Ire Sets Tone at Economic Summit in O.C.
One by one, business leaders took the podium Friday at Orange County’s “economic summit” to reiterate a common frustration: “California is adversarial to business.”
That statement by Larry Velie, president of Velie Circuits Inc. in Costa Mesa, won the biggest applause of the day from the standing-room-only audience.
“Alongside the picture of Mayor (Tom) Bradley welcoming people to LAX,” Velie added, “there should be a skull and crossbones warning, ‘No businesses.’ ”
Organized by Assemblyman Gil Ferguson (R-Newport Beach), the conference was an outgrowth of President Clinton’s pre-inauguration summit in Little Rock, Ark., last month. Assembly Speaker Willie Brown, who made a brief appearance at the Orange County session, encouraged legislators to hold regional “mini-summits” in preparation for a statewide summit Feb. 16 and 17 in Los Angeles.
About 200 Orange County business people attended the six-hour event, hosted by Fluor Corp. at the engineering company’s Irvine headquarters. Two dozen speakers were allotted 10 minutes each to vent their complaints and offer advice to the six Orange County Assembly members present--although more venting than advising took place.
San Francisco legislator Brown promised in his speech that ideas materializing from the summits will be discussed during a special session this year focusing on California’s economy. After accepting thanks from his more conservative counterparts in a display of unity, Brown scurried off to visit three other “mini-summits” later in the day across Southern California.
Chapman University economists James Doti and Esmael Adibi set the tone for the rest of the event with charts showing the state’s increasing workers’ compensation payments and growing tax load on businesses and individuals.
According to the university’s statistics, workers’ compensation payments more than doubled nationally from 1980 to 1989--but more than tripled in California. And the state ranks ninth in personal tax burden per capita but is next to last in spending on highways.
“I bet there is not a person here who is not discussing the possibility of moving their business out of the state,” ventured Doti, who is also president of the university in Orange.
Another speaker, a member of the real estate panel, affirmed that over-regulated businesses “are voting with their feet.” Don Moe, a vice president at Santa Margarita Co., went on to say that “well-intended” environmental laws “have become tools for radical slow-growthers.”
Roger W. Johnson, chairman and chief executive officer of Western Digital Corp. in Irvine, brought along a form letter he had received from the governor of Kentucky urging him to move the company to that state. Other business leaders said they, too, are inundated with correspondence from other states offering tax incentives for relocation.
Johnson, who raised his fellow Republicans’ eyebrows by supporting Clinton in the 1992 presidential race, implored the Assembly members to “set aside ideological differences” when addressing the economy. “This is not a partisan issue,” he said.
His comment sparked the most spirited exchange of the day--and one, ironically, that had little to do with the matter at hand.
Assemblywoman Doris Allen (R-Cypress) coolly reminded Johnson that when she solicited his help during her campaign, he refused, citing her pro-life stand. Seemingly taken aback, Johnson called her remark “out of context and out of taste.” Both sides initially garnered some applause, though when Allen attempted to continue the debate the audience hissed and yelled at her, “Shut up.”
Others took good-natured jabs at politicians. Safi Qureshey, president and chief executive of technology company AST Research Inc. in Irvine, said: “I’ve never been to Sacramento, and I have no desire to go there. The only reason I can justify being here today is that it’s local and I could ride-share with Roger Johnson.”
Qureshey suggested the creation of one central agency to help businesses sift through all of the regulations and permits required by the state: “We need a singular entity for businesses and government to interface.”
Half of the Assembly members headed for the door after the high-tech panel’s stint. The next speaker, Earl Rippee, chairman of First Fidelity Thrift & Loan in Irvine, wryly noted, “I’ll give my talk to the two legislators still here.”
Rippee complained about new regulations that make real estate loans tough to give or to get. “Basically, we have been asked to cease making construction loans,” he said. “And we have no way of appealing. If I were sentenced to death, I could go to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, and they’d let me off, I’m sure.”
Only three legislators returned after the lunch break--Ferguson and the two assemblymen who helped him organize the conference: Mickey Conroy (R-Orange) and Tom Umberg (D-Garden Grove).
The meeting wound down with a second heated exchange between an Assembly member and a panelist. Barbara Brown, president of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, elicited angry comments from Ferguson after she called for a speedier state budget process.
“We could raise your taxes $10 million and pass a budget,” Ferguson said. “You should be applauding us for standing up (against that).”
Times staff writer Anne Michaud contributed to this report.
