Psychic Out of Spirits Since Plaza : Forced Her to Move From Prime Post

‘Tis is the season to be psychic. Or: Switching channels for the holidays?

Elizabeth Lee has been tending to the spiritual and metaphysical needs of Horton Plaza shoppers since March, 1987.

She reads Tarot cards and listens to her channeling voice (an ancient mystic). She talks of the future and the past and charges $15 to $20 per session.

She has had a pushcart at the top of the escalator near Mervyn’s and the Pappagallo clothing store. It’s a choice spot: warm and highly visible.

But now Lee has been involuntarily shifted to a lonely table outside Ernie’s Tavern at the extreme southwest end of the plaza. It’s chilly and semi-hidden.

Craig Pettitt, the plaza’s general manager, says he wanted something more festive, more mainstream consumerish for the holiday season. Lee’s former spot is now occupied by a woman selling ties.

Pettitt also says he has gotten complaints likening Lee’s specialty to devil worship.

“We’ve stuck with her through the years, but she just does not fit into our holiday theme,” he said. “We’ve gone far beyond what most commercial centers would have done in accommodating her.”

Lee says she has being pushed aside just when shoppers need her most: the high-stress holiday season.

“My whole purpose is to help people feel better about themselves, to understand their lives better,” she said. “People need me during the holidays when all types of conflicts arise.”

At first, Pettitt wanted Lee to leave the plaza altogether until after New Year’s. She resisted. She found Ernie’s.

She’s one of 23 independent vendors who rent cart space. The others sell sweat shirts, T-shirts, jewelry, crafts, etc. Lee is the only one forced to relocate.

She says that, despite her ability to read the future, she was surprised by the mandatory move.

“Most people in the spiritual business will tell you the same thing: they can’t read for themselves,” Lee said. “I was totally shocked.”

Councilwoman-To-Be Stands Ground

Word from the political front:

- Councilwoman-elect Linda Bernhardt, who publicly burned a Building Industry Assn. questionnaire during the campaign, has hired former BIA political strategist Jean Andrews as a fund-raiser.

Bernhardt needs to retire a campaign debt. But she says her orders to Andrews are clear: no developer money.

Bernhardt says her slow-growth zeal is undiminished. She has added former Sierra Club leader Jay Powell to her City Hall staff to deal with land use.

- A poll done after Bishop Maher’s edict shows Lucy Killea ahead of Carol Bentley in their special state Senate race.

Republicans hold a registration edge in the district, but Republicans are defecting to Killea, a Democrat, because of her pro-choice views on abortion.

Killea sent a mailer to Republicans this week saying she would give the Senate a pro-choice majority for the first time. The anti-abortion movement would love to pour money and troops into the Bentley campaign, but they have been told it would be counterproductive.

- Maher has given interviews to the New York Times, USA Today, Sacramento Bee, Associated Press, NBC, CBS, ABC, CNN, Time and Newsweek. Also, 30 Days, a Rome-based Catholic magazine.

He was willing to talk to the Washington Post, Newsday, and the New York Daily News, but his schedule and the reporters’ deadlines didn’t match. He turned down the Donahue show, “Hard Copy” and the CBS “This Morning” show.

Father Knows the Best Punishment

Bail was being set recently for a young defendant in a theft case in downtown San Diego. His lawyer said he couldn’t afford bail.

The defendant’s father, a maintenance worker, asked that the youth be released to his custody.

“I’m not sure what my boy’s accused of,” he told the judge, “but if I find out he’s really done it, the punishment you’ll give him won’t be anything compared to the punishment I’ll give him.”

The judge replied: “Maybe I should keep him in jail for his own protection.”

The judge retreated to his chambers. He came back a few moments later and granted the father’s request.