Snapshots of life inthe Golden State. : Surf ‘Righters’ See Wrongs in Fees for Beach Parking

So what’s the next battle for the suddenly potent Surfrider Foundation, having just won a $56-million settlement with two Humboldt County pulp mill operators polluting prime Pacific surfing spots?

Beach parking fees.

“The idea of limiting access to the beach to only people with money is philosophically repugnant,” says Rob (Birdlegs) Caughlan, president of the surfers’ environmental action organization. “It’s not fair to a 16-year-old gremmie having to pay $7 every time he goes surfing.”

Caughlan emphasizes, however, that no impediment can prevent true surfers from catching their waves.

“In the San Francisco Bay Area, there are more shark attacks than any other place in the world,” he says. “But surfers still surf. It’s just part of living in the food chain.”

POLITICAL INSIDER

Wilson stickers: Having helped Pete Wilson win passage for his budget package, the state Democratic Party is attacking the Republican governor over the taxes the Legislature’s Democratic majority agreed to approve.

Democratic volunteers have begun distributing bookmarks, stickers and leaflets bearing a photo of the governor and the quote, “Hi . . . I’m Pete Wilson and I Tax Snacks.” A second sticker reads: “Hi . . . I’m Pete Wilson and I Tax Newspapers & Magazines.”

Party press secretary Cate Whiting says the move, described in an official party release as a “guerrilla” campaign, is an attempt to take the offensive about “the fairness issue.”

“(Wilson) was very strong against raising the income tax on people who make over $200,000 but he was willing to tax people for Oreo cookies,” she said. “We will continue to point out the theme that the Republicans are the party of the rich, and that we are a party of the middle class.”

The poor, meanwhile, are apparently still searching for representation.

THE LAW

Ups, downs in crime rates: Homicides, robberies and aggravated assaults are all on the upswing in California.

But if it’s any consolation, there were some crimes, albeit less violent, that decreased dramatically in the last five years.

Pocket-picking incidents were down by 24% and purse snatchings dropped by 18% between 1985 and 1990, state Department of Justice statistics show.

Taking even larger tumbles were arrests for marijuana (-38%), bookmaking (-41%) and glue sniffing (-68%).

Overloaded Freeways

Southern California in 1990 had the 10 busiest freeway interchanges, not only in the state but in the nation as well, according to the California Department of Transportation. Below are the average daily traffic volumes for the interchanges:

FREEWAY GENERAL AVG.DAILY INTERCHANGE LOCATION NO.VEHICLES 1) East L.A. Routes 5, 10, 60, and 101 Boyle Heights 563,000 2) Santa Monica / Harbor Routes 10 and 110 Downtown L.A. 561,500 3) Santa Monica / San Diego Routes 10 and 405 West L.A. 561,000 4) Ventura / San Diego Routes 101 and 405 Sherman Oaks 520,500 5) Santa Ana / Garden Grove / Orange Routes 5, 22 and 57 Santa Ana 492,500 6) Artesia / San Gabriel River Routes 91 and 605 Cerritos 478,000 7) Harbor / San Diego Routes 110 and 405 Carson 467,000 8) Orange / Riverside Routes 57 and 91 Anaheim 443,000 9) Golden State / Long Beach Routes 5 and 710 City of Commerce 437,500 10) Costa Mesa / San Diego Routes 55 and 405 Costa Mesa 435,000

SOURCE: Caltrans

Compiled by editorial researcher Tracy Thomas

MEDIA WATCH

Big bucks: Fortune’s annual list of billionaires--202 of them, to be exact--contains 10 individuals and families who hang their hats, and rest their brimming wallets, in California.

They are: Gordon Peter Getty (San Francisco--trusts, inheritance, investment); Alexander Schmidheiny (Calistoga--construction, electronics, wine); Marvin Davis (Los Angeles--entertainment, oil, real estate); Donald Bren (Newport Beach--real estate); Donald and Doris Fisher (San Francisco--The Gap clothing stores).

David Packard (Los Altos Hills--Hewlett-Packard); Margaret Cargill and Cargill MacMillan Jr. (La Jolla and Palm Springs--Cargill Inc. agribusiness); David H. Murdock (Los Angeles--real estate and food); Ernest and Julio Gallo (Modesto--wine); and Kirk Kerkorian (Beverly Hills--business investment).

EXIT LINE

“Los Angeles, I believe, is a meeting of contradictions. On one level, a cast of desperate characters in overleveraged automobiles and faux hooker fashions fits conveniently into America’s mythology of Hollywood. But behind this facade lies a reality of great contrasts--Dynasty mansions housing third-world Alexises, black girls calling themselves Muffy and fast-food gluttons spouting health food rhetoric.”

--Playwright David Henry Hwang, who penned M. Butterfly, the Broadway hit about a Chinese transvestite, writing in House & Garden about growing up in Southern California.

California Dateline appears every other Friday.