine park with a paid annual attendance of 2 million or more and built on at least 125 acres in San Diego County.

Sea World is the only educational marine park in San Diego County, occupies 150 acres and had an attendance of 3.8 million in 1991.

“It is, I suppose, a special interest bill in that it applies to our need for the license,” conceded Cross.

“But it is not special interest in the fact that it benefits the community in terms of the convention business--people spending money in the community and putting money into the general coffers of San Diego and the state,” he said.

Alcohol policy advocates, PTA groups and Common Cause say the exemption is unjustified because Anheuser-Busch knew about the tied-house prohibitions when it bought the park. Loss of convention business should have been factored into the equation.

They say the exemption is a demonstration of power politics in Sacramento by a well-connected special interest group.

“All I hear at the Capitol is what is the harm?” said Kim Alexander of Common Cause, which opposed the measure.

“The harm is this: What kind of political system do we have when a major campaign contributor can waltz into the Capitol and ask for specific legislation tailored to meet its specific economic needs and gets it without hardly a blink of the eye?

“What do we do when our governor is faced with the question of signing a special interest bill that is so closely tailored to one company and the governor, meanwhile, has investments in that company in excess of $100,000?” she asked. “It’s not like we can have someone else sign it for him.”

Local PTA and alcohol prevention groups have also opposed the bill because they say it will further promote the “alcoholization” of Sea World.

Under Anheuser-Busch management, the park began giving free beers to adults at its temporary “Hospitality Center,” which also sports a poster of George Washington that says: “If you stopped in for a visit, he’d probably offer you a beer. . . . Beer a good part of the good life.”

Opponents also say the park’s public display of the Clydesdale horses--pulling a restored beer wagon full of Budweiser boxes--also sends a pro-beer message to children. The famed horses were stabled at Sea World during the winter; park officials now want to build permanent, year-round stalls to make the Clydesdales a year-round draw.

Also on the drawing board: A Sea World museum to show visitors the history of Anheuser-Busch.

“We’re not opposed to selling beer at Sea World,” Winston said. “But Sea World is another example of an environment that used to be purely healthy and has now become another place in our community where our children are exposed to pro-drinking messages.

“We teach our kids to say no, and then we create a world where everywhere they go, they bump into cues that says alcohol is fun, that it makes them sexy and it is cute and cuddly like the Clydesdales.”

It was exactly these changes at Sea World that prompted Sen. Lucy Killea (I-San Diego) to vote against the bill, she wrote in a June 26 letter to opponents. Killea, who has received no Anheuser-Busch contributions, was the only San Diego legislator to vote against the bill.

Killea criticized Anheuser-Busch for the “excessive marketing” of its products at Sea World, and said the distribution of free beer had “tarnished the image and tradition of this family-oriented park.

“I don’t believe that free beer or the other marketing activities are necessary or contribute in any way to the economy viability of San Diego’s tourism industry,” she wrote.

Cross said Sea World is not trying to inculcate the youth with pro-beer messages. And, he added that Anheuser-Busch, which manufacturers more than 10 brands of beer, has actually cut the number of locations where beer and wine are sold in half--from 18 to nine.

“We are not pushing beer or beer products in the park,” Cross said. “They are available to adult guests of Sea World. Adult guests over the age of 21 represented about 65% of the attendance at Sea World.”

Records show that the members of the San Diego delegation who voted for the measure during floor sessions were Sen. Wadie Deddeh (D-Bonita), Assembly members Alpert, Robert C. Frazee (R-Carlsbad) and Carol Bentley (R-El Cajon).

Not voting or absent were Sen. William Craven (R-Oceanside), Assembly members Mike Gotch (D-San Diego), Steve Peace (D-Chula Vista) and Pete Chacon (D-San Diego).