Reform Party Aiming for California in August

With a final decision expected by midweek, aides to Ross Perot said Monday that the new Reform Party will hold its nominating convention on one of two weekends in mid-August, probably in Southern California.

Although a precise site has not yet been selected, the meeting likely will be in the Los Angeles area or Orange County, Perot spokeswoman Sharon Holman said.

The organization has also settled on either the weekend before or the weekend after the Republican National Convention in San Diego, meaning the Reform Party gathering will take place either Aug. 9-11 or Aug. 16-18.

The Reform Party’s state coordinator, Platt Thompson, said the group was concentrating on looking at venues in the “Los Angeles County, Anaheim, Pasadena, Long Beach area.” Among the sites the group has looked at, Thompson said, were the Anaheim and Long Beach convention centers, the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion at the Music Center in downtown Los Angeles and Marymount College in Rancho Palos Verdes.

Perot originally intended to convene delegates of his new party on Labor Day weekend, but the date was moved up because eight states--including California, Ohio, Oregon and Virginia--require a party to name its presidential ticket before Aug. 20.

“Everything we are considering is being driven by that one factor,” Holman said. “Although some of those states were willing to make concessions for the Democrats [who hold their convention Aug. 26-29], we don’t have the same friends in the statehouses that they do.”

The Southern California locale is likely in part to accommodate the large number of reporters who will already be in the area for the GOP conclave, she said.

Perot intends to conduct the gathering largely by electronic means, including satellite television links and computer networks. Because of that, the Reform Party convention is expected to draw a relatively small number of participants, in contrast with the thousands of delegates, journalists and hangers-on who typically attend a major-party assembly.

Any Reform Party member and everyone who signed a petition to get the party on his or her state ballot qualifies to vote at the convention. Extensive mail-in voting is also under consideration, Holman said.

The party has qualified for the ballot in 15 states, with access pending in 27 others, Holman said.

So far, the Reform Party has not declared candidates for its ticket. Perot, who has repeatedly declared, “This is not about me,” likely will be the first choice of many delegates. Former Colorado Gov. Richard D. Lamm has also expressed interest in seeking the Reform nomination, if he can be assured of adequate funding to mount a credible campaign.

Last week, the Federal Election Commission ruled that Perot would be eligible for about $30 million in matching funds if he is the presidential nominee of the Reform Party. But the FEC did not rule on whether a Reform Party nominee other than Perot would be eligible, or on whether the party could use public funds for its convention, as the major parties do.

Times staff writer Peter Warren contributed to this story.