<i> Snapshots of life in the Golden State.</i> : On Ballot Measures, Big Spenders Take Initiative

As conceived eight decades ago, California’s ballot initiative process was intended as the ultimate exercise in direct democracy--allowing voters to make decisions on major issues regardless of the Legislature.

These days, though, the ballot initiative could be renamed the big-spending initiative.

In 1990, more money was spent on initiative campaigns than on lobbying the Legislature, according to a new study by the California Commission on Campaign Financing.

A mere 141 donors contributed a whopping $74 million for ballot measure battles, with alcohol interests leading the way.

The No. 1 contributor was Anheuser-Busch, which dropped $8.3 million to help defeat an increased alcohol tax. Other leading liquor lobbyists were Miller Brewing, $3.37 million; Seagram & Sons, $1.89 million; the Beer Institute, $1.84 million, and the California Beer & Wine Wholesalers, $1.77 million.

Campaign committees for state and federal Democratic politicians were less successful in fighting term limits and redistricting.

In losing efforts, Assembly Speaker Willie Brown’s spent $4.35 million; Senate President Pro Tem David A. Roberti’s spent $1.9 million; and IMPAC 2000, a national Democratic organization that drew support from congressional campaign committees, spent $2.83 million.

POLITICAL INSIDER

Vote brokers: Hoping to elect one of its own, the California Assn. of Realtors has mailed slick brochures extolling the virtues of U.S. Sen. John Seymour to its 135,000 members.

But the $45,000 effort, funded with members’ dues, appears to be causing a bit of a backlash for the Republican Seymour, past president of the association.

Several Southland real estate brokers have written letters of complaint and kicked off a petition drive demanding that the dues be returned to the association’s general fund.

“The sad part about it is the brochure was sent to members,” says Richard Thomas, a San Fernando Valley broker. “I don’t need to be educated about (Seymour).”

Defending the expenditure is Ann Pettijohn, chairwoman of the group’s Seymour Coordinating Committee, who says the money could not have come out of a political action committee fund because of a $5,000 campaign spending limit.

“Because it’s an internal educational tool for our own membership, it can come out of dues,” she adds.

Candidates trimmed: Is the counterculture-tinged Green Party unfair to, of all things, longhairs?

That’s what longtime Greens activist David Davis is charging after fighting in court to win a place on the ballot to run against Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Los Angeles).

This month, a Sacramento judge granted Davis permission to run as an independent because the Green Party had decided against fielding a candidate of its own.

Davis, 40, a Hollywood musician with brown hair trailing down his back, claims that the party knew of his intention to run and “they didn’t want a longhaired image for the Green Party.”

Dennis Bottum, a state coordinating committee member, counters that the decision has less to do with Davis’ mane than with the party’s strategy to concentrate on districts “where there’s an incumbent who is a horror story.”

“I’m sure Davis’ hair had to do with it to some extent in some peoples’ minds,” Bottum concedes. “But that wasn’t a major consideration. We have some candidates running with longer hair, and some with shorter hair.”

Imbibing Less

Alcohol consumption is declining. The per capita numbers of gallons-per-year of liquor, beer and wine consumed by California resident are shown below.

Year Hard Liquor Beer Wine ‘90-’91 1.56 22.1 3.44 ‘89-’90 1.64 23.06 3.56 ‘88-’89 1.67 23.33 3.82 ‘87-’88 1.75 23.23 4.50 ‘86-’87 1.83 24.3 4.68

Source: California State Board of Equalization Statistics Division, Sacramento Compiled by researcher Tracy Thomas

CRIMES AND MISDEMEANORS

Official warning: You’ve heard of the Miranda warning. Now there’s the “Bennett warning,” which State Board of Equalization member Matt Fong reads to petitioners before the tax appeals board.

Republican Fong advises taxpayers that fellow board member William M. Bennett, a Democrat, was recently convicted of a misdemeanor for filing false expense reports. Bennett, who has agreed to reimburse the state $5,500, so far has refused to resign from the post he has held for 22 years, pending a state attorney general’s opinion.

Fong’s four-paragraph, self-styled warning describes Bennett’s conviction, before concluding: “If you would prefer not having your case decided by a person convicted of fraud against the people of the state of California, then I would be happy to use my board member discretion to request such a continuance for you.”

EXIT LINE

‘I can’t articulate it. God, if I could I would love it. But you know that’s something I guess I’m going to have to learn, is how to throw that articulation out.”

--Palm Springs Mayor Sonny Bono, at a Sacramento news conference, seeking to explain his qualifications for the U.S. Senate.