Bush’s Day of Thanks for End of War Comes as Surprise to Many

When President Bush proclaimed today a national day of thanksgiving for the victorious end to the Persian Gulf War, it seems few people in Ventura County were reading his lips.

Few city officials throughout the county had heard of the proclamation.

“We don’t even know about it,” said Fillmore City Clerk Noreen Withers. “When is this going to be?”

At the Ventura County Courthouse, where the declaration was heard, it caused some confusion.

State officials decided that Bush’s decree established a judicial holiday, prompting county court officials to debate whether to halt normal court business.

Meeting Thursday to discuss the matter, the county’s municipal and superior courts judges decided that there was too much work to take the day off.

“Between the two courts there are hundreds of cases already scheduled,” said Presiding Judge Edwin M. Osborne of the Ventura County Superior Court. “It would be very inconvenient to reschedule everybody’s time and very disruptive to take 600 to 800 cases from Friday and put them on top of 600 to 800 cases on Monday.”

However, the judges decided that people who object to having their cases heard today can have their court appearances postponed until the next earliest available date.

By law, only certain matters can be conducted by a court during a judicial holiday. They include such procedures as arraignments, signing emergency temporary restraining orders and receiving a jury verdict, Dist. Atty. Michael D. Bradbury said.

Because of those restrictions, judges may require waivers from some people before conducting regular court business, such as sentencings. Some judges may continue with normal proceedings unless objections are raised, Bradbury said.

Defense and prosecuting attorneys said snags might develop if people, confused by the judicial holiday, do not show up for court. In such cases, bench warrants for their arrests usually are issued the same day, authorities said.

But court officials have not resolved how they will handle bench warrants for those who fail to appear today.

In contrast to Ventura County, many courthouses in Southern California will conduct no business today and give their employees the day off.

State Supreme Court Chief Justice Malcolm M. Lucas sent a fax to the presiding judges of all California courts, trying to clear up the confusion. State codes for operating the government leave no leeway--it’s a judicial holiday, he said.

In Los Angeles, Presiding Judge Ricardo A. Torres was blunt in an announcement to Superior Court workers: “Tomorrow is not an official holiday and court employees will be at work. . . .”

All five Municipal Court branches in Orange County will close for business and give employees the day off. Superior Court employees who must staff the clerk’s office and perform other non-judicial functions will get a compensation day in return.

In Ventura County, news of Bush’s declaration caught Public Defender Kenneth I. Clayman off guard. “I’d never even read about the stupid thing and had to be told about it,” he said.

Clayman said he doubted whether Bush realized the problems his proclamation would cause.

“I doubt if he thought too much about the confusion when he did it,” Clayman said. “It’s like him and Schwarzkopf not knowing how far to go in Iran. This is the most confusing thing since then.” (Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf is commander of allied forces in the Persian Gulf.)

It all began last month, when Bush proclaimed today through Sunday as national days of thanksgiving for the swift end of the Persian Gulf War.

A national holiday was never intended, and neither federal nor state workers have the day off.

However, aides in the offices of Reps. Elton Gallegly (R-Simi Valley) and Robert J. Lagomarsino (R-Ventura) said they received several calls from confused constituents who decided to turn to their federal representatives for advice.

“Everybody is confused,” said a spokeswoman for Gallegly. “No one knows what is happening.”

On Thursday afternoon, Diane White, an aide to Lagomarsino, decided to clear all the confusion by calling the White House.

“It’s not a federal, national holiday,” she said minutes after the phone call. “It is an executive order for a period of thanksgiving.”

Jeanie Pelkey, a spokeswoman for the Port Hueneme Navy base, said she believes that the confusion might be based on “wishful thinking.”

“You know that if it were a national holiday we would get a notice because we are the government,” she said.

Because word of the announcement reached only a few city and county officials, some people wondered how the president spread the news.

“Did he do this between him and Babs or did he tell the entire world?” asked Santa Paula City Clerk Stacey MacDonald.

The city of Camarillo plans to honor the troops Saturday with a parade.

An employee at the city clerk’s office in Ojai figured that Bush came up with the idea too late to notify the country. “Not much notice there, George,” she said.

Times staff writer Kevin Roderick contributed to this story.