Hillary’s Tiff Is Soooo East Coast

Would Hillary Clinton have been booted from private clubs in Orange County for the same behavior that got her kicked out of a tony Manhattan club?

Not even close.

Here, club members and guests are treated with deference--even if they stumble a bit.

Seems the First Lady, who was at the University Club to speak at a luncheon for a women’s organization, riled a staff member when she spritzed some perfume in the air and her friend used a cell phone in the club library.

Not only would she have been welcome to do those things at the Center Club in Costa Mesa, manager Joe Gatto would have rolled out the red carpet for her, he says.

Nowhere in bylaws of the Center Club does it stipulate that a member may not spray perfume on her neck, Gatto observes, amused. And, yes, cell phones are acceptable, even in formal dining areas.

“Rules need to be flexible, even broken sometimes,” says Gatto, whose 1,000-member club has on its roster several of Orange County’s first families. “About the only thing we won’t put up with is abusive behavior.”

While strict adherence to club policy is emblematic of East Coast Clubs, leniency seems to rule at private clubs in Orange County.

“Oh, we have standards, rules and policies,” Gatto says. “But in a private club, we try to be flexible--handle all situations with decorum. I can’t believe any club would carry things so far as to insult the first lady of the United States.”

Janice Johnson of Laguna Beach knows firsthand how stuffy East Coast clubs can be. She and her husband, Roger Johnson, became members of a private club in Washington during his tenure there as chief of the General Services Administration.

Avid golfers, they joined the tony Chevy Chase Club to keep up their game. “We had to go through hoops to get into it,” Johnson says with candor. “We were interviewed twice--first Roger alone, and then both of us, at a membership cocktail party.”

They were accepted in the 200-year-old club, Johnson believes, because a variety of memberships were available. “Fortunately, there was a membership for political appointees,” she says, laughing, “because, by the time our names came up on the waiting list, we’d be dead. That’s how long it was.”

West Coast clubs are “much friendlier, more accessible,” observes Johnson, who, with her husband, belongs to the Center Club and the Pacific Club in Newport Beach.

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Like the Center Club, leniency is also the policy at Club 33 at Disneyland, the 30-year-old private sanctum designed by park patriarch Walt Disney. Located in the park’s New Orleans Square, the club has 400 members and 200 names on a four-year waiting list.

Members might be reprimanded if they’re “rowdy,” says a spokeswoman, “but we’re pretty lenient, for the most part. The only thing we do ask--and this is mostly for the summer months--is that members have regard for the dress code. No tank tops. No beachwear.”

Use of a cell phone is OK here. “Though members who are dining often take them off to a lobby area for privacy,” she says. A perfume spritz is OK too. “Though maybe a little tacky at the table.”

Attempts at club crashing are also handled gently. Occasionally, Club 33’s reservation desk receives calls from people trying to pass themselves off as members. “If I’m not sure about somebody, I ask them for their membership number,” the spokeswoman says. “And if I’m still not sure, I don’t come right out and say, ‘That’s not who you are.’ ” She proceeds with good manners and caution. “We only get those types occasionally,” she says.

The 600 members and guests of the Pacific Club in Newport Beach are treated with the “respect they deserve,” a staff member says. “For a member to offend, they would really have to push the boundaries--be drunk and abusive.

“When people come here, the nature of the club has them putting on their best behavior,” he adds. “Our biggest no-no: abuse to the staff. But that rarely happens.”

People join private clubs to enjoy good service and good food, “but it even goes beyond that,” Gatto believes. “Clubs are an extension of a member’s home. It’s really all about recognizing and serving their needs and wants.

“Rules and regulations can’t be black and white, they have to be flexible,” he says. “We are very cautious about offending members. Because, this is their club, not ours.”