Kemp Inspires Valley Delegates at Grand Old Party in San Diego

Something unexpected happened to the California delegation this week at the GOP convention in San Diego.

They shucked off the pronouncements of political doom weighing down Bob Dole’s candidacy and got excited.

“They are electrified,” said Los Angeles County Supervisor Mike Antonovich, a delegate, after a rousing morning meeting. “The delegation has been lifted up based upon the strong message their candidates have prescribed for the nation.”

It helped that California was heavily wooed by the national muckety-mucks who, on successive days, sent former Vice President Dan Quayle and vice presidential candidate Jack Kemp to galvanize the troops.

For Eleanor Ashmore of Arleta, it was Colin Powell’s speech on Monday that got her excited, especially the acknowledgment of his support for abortion rights and declaration of party tolerance of diverse views.

“Everybody I talked to feels we’ve got it on a go,” Ashmore said. “We’re very optimistic.”

Sharon Runner of Lancaster was beside herself after Elizabeth Dole’s speech Wednesday night. “I’m so excited, I forget to eat,” Runner said.

But it was clearly Kemp who raised the delegates to fever pitch. They point with pride to his California roots. “People regard him as one of us,” said Tirso del Junco, a delegate from the congressional district that includes Burbank and Glendale.

“There’s a major campaign in California,” said delegate Frank Visco of Lancaster. “Jack Kemp is key to it.”

Kemp’s personal attributes help too, many said.

“Kemp embodies both conservative views and compassion,” said George Runner, a candidate for the 36th Assembly District seat now held by GOP stalwart Pete Knight of Palmdale. “He shows conservatives don’t have to be hardhearted, like they’re portrayed.”

Whipped Into Shape

San Fernando Valley-area delegates Visco and Del Junco are both former GOP state party chairmen.

When Gov. Pete Wilson stood at the microphone Wednesday night to deliver California’s delegates to Dole, Del Junco was at his side.

As the California delegation whip, Visco wore one of the Day-Glo visors visible on the convention floor.

The whip is in charge of filling the delegation seats, making sure the right people are in them and relaying instructions from the Dole campaign to the delegates.

Visco also had to deal with the various VIPs seeking access to the floor.

He described the job as “high-level cheerleading.”

Fund Times

San Diego was a convenient convention site for the political big-spender crowd and the candidates seeking to tap their pockets.

With all that water around, high rollers could board a yacht and simply float away from the hoi polloi, as well as snoopy reporters, who were unwelcome aboard.

So one cannot be sure how much money will soon be making its way into the coffers of local legislative candidates, though some of them were on the lookout, as well as on the yachts.

Assembly candidate John Geranios, running to replace Republican James Rogan in Burbank-Glendale, said fund-raising was on his convention agenda. Assemblywoman Paula L. Boland (R-Granada Hills), who’s running for the state Senate, said she did a little fund-raising in San Diego too, a common practice at gatherings thick with open checkbooks.

But Rogan said he didn’t hit anyone up for a contribution at the gathering.

“Not this week,” he said. “I’m not tacky.”

Rogan did, however, amass a cache of business cards for calls later.

What’s the difference?

“People should get to know you before asking them for money,” Rogan said. “I’d rather have supporters than donors.”

Unconventional

The most unlikely VIP guests on the convention floor: a tie between actress Bo Derek and presidential aide George Stephanopoulos.

Oddest corporate freebie: a box of Kraft macaroni and cheese handed out to delegates and the media.

Jack Kemp’s Valley connection: “I drove to the Valley,” Kemp said, referring to the days when, in his youth, he drove a truck for his father’s company.

United in Name Only

Boland’s bill to make it easier for the Valley to secede from Los Angeles appears to be causing confusion . . . and more.

The bill, in short, would eliminate the City Council’s power to veto a secession vote by Valley residents.

In a news release issued Wednesday, Bob Scott, past president of the United Chambers of Commerce of the San Fernando Valley, said his organization supports the bill but is willing to back a call by state Senate President Pro Tem Bill Lockyer to launch a $1.2-million study on the effects of a secession before a vote takes place.

The chamber had long opposed any amendments to the bill and Scott described the position as a “definite departure from their prior standoff position.”

Eight hours later, Bob Meyler and Richard Leyner, two chamber leaders, issued their own release, saying that Scott’s statement was “unauthorized” and “inaccurate.”

They said they would only support the study if the plan is amended to allow residents throughout the city to vote on a Valley secession.

In an interview, Scott acknowledged that there has been “some confusion” on the chamber’s position. But he added: “Leyner is not allowed to speak” for the chamber.

Leyner returned fire in an interview, saying that Scott “doesn’t have the authority to send out a press release.”

Power Failure

The hot issue before the Los Angeles City Council this week was whether to approve a proposal by Mayor Richard Riordan to eliminate the council’s authority to overturn planning decisions made by the Board of Zoning Appeals.

The proposal came from the mayor’s Development Reform Committee, which Riordan formed to think up ways to streamline the planning process.

The measure would give the Board of Zoning Appeals the final say on such decisions as liquor licensing, imposing restrictions on bars and restaurants and permitting cellular towers, among other matters.

But the council discussion eventually turned to another Riordan plan: the election of an independent citizens panel that would rewrite the city charter and place its recommendations directly on the ballot. That is when things got interesting.

Council members were clearly opposed to the measure because it would diminish their power.

In private, some members made the point that when Riordan offered support for the charter reform effort, he said it was because he wanted to give residents more control over the way the city works.

Yet they argued that the proposal offered by Riordan’s reform committee would reduce citizens’ voice in planning issues.

Councilman Nate Holden, an opponent of the charter reform effort, was not shy about making this point loudly. He jumped to his feet to criticize what he called Riordan’s hypocrisy.

“Who is talking from both sides of his mouth?” Holden exclaimed.

In response, a Riordan aide said it was unfair to connect the two questions.

“Each of these issues deserves its own debate and thoughtful action,” the spokesman said.

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QUOTABLE: “I asked myself, ‘Do I want to be here sitting with a future president or over there with Pete Wilson?’ ”

Republican delegate Clarita Gustafson, on meeting Assemblyman James Rogan

Hill-Holtzman reported from San Diego and Martin from Los Angeles.