Lungren Visits Men-Only Club, Draws Criticism

Atty. Gen. Dan Lungren brought his unofficial campaign for governor to San Marino on Thursday night and promptly waded into one of the thorniest issues in this posh enclave by speaking to a decades-old civic group that does not admit women as members.

Lungren’s prepared speech was about crime and punishment, but he found himself caught in San Marino’s version of the battle of the sexes when he was confronted by a female vice president of a financial firm and avowed foe of the San Marino City Club.

June Cowgill, who was admitted to the speech at San Marino High School because women are allowed at public events sponsored by the private City Club, asked Lungren if he knew about charges that the group discriminates against women. Cowgill was promptly booed by the crowd of about 180, which included less than two dozen women.

Lungren replied that he understood the club allows women at certain meetings. “I was informed there is a comparable women’s club in this community,” the front-runner for the Republican nomination said. “I don’t think I belong to any group that is all male--right now.

“I was a Boy Scout for a short period,” he added, as the audience laughed.

But critics say the Women’s Club, to which Lungren referred, is a far cry from the City Club, a 72-year-old municipal institution whose members regularly meet to discuss civic and social issues. City Club members include prosecutors, business leaders and even for a time a former MTA personnel director.

City Manager Deborah Bell cannot join, although her male predecessor was member.

“This [club] is about business,” said Diane Wittenberg, president of a Southern California Edison subsidiary who said she received no response to her application for membership last year.

The City Club also hosts public speakers, donating proceeds from those events to city schools. Past speakers include Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Gil Garcetti and Rep. James Rogan (R-Glendale).

Members said the bylaws prohibit women from joining and they don’t see that as an issue. Membership is open to all men who live within the San Marino Unified School District who are sponsored by a current member.

“Women can come to the events but they can’t be members,” President William P. Barry said. “I haven’t seen any men trying to get into the Women’s Club or the Junior League.”

But some women’s advocates say traditionally male enclaves like the San Marino City Club are different because they provide a means for social connections that often lead to business deals and jobs.

Not only do state civil rights laws forbid such male-only clubs--especially when, like the City Club, they meet in public areas--but the clubs injure themselves by not admitting women, said Elizabeth Schroeder, associate director of the Southern California American Civil Liberties Union.

“To exclude women is to cut off an important source of business and profit, and very foolish economically,” she said.

That’s part of the argument Wittenberg, a longtime San Marino resident, made when she applied to the club last year. She filed a formal application and wrote three letters, but got no response, she said.

But Wittenberg said in a recent interview the issue is also one of discrimination. “I don’t want to be a second-class citizen sitting in the back of the bus,” she said.

Members have long maintained that the club is legal.

In 1996 San Marino’s then-mayor, Bernard LeSage, resigned from the club, saying in a letter he felt his participation “encouraged or condoned the club’s discrimination.” He added: “On a personal basis, I believe it is a great group of guys.”

The somewhat subdued City Club is a far cry from posher men’s clubs. Its regular meeting place is a middle school cafeteria and members are as likely to discuss utility taxes as corporate mergers.

Club members said they had warned Lungren in advance the gender issue might come up. “I thought the attorney general handled it quite well,” said member Frederick P. Seares. Members on Thursday said they never viewed their men-only stance as hostile to women.