Jones' Role as Official, Campaigner Entwine

By TIM REITERMAN

Feb. 20, 2002 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

The three lives of Secretary of State Bill Jones--as family farmer, as public official and now as candidate for governor--have intertwined in complex and at times unexpected ways.

Jones, the only Republican statewide officeholder, is a conservative when it comes to government spending and social programs, but he has received about $400,000 in federal agricultural subsidies during the past five years.

Jones prides himself as a campaign finance reformer. But, struggling to raise money beyond his Central Valley base, his campaign has resorted to some unusual gambits to reach potential supporters. In one, his campaign used a mailing list of donors provided by a museum that has close ties to Jones’ office--a move that drew fire from political opponents.

Aggressively using the power of incumbency, Jones also has enhanced his name recognition and won endorsements through his office’s voter outreach. At taxpayer expense he sends out 18th birthday cards with voter registration forms to 30,000 Californians each month. And he recently launched a high-profile patriotic program to increase turnout in the March 5 primary, when Jones faces two better-funded GOP rivals.

Any political benefit from his official duties is incidental and unintended, Jones said in an interview. “Exposure of any type from someone in political office is always useful to them if they are seeking to run for another office,” he said. “But . . . my record on outreach goes back to the first year we were on this job and . . . I was not intending necessarily to run for governor.”

Now that he is running, Jones said he has one major advantage over his Republican opponents--former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan and Los Angeles businessman Bill Simon Jr. That’s his statehouse experience, first as an assemblyman for 12 years, then as secretary for two terms.

Sowing the Seeds for Higher Office

He withdrew from day-to-day stewardship of his family’s farms two decades ago, and has forged ahead as an elected official, working farmer’s hours, tending his agricultural constituency and achieving political milestones.

He lost his first campaign for the Assembly, but won a seat in 1982, despite a gun accident that left him with a leg wound and prompted jokes about “the politician who shot himself in the foot.”

He became leader of the GOP Assembly caucus and led a reapportionment effort, only to step down a year later after Republicans did not pick up anticipated seats in the 1992 election.

Jones, a tall, sturdy man of 52 with a stern demeanor, perhaps is best known as author of the 1994 three-strikes law that toughened sentencing for repeat offenders. The law was inspired by the shooting death of the daughter of Mike Reynolds, a Fresno wedding photographer.

What stands out about Jones, according to Reynolds, is that he is so direct and forthcoming. “People who know him say he’s too nice to get into a dirty business like politics,” Reynolds said. “Politicians have a dark side to them. But he really is the caliber of person you wouldn’t mind having as a neighbor.”

Jones prefers free enterprise over big government, personal initiative over social welfare. He voted in the mid-1990s against Assembly bills increasing meals for students in summer school and expanding eligibility for the school breakfast program. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, he cast pro-business votes against legislation requiring employers to provide unpaid family and medical leave of up to four months.

Jones, however, has accepted federal money available to him.

For three generations, Jones’ family has worked land where they now operate a cattle feed lot and raise crops such as tomatoes, asparagus, alfalfa and cotton.

His most recent financial disclosure statement shows he holds an interest in Llanada Farms, Jones-Villere Farms and Sarek Farms in Firebaugh near Fresno.

Figures obtained through the Freedom of Information Act show that the farms owned by Jones and several relatives operate almost 5,000 acres. Since 1996, Jones’ share of U.S. Department of Agriculture subsidies to them amounted to about $400,000--roughly a sixth of about $2.5 million paid to the farms. That collectively would make the farms one of the largest recipients in the state, according to the nonprofit Environmental Working Group in Washington.

Jones said his share went back into the farm operations, not to him personally. (His disclosure forms for 2000 place the value of his stake in the farms at $300,000 to $3 million, and his farm-related annual income and consulting fees at $60,000 to $600,000.)

Jones said there is no inconsistency between his acceptance of funds from such programs--long criticized by some as welfare for agricultural interests--and his rejection of some social programs. “Farm policies,” he said, “were designed to keep agriculture competitive [with foreign products] and viable.”

Agriculture has been a mainstay of Jones’ political, as well as personal, life. His father was a member of the state water commission under Gov. Ronald Reagan. His agricultural fraternity drafted Jones for a successful run for student senate at Cal State Fresno, where he later was elected student body president.

Water policy and agricultural trade were key elements in his legislative agenda, and financial support from the farming interests remains an important part of his war chest for governor. JG Boswell Co. donated more than $17,000 and the California Farm Bureau Federation political action committee gave $25,000. When the 95,000-member bureau endorsed him, its president called him “one of us.”

Unveiling his agricultural plank in October, Jones warned that California’s next crisis will be over water, and he called for improved water supply and storage networks. And he said excessively stringent labor, employer and environmental laws are harming farm production. “Far too often, politically motivated laws and regulations aimed at special interests are fully enforced,” he said.

Bipartisan Praise Along With Criticism

Jones came into statewide office riding a GOP landslide and his three-strikes momentum, in the process proving wrong pundits who said no one outside an urban center could win statewide office. And he was reelected secretary of state--though narrowly--in 1998.

Although he has critics, Jones has won praise from many people for helping bring the office into the 21st century by instituting on-line voter registration and improving electronic vote results, the Web site and access to campaign contributions.

Democrat Tony Miller, who almost beat Jones in 1994 and is now running former longtime secretary of state March Fong Eu’s campaign to retake the office, said he thinks Jones “has done a credible job as secretary.”

But Miller criticizes him for not moving more quickly to eliminate punch card ballots like those involved in the Florida presidential voting fiasco. Jones wanted punch cards in California to be phased out by July 2005. However, a federal judge last week ruled that they have to be replaced by the 2004 presidential election.

Jones said it would have been “premature” to make the transition years ago because the new machinery was untested and much more expensive than today.

Jim Knox, the executive director of Common Cause, said Jones has generally favored weaker campaign contribution limits than the watchdog group would like to see. But he said Jones overall has been a “very strong” secretary of state, despite some kinks in his office’s implementation of campaign contribution reporting systems.

Some fault him for placing too much emphasis on voter fraud and not enough on registration and turnout. Jones said he has tried to balance the two in pursuing his motto: 100% participation and zero fraud. His fraud unit has seven employees, his outreach unit eight, plus student assistants.

A number of registrars credit Jones with providing support and leadership in eliminating “deadwood” on the local rolls, such as people who have died or moved and reregistered elsewhere. His office said the removal of more than 2 million ineligible voters saves up to $10 million each election on printing and administrative costs.

“He instituted a number of reforms and improved the integrity of the process because he’s vigilant about pursuing and prosecuting fraud cases,” said Mischelle Townsend, Riverside County’s registrar and a board member of the California Assn. of Clerks and Elections Officials.

The fraud unit formed by Jones has referred more than 190 cases to prosecutors since 1995. Thirty-two investigations have resulted in convictions since 1998, the vast majority involving individuals who forged names on petitions or voter registration cards they were being paid to collect.

Detractors say relatively few cases of vote fraud have been proven--Jones’ office reports two convictions for fraudulent or double voting in the past three years.

“His emphasis is on fraud, and there’s just not much of it,” said Ken Pettit, Santa Barbara County registrar. “He should spend money on getting people to the polls and . . . find out why people do not vote.”

Jones said the integrity of the election process starts with valid registrations, so bogus ones made by “bounty hunters” who are paid to collect them constitute more than an economic crime. “Deadwood decreases voter turnout [percentages] and increases the cost of the elections and increases the potential for fraud,” he said.

The issue of fraud gained prominence early in Jones’ tenure. After Democrat Loretta Sanchez narrowly unseated Republican Rep. Robert K. Dornan in 1996, allegations of illegal voting by immigrants exploded in Orange County. Jones said his office documented that hundreds of noncitizens were registered to vote, but there were no criminal indictments. Congress conducted a separate investigation, but the election results stood.

Jones was caught between the Latino community and some in his own party who wanted to crack down to boost Dornan’s chances of challenging the results. “We were conscious of not inflaming the rhetoric,” said Jones spokeswoman Beth Miller.

Carlos Vaquerano, executive director of the Salvadoran American Leadership and Educational Fund in Los Angeles, is on Jones’ official advisory board. “He’s been very good in reaching out to Latino voters,” he said. “Definitely voter registration has increased dramatically.”

Voter outreach, which often includes personal appearances by Jones, helped win him the endorsement of the Spanish-language daily newspaper La Opinion when he ran for reelection.

His office distributed registration cards at grocery stores and citizenship swearing-in ceremonies. It launched an online registration card before the November 2000 election. And it reached out to specific voter targets: shoppers, students, athletic club members, even pet owners.

Despite Jones’ efforts, turnout that year was about 70%, or 10% short of his goal.

This election cycle, Jones tried to tap into the patriotic fervor following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks by launching a voter registration effort called Vote America with Senate President Pro Tem John Burton (D-San Francisco).

Coming as his gubernatorial campaign accelerated, the effort served a dual purpose for Jones, said San Mateo County Registrar of Voters Warren Slocum, a Democrat. “We would be naive to think it was based on one idea or purpose. One was to promote the idea of getting more people registered. I think part was to promote Bill Jones.”

The program, Jones’ idea, illustrates how closely entwined his official duties and a campaign can become. He sent Beth Miller, who had left the secretary of state’s office to handle media for the campaign, back to the state office to run Vote America. She also was promoted to Jones’ chief assistant.

“Beth was the best one to do that [job],” said Jones, adding that it is not uncommon for public officials to shuttle state employees to their campaigns and back.

To avoid the appearance of capitalizing on the outreach campaign, Jones said, he has taken pains to keep his name off flags and billboards. “I have tried to be very judicious about making those calls,” he said.

Voter outreach can be good for the state and good for the public official, according to Robert M. Stern, president of the Center for Governmental Studies in Los Angeles and former general counsel for the state’s political watchdog agency.

Going for Broke Amid Fund-Raising Problems

Stern praises Jones’ job performance, especially his technological advances, but says he is troubled by one of his outreach methods--sending birthday cards with voter registration forms to 18-year-olds at public expense. While the activity appears to be legal, he said, Jones unnecessarily promoted himself by using his name prominently on the cards designed by the nonprofit Rock the Vote, which is dedicated to increasing the youth vote.

Jones dismisses the criticism: “Why doesn’t he want to take my name off the front of the ballot pamphlet? It just went out to 8.5 million or however many households. What about the governor? Is his name not on everything?”

Free public exposure is particularly important to Jones because of the difficulties faced by his gubernatorial campaign. He is lagging his two top Republican rivals in fund-raising, campaign reports show. As of Jan. 19, Jones had on hand $1.1 million, compared to Simon’s $1.28 million and Riordan’s $2.3 million. Between then and this week, Jones raised more than $343,000, while Riordan added $2 million and Simon $2.38 million.

Donation records show about three-quarters of Jones’ top 20 corporate and individual benefactors come from the Central Valley and other agricultural regions. He loaned his campaign $200,000.

Jones’ fund-raising, consultants say, probably has been hurt by his decision to switch his endorsement from George W. Bush to Arizona Sen. John McCain, a campaign finance reformer, in the last GOP presidential primary.

“He’s fighting an uphill battle, no question,” said Dan Schnur, a former aide to Gov. Pete Wilson and Riordan. “His biggest obstacle in the campaign is self-imposed. . . . He ran the secretary of state’s office the way it is supposed to be run--as a nonpartisan, above-the-fray decision-maker. . . . That’s not a very good way to develop political support within your own party.”

Jones has been criticized during the gubernatorial campaign over how he has handled his job. He took a leading role in alleging conflicts of interest by Gov. Gray Davis’ advisors during the energy crisis. But Davis’ aides countered with allegations that Jones was using his office staff and resources improperly to collect the political ammunition against the governor.

Jones said the role was a proper one because as secretary of state, he has a seat on the Fair Political Practices Commission, which enforces campaign laws, and his office oversees campaign finance reporting. “If he wants to compare his debacle on the energy crisis . . . versus who I use for research, I’ll take that question to the voters,” he said.

But questions have also been raised about other Jones campaign tactics.

In November, the San Jose Mercury News reported that the Golden State Museum, adjoining the secretary of state’s office building, gave its fund-raising list to a campaign consultant for Jones, who oversees the state archives and serves on the museum board.

Former Jones campaign consultant Carla Eudy of Washington told The Times recently that she recalls that campaign manager Rob Lapsley told her about the list, containing about 400 names. She said she then asked the museum for the list and the campaign used it for one Jones mailer last year.

Lapsley, the secretary’s former chief of staff, denied telling Eudy about the list. Both he and Jones said there was no favoritism involved because any candidate could have received the donor list.

The museum denied that it violated its nonprofit, tax-exempt status by helping a political campaign. However, after consulting with attorneys, museum officials retroactively charged the Jones campaign $100 for the list and offered it to other gubernatorial candidates at the same price. There were no takers among the major candidates.

Board Chairman Michael Livingston defended Jones. “Bill has done a tremendous amount of fund-raising on behalf of the museum as secretary of state, and part of it is that you share a list of potential donors with Bill,” he said. “We’re probably not politically astute about all the regulations out there.”

The Jones campaign came under criticism again in December, when it sent out uninvited e-mails to drum up contributions. “I’m Bill Jones and I need your support for governor,” said the e-mail, which was first reported on MSNBC’s Web site. Then it listed some accomplishments and invited recipients to visit Jones’ campaign Web site.

One recipient was Tom Geller, executive director of a San Francisco nonprofit called SpamCon Foundation that is dedicated to stamping out unwanted e-mail. The political message, he told The Times, is probably legal because California’s anti-spam laws focus on commercial messages. But he added, “There is no question it’s improper” and violates the spirit of the legislation.

Jones referred questions to Lapsley, who said that out of 30,000 e-mails, there were only two complaints but thousands of visits to the campaign Web site. The advantage of using e-mail, he said, is that it costs much less than a traditional paper mailer.

“If we thought we were doing something inappropriate, we would not have sent them,” Lapsley said.

Times researchers Maloy Moore and Robin Mayper contributed to this article.

Attack ad: Ex-Gov. Deukmejian rips Richard Riordan in a Gray Davis TV spot. B7

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Top Contributors to Bill Jones Campaign

City, State Contributions

Sierra Tel Communica. Oakhurst $301,887

Bill Jones Fresno $200,000

Visalia Lumber Co. Visalia $109,500

Price Giffen Madera $105,500

CA Casualty Mgmt Co. CO Springs, $100,000

Lyles Diversified Inc. Fresno $100,000