Alone in the Crowd : Man Runs a Bush-Quayle Campaign Office in Black Community

The sluggish economy and slow post-riot recovery means that no grand opening in the Crenshaw business district goes unnoticed these days.

The newest storefront enterprise is drawing unusual attention, however.

It is a Bush-Quayle reelection campaign headquarters in the middle of a black community that has long been considered one of the surest Democratic strongholds in Los Angeles.

“I skidded on my brakes the first time I saw the place. I couldn’t believe it,” said Dolores Spears, a union representative who lives nearby.

“The audacity to put that up in this neighborhood,” said Phillip Barnett, a pest control company supervisor who works across the street from the new headquarters.

The campaign office is being run by 88-year-old Richard Jones. He opened it Sept. 26 after spending $4,000 of his retirement savings on rent and supplies for the office.

GOP leaders say the presidential campaign headquarters is a first for Southwest Los Angeles.

“He’s courageous,” said Bill Fahey, chairman of the Los Angeles County Bush-Quayle campaign.

Lorelei Kinder, executive director of the state Republican Party, said: “I hope when I’m 88 I have the same courage of my convictions that he does.”

Jones acknowledged that the President is unlikely to collect many votes in his neighborhood. Voter registration rolls for the county’s 2nd Supervisorial District--which includes the Crenshaw district--list 474,435 Democrats and 88,811 Republicans.

“Most black people are Democrats,” Jones said. “But I feel that in a country with two political parties, we should be part of both.”

He said he was too young to vote when he first sampled politics as a precinct captain in Chicago 70 years ago. As an adult, he was a campaign volunteer in Detroit, where he worked as an insurance company manager.

Jones moved to Los Angeles in 1956 after a blizzard blew him out of Michigan.

“It had snowed so hard that all the cars were covered,” he said. “I went out to get my car and shoveled and shoveled. Then I found out I’d dug out the wrong car. I said: ‘I’m getting out of here.’ ”

In Los Angeles, he worked 12 years as an executive assistant to Mayor Sam Yorty. During that period, Jones helped open City Hall to minorities--including African-Americans who were appointed to city commissions, he said.

“I had charge from City Hall to San Pedro. Those were my best years,” Jones said. “My office was three doors up from Sam Yorty. I liked that. Those years were a lot of fun.”

Jones draws stares when he wears his Bush-Quayle button or his “Reelect the President” hat on the half-hour bus ride from his home in the West Adams district to the campaign headquarters at 4710 Crenshaw Blvd.

He brushes off criticism from Bill Clinton supporters, who have several nearby campaign offices--including one at 4209 W. Washington Blvd.

“Things are bad on the street--things are tough, I admit that,” Jones said. “But let’s look at other things. Today we’re not living under the threat of the atomic bomb. Nations that have never talked before are sitting down and talking and there’s a chance for peace.”

More important, he said, a show of black support for Republican candidates could mean that more attention will be paid black communities when Democrats are out of power.

Some in the Crenshaw district applaud the Bush-Quayle headquarters.

“I’ve heard a lot of comments about it being here. But I say: ‘Hey, the Democrats are just as bad,’ ” said Zaid Tarig, who operates a bookshop on the boulevard.

“It’s wonderful that office is here. A true two-party system needs African-Americans in both parties,” said Steve Hamilton, a Republican political consultant working in the Crenshaw district on county supervisorial candidate Diane Watson’s campaign.

Still, few residents have stopped in for Bush bumper stickers or for brochures that outline the Republican Administration position.

“I don’t need to. I’ve lived it the past 12 years,” shrugged one of them, computer analyst Opal White.

“After 12 years, the Republicans have everybody around here crying,” said Randy Brown, co-owner of a car-detailing shop across from the reelection headquarters.

Plenty of outsiders have come to Jones’ office, though. The reason: The office number is the only Bush-Quayle telephone listed for Los Angeles.

Republican Robert Durio, a customs officer from Playa del Rey, was happy to find the place.

“Good for you,” he told Jones as he scooped up campaign materials.