Race, Welfare Reform Join Economy as Central Issues : Politics: Lompoc voices echo national sentiment. Some pin hopes on family values, others on a strong President.

By MARIA L. La GANGA

Nov. 6, 1995 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

LOMPOC, Calif. —

They’re talking about their greatest worries here in the Valley of the Flowers, the things they think about when they awaken in the night, their fears for themselves, their children, their country.

Bonita Mullis, 42, who works three jobs and cleans houses on the side, starts out talking about welfare reform and ends up discussing race.

Adrienne Davis, 40, who runs a nutrition program for senior citizens, starts out talking about the future of our children and ends up discussing race.

Becky Warren, a 30-year-old housewife with three young children and a dentist husband, begins by reflecting on racial tension and ends up--angry, perplexed and terribly worried--ultimately talking about the complicated interplay of race and opportunity.

“My husband going to dental school at Loma Linda University, he was the minority. He had to pay for his own schooling. Others got it paid for because they weren’t white.”

A pause. Her voice lowers. She swings a little harder in the playground of La Canada Elementary School, cradling newborn Tyler, awaiting the end of soccer practice for eldest son Garrett, 6. “But I’m half Native American. I got help with my education. If it hadn’t been there, I don’t know if I would have gone to school.”

Three years ago it was simply “the economy, stupid,” looming above America like a dark cloud, shaping the election that sent Bill Clinton to the White House. Today, with the 1996 presidential election 12 months away, economic uncertainty shares center stage with fervent calls for welfare reform and fears of racial tension, according to both national poll results and extensive interviews conducted by The Times in this fairly typical American town

O.J. Simpson has been acquitted of a double murder after an arduous trial that focused as much on race as on crime. Hundreds of thousands of African American men have met in Washington. Government reports contend that the U.S. economy is much improved; workers look at their lives and argue otherwise.

These are the things they’re talking about in the verdant Lompoc Valley, a working-class answer to nearby Santa Barbara and a good, if slightly wavy, mirror of the California consciousness.

Major Elements

The major elements of California are here: landmarks that are social, political and actual. There are rolling hills, morning fog and vast agricultural fields; nearby an Air Force base, a prison, a mission and a beach.

The ethnic breakdown is strikingly similar to the state as a whole. Voter registration and turnout generally parallel the totals for California. While Lompoc runs a little more conservative than the state, independent-minded voters have twice elected as mayor a well-respected feminist who is a vegetarian and a Democrat to boot.

Clinton carried this former temperance colony in 1992, albeit just barely. Republicans then won the vote here in the 1994 statewide and congressional elections. Chances are that whoever wins the presidential election in 1996 will have to perform well in graceful Lompoc--with its turn-of-the-century, two-story downtown, its 26 murals, its 48 churches--and in scores of municipalities like it nationwide.

Just listen to Lompoc--to the diners at Hi Let’s Eat! and the shoppers at the Farmers Market, to the faithful at the First Presbyterian Church, the hefty dads in big brown aprons barbecuing beef and chicken to raise funds for Cub Scout Pack 2103, to the parents at Thursday afternoon soccer practice:

“I just wish somebody strong would come in, like Kennedy in the ‘60s,” said an anxious Greg Axline, 38--city worker, youth soccer coach and father of two boys. “Someone people would back so much that he could make some good changes on behalf of the nation. Someone who can take action, who the people can back; an honest, hard-working, country-type of person. Someone who is not always bickering. . . . You need a real leader to get the job done. I don’t see that now.”

There is a certain complicated code in use when earnest Americans speak of their fears, a language illustrating how interrelated our problems are. A cry about crime is likely to mask great fear for the future of our children.

“Family values” does double and triple duty--as a graspable name for a larger sense that something has gone wrong with society in general, as the vague description for a host of anxieties that seem, for some, to defy explanation.

“What’s on my mind? Family values,” said Phil Winans, 60, between jobs and dining with friends at the Lompoc Senior Nutrition Center’s weekday $2 lunch. “I believe if you could give men jobs so they could bring home enough money to adequately support their family . . . you can go to work, go home, go to the grocery store together, have dinner together, and there’s pride.”

Winans is among the youngest of diners in the cavernous Farm House Bingo Hall on North I Street; Mike Ball is the grand old man, a 97-year-old whose recent license renewal will allow him to drive until he turns 100. (“They asked me: ‘Why do you wear glasses?’ I told them: ‘To read the fine print, you jackass.’ ”) With four children and 25 grandchildren, Ball also worries about family breakdown, speaking fondly of a wife who “knew how to handle children. She was a genuine human being.”

But first he wants to talk about the need for welfare reform, about how it angers him, after his long work life, to see others taking advantage of a system designed to offer temporary help, not permanent pay. “I came here in 1916 from Alaska,” he said over Swiss steak and potatoes au gratin. “I thought this was a pretty nice place. But the people [on welfare] are so lax. They take no pride at all. They expect people to do things for them.”

“Welfare costs the government a lot of money,” added Al Poe, 74, a buddy of Ball’s at the lunch program. Poe still works two jobs, one as a crossing guard, the other as a security guard. Wife Jewel, 73, baby-sits and cleans houses.

“A lot of those people [on welfare] should be working. I’ve never been unemployed. Hard work never hurt anybody,” Poe said. “It just makes you tired. You sleep better. . . . I never want to retire. I want to work all my life.”

Echoed Feelings

A Times Poll released Sunday of 1,426 people nationwide echoed Lompoc residents’ indictment of the welfare system. Twice as many of those surveyed said they think that poor people who receive too much public assistance are a greater problem for the country than rich people who don’t pay their fair share of taxes. Of the respondents, 72% said they believe poor women often bear children so they can receive more welfare money.

There is a pervasive--but erroneous--belief here that Lompoc is home to a larger chunk of families receiving public assistance than any other community in Santa Barbara County--a view that never fails to anger Beverly Littlejohn, who heads the local office of the state Department of Social Services.

“Coming from San Bernardino, where our welfare caseloads were growing 20% a year, I hear people say that welfare’s increasing here, and I say: ‘Uh-uh.’ . . . Santa Maria has the largest caseload,” Littlejohn said. “Aid to Families With Dependent Children is slightly decreasing in Lompoc.”

Still, Jesus Valencia, 44, is typical of local sentiment when he complains about how “very easy” it is for people to get a government handout. He doesn’t want welfare totally scratched--he thinks it’s fine for those who really need it--but his overall view is an angry one: “They get the food stamps, welfare, Medicare,” said this recent Mexican immigrant and restaurant owner. “They no have to work. I work from 7 in the morning until 9 or 10 at night, seven days a week.”

A belief in work as well-nigh sacrament is what causes so many residents of Lompoc to rank welfare among the most pressing issues facing the nation today.

“People here just want to work,” said Mayor Joyce Howerton, who is struggling to diversify her city’s economy. “We want to bring small, clean cottage industry here so people can work just one job.”

More Out of Work

Unemployment here is a full percentage point higher than the state as a whole. Vandenberg Air Force Base, the region’s largest employer, has lost some 7,000 skilled positions since its heyday more than a decade ago.

Mullis--pausing from one of her 3 1/2 jobs--says she has never been without work--even during her short stint on welfare, a time when she was pregnant and had been left by her then-husband.

From her vantage point, the government’s system of public assistance just does not work, and she offers proof. Her 13-year-old son recently needed dental work, care she simply could not afford. She applied for Medi-Cal and was turned down.

The government’s explanation: The income from her full-time job as assistant manager of Old Town Antiques and her part-time jobs as waitress and bartender--plus the unreported cash she receives doing occasional housekeeping jobs, which she was honest enough to mention--put her $8 over the limit to qualify for assistance.

“I was close to tears,” Mullis said. “Then this Mexican woman next to me said she’d been on welfare 28 years. She says: ‘You just lie to them. You never tell them about money that doesn’t get reported to the government.’

“I didn’t know what to do,” Mullis said, still breathless with indignation over both refusal and revelation. “Should I slap her or shake her hand? . . . You know, one day a week a church [in town] gives out food. Everyone in the line is Filipino or Mexican. Are they the only ones who know how to work the system?”

There it is: race, the overriding concern of our culture. Of the scores of women and men interviewed in Lompoc, racial tension and discord surfaced as a major concern more often than any other.

According to The Times Poll, 97% of all people surveyed consider U.S. race relations a problem; nearly half of those said they believe the problem to be a major one.

For some in Lompoc, the issue is self-interest. Young Robert Wurster, who wants to be a doctor, voices an oft-heard complaint as he peddles pumpkins and other produce at a pre-Halloween Farmers Market on Ocean Avenue, the Lompoc main drag.

His father, he says, worked for everything he got. His grandfather, the very man who grew the produce Wurster sells this overcast afternoon, did the same.

“I was born into an upper-middle-class white family,” said the junior college student. “I think everyone should have the same opportunity. Just because someone is from a different race with the same qualifications, they shouldn’t be picked for a job over me.”

In Room SS6 at Lompoc High School, the assignment for students in teacher Kevin Hicks’ honors government class on the chilly day before Halloween was to answer the following question in their journals:

“Do you feel the University of California should reverse its decision to end affirmative action, which dropped race and gender-based admissions and hiring? Why or why not?”

So it’s not surprising that Barry Jordan, 17 and poised to vote for the first time a year from now, should mention race and affirmative action when asked about his top concerns. “I don’t think affirmative action should be used for admissions. It’s really reverse discrimination, discrimination against people who aren’t minorities.”

Hicks himself rates racial tension among the issues that trouble him most these days, but the 34-year-old teacher takes a different tack from his student.

When Hicks looks out at his sharp young charges, women and men of all ethnic backgrounds, he can rouse a little hope that people ultimately can get along. But his worries take over when he thinks about the Simpson verdict and the “Million Man March,” when he sees how “we’re fragmenting and separating into different groups.”

It’s healthy, he agrees, to recognize cultural differences, but “too much leads to tension and problems. . . . I’m very concerned that we’re so accepting of violence, but what bothers me more is these underlying racial tensions.”

By contrast, Adrienne Davis believes Lompoc’s youth would benefit from a little ethnic culture. Davis, an African American mother of three, said: “I’d like to see more ethnic places for kids to go.”

As an example, she says, “black movies don’t come here.”

Davis considers youth to be her No. 1 concern. But racism is a close second, especially now. The Simpson trial and ensuing furor “didn’t help any. He was guilty as sin. But his peers found him innocent.”

Lompoc is hailed as a great place to raise children, a safe place to retire, a place where housing remains affordable and residents volunteer for everything from the Future Farmers of America to local commissions. The weather’s great, the views are lovely, the ocean is an easy bike ride away.

Few Good Jobs

The sore spot is economic opportunity; for a city as fond of work as this, good jobs are few and far between. They talk about it at Lompoc High, where Stacy Romain, 17, says she plans to go away to college--and never come back.

They talk about it at Coffee Beans and Things, where the “Romeos” meet three times a week to solve the world’s problems--a half dozen or so coffee-sippers and self-proclaimed Retired Old Men Eating Out whose ranks include three former mayors, a school psychologist and the owner of a floor-covering business.

“The opportunities in this part of California for high-level jobs are rapidly disappearing,” said Richard Jacoby, 66, an attorney who once served as mayor. “The base offered a lot of high-level jobs. Now they’re $4.50-an-hour jobs.”

They talk about it at Craft-Master Awards, a small trophy business, where Liza Wells, 33, and Cheryl Penca, 37, are holding down the fort. Wells’ father was laid off twice in the last year from high-paying jobs at Hughes Aircraft Co. “I thought he was going to die of heartbreak,” she said. Penca herself used to work as a civilian calibration technician at Vandenberg until she was laid off four years ago.

“I don’t believe the economy is improving,” said Penca, who manages the trophy business her mother owns. “When I was laid off in 1991, I had high job qualifications. I looked for a year. There’s nothing available.”

Penca blames government mismanagement for the economic uncertainty in her life, for the fear she has about scraping up enough money to send daughter Amber to college. The country, she contends, hit bottom a while ago, crawled back up a bit and was knocked down again--by government.

“I want that college education [for Amber]. . . . She’s an honor-roll student. We want the best we can possibly give her, but in this economy. . . .” Her voice trails off.

Penca thinks America needs to speak up, to say that ultimately we’re tired of all this, of too much welfare and not enough jobs, of too many problems and not enough hope. Penca thinks we need to give those who would presume to run the country one very simple message:

“You’re gonna have to do something.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

About This Series

What’s on the mind of Americans one year before the presidential election? In this series, The Times takes a detailed look at the attitudes and anxieties--as well as the alienation--that can be expected to shape the ’96 campaign.

* Sunday: The Times Poll probes the views of more than 1,400 citizens from across the country on a range of political, social and economic issues.

* Today: Extensive interviews in the city of Lompoc in California’s central coastal region offer a glimpse of the type of concerns voters will expect candidates to address.

* Tuesday: More so than most democracies, U.S. elections are marked by non-participation. Who are those who have given up on voting and why?

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Grass-Roots California

There’s a prison here, a military base and vast agricultural fields. There’s also morning fog, rolling hills and an independent-minded electorate. In short, many of the elements of California are in evidence. The ethnic breakdown is similar. Voter turnout and registration parallel the state’s. Bottom line: Whoever becomes our next president will likely have to perform well in Lompoc.

MILEAGE TO LOMPOC

Sacramento: 350

San Francisco: 285

Yosemite: 290

Fresno: 190

Bakersfield: 155

Santa Barbara: 55

Los Angeles: 145

San Diego: 260

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LOMPOC

Incorporated: 1888

Pronunciation: (Lom-poke)

Unemployment (current):

Lompoc: 8.8%

Califorina: 7.8%

U.S.: 5.5%

Median Annual Household Income:

Lompoc: $31,702

California: $35,798

U.S.: $28,906

Current population: 41,093

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MEANING: Lompoc, which means “shell mound,” was the name of a Chumash Indian rancheria, probably dubbed for a shell mound found at the site. Shell mounds mark the campsites of prehistoric nomadic Native Americans.

FIRST SETTLERS: Chumash Indians and their predecessors lived in the region for nearly 10,000 years before the first Spaniards, who settled nearby in 1787 with the establishment of La Purisima Mission.

DRY DAYS: The Lompoc Valley Land Company was formed in 1874 by W.W. Broughton of Santa Cruz, a newspaper editor and anti-liquor advocate, who wanted to turn Lompoc into a temperance colony. By-laws were explicit: “No vinous, malt, spiritous or other intoxicating liquors shall be manufactured or sold upon any portion of the Lompoc and Mission Viejo Ranchos . . . “ Feelings ran so strong that a group of women activists, upon learning of a bootleg liquor operation, lassoed the building that housed the still and dragged it down the street. The incident is memorialized in a mural on the north wall of the Lompoc Sleep Shop.

DOING BUSINESS: Vandenberg Air Force Base, created as a test and launch site for missiles and satellites, is the area’s largest employer, with 8,011 military and civilian workers. The Lompoc Valley is the site of the world’s largest and purest deposit of diatomaceous earth, which is rock composed of chalky algae fossils and used in insulation, ceramics and filtering materials; two mining companies employ more than 500 workers. Lompoc is known as the Valley of the Flowers because it is a major supplier of flower seed; at its peak in the 1950s and ‘60s it produced 70% of the world’s flower seed.

DISASTERS: Site of the worst peacetime naval disaster in U.S. history, when seven destroyers headed from San Francisco to San Diego in 1923 crashed on the rocks at Pt. Honda, killing 23. Site of California’s greatest train wreck, when a train carrying scores of Shriners taking their annual trip from Los Angeles to San Francisco in 1919 crashed, killing 23.

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ETHNIC BREAKDOWN

(1990 Census)

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Lompoc California White 60.6% 57.2% Latino 26.8% 25.8% Black 6.6% 7.0% Asian or Pacific Islander 5.0% 9.1% American Indian, Eskimo, Aleut 0.9% 0.6% Other 0.2% 0.2%

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VOTER REGISTRATION

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Lompoc California Democrat 46% 49% Republicans 39% 37% American Indeptendent 2% 2% Green 0.2% 0.6% Libertarian 0.3% 0.5% Peace and Freedom 0.4% 0.4% Miscellaneous 0.6% 0.4% Decline to state 11% 10%

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VOTING HISTORY

1994 California Vote

Governor

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Lompoc California Wilson (R) 62.9% 55.2% Brown (D) 32.5% 40.6% Turnout* 58.5% 58.8%

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‘94 Dist. 22 Congressional Race

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Seastrand (R) Capps (D) Lompoc 54.8% 42.3% California 49.2% 48.5%