POLITICS ’94 : <i> A behind-the-scenes look at Orange County’s political life</i> : 2 Broken Legs Haven’t Slowed Down Assembly Candidate Irv Pickler

Still running: Anaheim City Councilman Irv Pickler says his recent car crash may have left him temporarily disabled with two broken legs, but it hasn’t slowed down his campaign for the Democratic nomination for the 68th Assembly District seat now held by Republican Curt Pringle of Garden Grove.

Pickler, who faces Linda Kay Rigney in the June 7 Primary, will be in a rehabilitation clinic for about a week. After that he’ll use a wheelchair for a few weeks to get him around to campaign events.

“I will not walk precincts, I can tell you that,” Pickler joked. “But I’m going to raise money and do things to get elected. . . . When I’m on the phone, I function pretty well.”

Pringle said Pickler may be at a disadvantage because he won’t be able to attend as many meetings as he used to. “The flip side is he could be sitting at home, making fund-raising phone calls all day,” he said.

Rigney, 50, said Pickler “might get some sympathy being in a wheelchair, but it points out he’s 72 years old.”

*

Helping hands: Even before Sheriff Brad Gates’ one-time opponent in the June election was disqualified, he was not considered to be in political peril.

But that didn’t keep him from accepting campaign money from his own workers, according to the last campaign finance statements filed with the registrar of voters. Of the 181 contributors listed on the sheriff’s last campaign statement, 34 were employees of his own department--nearly 20% of those who contributed. He reported raising $59,000, with $4,250 from his employees.

There are no laws prohibiting the solicitation of campaign contributions from employees of elected officials, but local political reform activist Shirley Grindle said the practice, at the very least, places employees in an awkward position with the boss.

“I think they are just asking for employee problems,” Grindle said. “You’re putting employees between a rock and a hard place.”

*

Write on: You didn’t request it. You probably never read it. But if you’re a taxpayer, you paid for it. It’s the newsletters sent to you by your congressman.

The National Taxpayers Union Federation reports that last year, Orange County’s six congressmen stayed well below the House’s self-imposed limit of 67 cents per each address in their districts.

But the watchdog taxpayers group says the House limit is too high and congressmen should adopt the Senate’s limit of 15 cents per address. Had the House imposed the same limits as the Senate, the $33.5-million mailing bill “would have been slashed by at least 45%,” according to the group, which suggests incumbents use the franking privilege as a cheap way to campaign.

Orange County congressmen also scored well in the group’s annual “Taxpayers’ Friend Award.” Among the top 10 were Rep. Ed Royce (R-Fullerton), who tied for third place for voting 88% of the time to reduce or control federal spending, and Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Huntington Beach), who tied for fourth place with an 87% voting record.

*

Frankly Spending

Constituent mail spending by Orange County’s six Republican representatives during 1993:

Cost Spending per Total above Representative Rank address cost Senate limit Dana Rohrabacher, Hunt. Beach 48 $0.57 $134,926 $86,938 Christopher Cox, Newport Beach 59 0.54 131,933 82,631 Ed Royce, Fullerton 96 0.48 101,644 59,009 Ron Packard, Oceanside 204 0.33 79,870 29,987 Jay C. Kim, Diamond Bar 219 0.31 59,426 20,211 Robert K. Dornan, Garden Grove 276 0.23 38,726 3,720

Source: National Taxpayers Union Foundation

Endorsement withdrawn: Candidate Mike Farber, one of six Democrats hoping to unseat Rep. Robert K. Dornan (R-Garden Grove) in the 46th Congressional District, actually had one of his primary opponents on his side for a while.

Farber’s campaign last January received a $1,000 check signed by businesswoman Madelene Arakelian, who later joined Farber and the four others who are seeking the Democratic nomination.

“I am delighted to have the financial support and confidence of anyone, especially from my opponents,” Farber said in a recent statement.

Campaign consultant David Vaporean, who was fired by Farber and is now running Arakelian’s campaign, said he and Arakelian asked that the check be returned but that the Farber campaign has refused.

“Any campaign with any integrity would have returned the check,” Vaporean said.

*

UPCOMING EVENTS

* Today: The Human Rights Campaign Fund’s Orange County Federal Club hears from Mel White, head of the Cathedral of Hope in Dallas, one of the largest gay and lesbian churches in the country, at the Four Seasons Hotel, 12:30 p.m..

* Monday: John H. Taylor, director of the Richard Nixon Library and Birthplace, talks about his recent trip to Moscow with the former President, at the library, 7:30 p.m.

* Wednesday: Haydee V. Tillotson holds a fund-raiser at Geckos Restaurant in Huntington Beach beginning at 6 p.m.

* Wednesday: Orange County Young Republicans hear from Republican candidates in the 70th Assembly District race at South Coast Westin Hotel, 6:30 p.m.

* Friday: Tax protest at the Santa Ana Main Branch post office at 3101 Sunflower Ave., from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m.

* Friday: California Democrats begin their three-day convention at the Westin Bonaventure Hotel in Los Angeles.

Compiled by Times political writer Gebe Martinez, with contributions from staff writers Kevin Johnson and Faye Fiore.

Politics ’94 appears every Sunday.