A Mouse in the Political Works

It’s a long way from Anaheim to the halls of Sacramento, a long time between December and May. You can see how a freak accident on Christmas Eve might feel less compelling five months after, how the slip-ups behind it might lose their capacity to incite political outrage.

Also, they’re very nice people, the Disneyland people. Certainly, they’d do anything in their power to take back the mistakes that killed poor Luan Phi Dawson that afternoon. So why does the ambivalence that’s hit the state capitol in the aftermath of the Disneyland tragedy have such a fishy, more-here-than-meets-the-eye feel?

At issue is an attempt--the sixth since the mid-1960s--to force California’s behemoth theme park industry to submit to state oversight. This is one of only 12 states where theme parks aren’t subject to state inspections or required to open their accident records. Meanwhile, California leads the nation in deaths on thrill rides.

For 30-odd years, the theme park industry, led by Disney, has thwarted every attempt by consumers to have better scrutiny; theme park deaths are actually rare, but it turns out that there are many more accidents than the parks let on. The Anaheim Fire Department, for instance, logged 50 traumatic injuries, 43 falls and four instances of serious electrical shock at Disneyland in records of its 1998 medical calls.

So Assemblyman Tom Torlakson, a Democrat from Northern California, decided after the Dawson fatality to make another run at state scrutiny. For months, it seemed his AB 850 was perking along nicely; its first committee hearing is set for this week.

But behind the scenes, there was this whiff of power maneuvering discreetly, a feeling that only grew as it became clear that, accident or no accident, the industry wasn’t going to go gently into regulation-ville. For example: Last week, while many state legislators were in Washington, D.C., for a visit, Disney feted them at the swank restaurant Galileo. And, for example: Last month, Disney Vice President Jeffrey Schwartz hosted a $1.2-million fund-raiser for Assembly Democrats’ war chest honoring powerful Speaker Antonio Villaraigosa at Disney Studios.

And, for example: In an incident that smacked to some of behind-the-scenes access, Assembly Democratic Majority Leader Kevin Shelley acknowledged to a Times reporter that he brought Disney’s Schwartz into the Assembly’s private, members-only lounge--a sanctum supposedly closed to lobbyists and supplicants. The two were said to have chatted with Torlakson, who was inside, snacking on yogurt; Shelley is to vote on AB 850 in its debut before the Labor and Employment Committee this week.

And, for example: In a 10-minute interview with me Friday on theme parks, Assemblywoman Carole Migden, another swing vote on the committee, used the word “balance” six times and railed like a free-market Republican against “unworkable” consumer protections that might “drive the parks underground.” Which would be one thing if Migden really were a free-market Republican; in fact, she’s a leftist Democrat in the seat that used to belong to Willie Brown.

And Migden wasn’t the only one chanting the Disney mantra of “balance.” The day before, an aide to Villaraigosa told The Times’ Nancy Hill-Holtzman that the speaker wanted “to work with [Torlakson] to find a balanced compromise.” Which sounds nice, but some theme parks--Knott’s Berry Farm, for instance--have already said they see nothing unbalanced about open safety records and inspections. It’s mainly Disney, with its neurotic fixation on image, that resents the public’s eyes.

By Saturday, the bill--which started out as a mandate for annual state inspections and public reporting of ride-related injuries--had been through the wringer in the name of balance. Finally, after amending it into what one personal injury lawyer called “an amusement park insulation bill,” Torlakson gave up on consensus and restored it to close to its original form. At last word, it would require state certification for park-employed inspectors, a three-level system of inspections and immediate public reporting to the state of all serious accidents and injuries requiring more than first aid. Also being worked out was an amendment that would lay out “rider responsibility” without changing existing liability law.

And who knows how it will finally turn out? Maybe the suspicious minds are wrong; maybe a win-win law will prevail. Still, this is the industry that, last week, brought you Knott’s Berry Farm riots, a Universal Studios kiddie ride simulating point-blank executions and the chairman of Disney referring to his old protege as “the end of my pompom.” Hard to see the coming ride as much of a thrill.

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Shawn Hubler’s column appears Mondays and Thursdays. Her e-mail address is shawn.hubler@latimes.com