<i> A behind-the-scenes look at Orange County’s political life</i> : Barred From Running, Hill Elects to Forgive a GOP Colleague’s Debt

That’s what friends are for: Former state Sen. Frank Hill may be in a federal prison in Boron for political corruption, but he’s apparently feeling generous lately, at least toward Assemblyman Bill Morrow (R-Oceanside).

Hill, who lent Morrow nearly $100,000 more than two years ago, has recently forgiven $50,000 of that debt, Morrow acknowledged last week. Morrow had already paid “about $10,000” of that back, he said.

Morrow said Hill’s forgiveness is “not surprising” and a common occurrence among politicians with similar agendas. He said Republican Assembly Leader Jim Brulte also recently forgave him a $4,000 debt.

“These are people who want to get the Legislature out of debt because we have the same goals,” Morrow said. “We try and work together.”

Morrow said these debts are often passed back and forth and are usually not collected until someone runs for another office, which Hill is unlikely to do in the near future.

“If Frank Hill had another campaign to run for state Senate or higher office, he’d be looking for the money,” Morrow said.

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Who was that guy?: Campaign dirty tricks stole the show last week when 69th Assembly District candidates Jim Morrissey, a Republican, and his Democratic opponent, Mike Metzler, got into it during a campaign debate.

It seems two people showed up at Metzler’s Santa Ana headquarters for the campaign opening and stole some confidential documents. When Metzler’s staff tracked one of them down, he confessed, asked for forgiveness and said he was sent by Morrissey.

During the debate, Metzler asked Morrissey “what kind of moral essence” the young people of today are being taught by pushing them into such shenanigans. A backpedaling Morrissey pointed the finger in another direction.

“Before you start making wild accusations at people . . . you should get your record straight,” Morrissey said. “The gentleman you’re pointing out is not one of my staffers. . . . It’s Sen. (Rob) Hurtt’s staff.”

Hurtt, the Republican from Garden Grove, has been sharing campaign resources with Morrissey and Assemblyman Curt Pringle (R-Garden Grove). He could not be reached for comment.

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Anything for a buck: Even if Assemblyman Tom Umberg (D-Garden Grove) fails to unseat Atty. Gen. Dan Lungren, he’ll get an A-plus for his invitations to campaign fund-raisers.

A couple months ago, Umberg prompted guffaws around the Capitol with a beach party invitation that featured a photograph of the land-loving assemblyman posing in a wet suit, neon sunglasses and holding a waxed surfboard.

Now comes Umberg’s bow to the Irish--an Oct. 27 fete at Muldoon’s Irish Pub and Restaurant in Newport Beach. To herald the event, Umberg’s campaign minions have dispatched a green and gold-embossed card featuring a caricature of the lawmaker--who is of German and Swiss descent--as a leprechaun doing a jig beside a pot of gold. Inside is a verse:

There once was a lad with a vision,

To be Attorney General was his mission.

He’d gained lots of praise,

But it’s money he must raise,

So the honor of your presence we are wishin’. . .

Appropriately enough, musical entertainment will be provided by the Irish Beggarmen Band.

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Mickey for Freedom: Assemblyman Mickey Conroy, who hit the headlines this year with a bill to paddle juvenile graffiti vandals and a suit filed by a former employee that alleged sexual harassment, has never been big on political correctness.

So when the Orange Republican heard that officials at Sacramento State University had banned Young Americans for Freedom from campus, Conroy angrily cried out for free speech and weighed in on behalf of the YAFers.

“This is clearly an attempt to stifle the conservative movement on what has been historically a liberal campus,” Conroy said. “Just because you disagree with a group’s ideology doesn’t mean you can throw away the First Amendment right of freedom of speech.”

Conroy’s staff is investigating what legal recourse is available to get the group accepted on campus.

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Party shots: It’s been pretty clear for some time that Republican U.S. Senate candidate Mike Huffington won’t be getting support from one of his GOP primary opponents, former Orange County Rep. William E. Dannemeyer. The former congressman said recently that he will be voting “for the candidate who comes closest to affirming the principles of the Republican national platform. . . . It’s not Huffington.” Although he’s still thinking about it, Dannemeyer said he’ll probably vote for the American Independent Party candidate, Paul Meeuwenberg.

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Quote of the week. “It makes them sound like they come from outer space. They are hum a n beings. They are men and women. They are here for the same reasons that a lot of other folks came.” --Former HUD Secretary Jack F. Kemp, during an Orange County news conference last week, explaining why he uses the phrase “illegal immigrant” instead of “illegal alien.”

UPCOMING EVENTS

Monday: Proposition 187 will be the topic of a public forum at 7:30 p.m. at the adult center of the Saints Simon and Jude Church, 20444 Magnolia St., Huntington Beach. Supporters of the initiative have declined to participate. Information: (714) 960-6237.

Thursday: Maureen DiMarco, California’s secretary of child development and education and a candidate for state superintendent of schools, will speak at a candidates forum at 7 p.m. at The Lyceum, Room 209, at Chapman University, 386 N. Center St., Orange. Information: (714) 998-6164.

Friday: Lamar Alexander, former U.S. secretary of education, will be the guest speaker at the “30th Anniversary of the Reagan Revolution” celebration at 7 p.m. at the Hyatt Regency Irvine, 17900 Jamboree Blvd. Tickets cost $100. Information: (714) 556-8555.

Compiled by Times staff writer Len Hall, with contributions from staff writers Eric Bailey and Gebe Martinez.

Politics ’94 appears every Sunday.