The San Francisco Examiner from San Francisco, California • 24

A-24 Sunday, May 25, 1986 an Francisco a miner F. Sunday Cxaminer Chronicle RACE From A1 7 r-T 4 MIKE CURB H.L RICHARDSON Lieutenant governor's race Is more than a political sideshow "Are we starting to argue here?" the reporter asks. "No," says Curb. "I just don't want anyone putting words into my mouth." He clarifies his position on farm workers (he supports a guest-worker program). The farmer smiles and says, "No wonder you get elected, Mike.

You say it so nicely." On a drive to Fresno Airport a few minutes later, a still-thoughtful Curb says: "When I got Into politics 10 years ago, I had unreasonable expectations of the press. 1 thought they would print what the campaign publicity said. My father-in-law (Los Angeles television anchorman Jerry Dunphy) has helped me understand how the press works. I know we need a free press in this country. What I try to do now is to be more succinct and more careful in how I get my points across." Then he wants to know about the latest Examiner-Channel 4 Poll, which shows him with a 41 percent to 21 percent lead' over Richardson.

Curb seems to be almost obsessive over checking polls to reaffirm his edge. But he's wary of them, too, because of what happened in 1982. "I was ahead of Deukmejian In the polls right up to primary election day," he says, "and then 1 got 49 percent of the vote. So even though I'm ahead in this race, I'm going right on with my campaign. I don't want to be overconfident." Curb, who once described serving as lieutenant governor under Brown as "a lot of wasted time," also says he isn't looking ahead to the governor's chair.

"I don't think it's healthy to be using the office as a springboard," he says, adding he could find new purpose in working with a governor of the same party. Richardson is unabashedly a man who would be king. "I'm playing for the future," he says, "1990 or earlier." bar to celebrate the end of a long day of campaigning, he Is feeling good enough about things to speculate on why he thinks he'll defeat Curb: "For years and years I've been applying for an elk tag (to hunt) in Wyoming, and for years and years I was turried down. This year I got the tag. That has to mean I'm going to win the primary, because hunting season in Wyoming is from September to November, and if I'm campaigning in the general election, I wouldn't be able to make it." The Curb campaign train isn't a freight, it's a streamliner sleek and quiet, so quiet you almost can't hear it coming at times.

Above all, it, doesn't want to risk any collisions. There's a warning flag around every bend. Curb and wife Linda, who looks somewhat like a younger, blond Nancy Reagan, sit down to a salad course when they arrive at a Republican luncheon in Fresno, and Curb promptly removes the carrots and sprouts from his salad. "1 took all these tests, and that's what the doctors said 1 was allergic to," he says. "I don't believe them, This is a friendly audience.

One man looks at Curb's campaign brochure, which is printed in red, white and blue, and booms, "He's for replacing Rose Bird and enforcing the death penalty all right!" Curb discards his prepared speech, but he seems to weigh each word. At the end, he's questioned aggressively by a Fresno Bee reporter about California's farm workers. Curb draws the Fresno-area farmer who has emceed the luncheon into the conversation, but when the farmer says he thinks the main problem is "too many illegal Mexicans in this country," Curb says, "That's his quote, not mine." The reporter presses Curb, and there's a moment of tension. long distance, they're an odd couple. On one side is millionaire record producer Curb, ever youthful (although he's now 41), Impeccably dressed and groomed, affable but far removed from the brashness he displayed the last time he served In Sacramento.

On the other side is direct-mail magnate Richardson, 58, crusty and rumpled, a Christian fundamentalist and bellicose champion of myriad conservative and far-right causes, only too willing to fire away at anything he doesn't like, from gun control to gay rights. "People might not like all that old H.L. stands for," he is wont to say, "but, by God, I'm believable." Curb has become a master of deflection, determined not to deep-six himself the way he sometimes used to. Richardson, who Is partly deaf in one ear, the result of shooting one too many guns, will answer any question he can hear, often at more length than the questioner desires. Covering Hubert Leon "Bill" Richardson on the campaign trail is sort of like following a runaway freight train.

There's noise and action everywhere. A recent day in San Diego is typical. Richardson has just finished a short address to a Republican women's group and is sitting in a hotel coffee shop, saying how the race was "developing into a contest between a poodle and a pit bull." Almost in midsentence, he spots Republican senatorial candidate Arthur Laffer walking toward the parking lot, jumps up and lumbers after him. They exchange greetings and several minutes of repartee, most of it concerning former federal Budget Director David Stockman. Richardson wants to know if President Reagan is ready to disown Stockman because of comments ft, i 1 va 7 WiW, ers of America, is not quite wide-eyed, but he is impressed.

He nods toward one trophy and says to Tuthill, "You've got yourself one beautiful antelope there." "Oh, thank you," says a beaming Tuthill, as if he's been blessed by the Great White Hunter. Later, after a couple of visits to newspaper decision makers, Richardson stops at a Republican candidates forum. He's first on a lengthy program, and the introduction he's given is so short it's almost nonexistent. He complains about it mildly before he begins to talk, and a bearded man at the right of the first row grumbles, "The introduction was plenty long enough." When the senator finishes his quick, hard sales pitch within the allotted three minutes, the bearded man claps lustily. If Richardson is upset by the derisive applause, he doesn't show it.

By the time he reaches the hotel 4 Jl. 1 official celebration Permanent museum Developed by Walt Disney Imagi-neering to preserve the anniversary themes as a memorial to the bridge. Includes restaurant and gift shop. Permanent bridge lighting Illuminating the towers as originally planned by bridge designers. Temporary museum Combining exhibits on the anniversary with video and audio displays.

Roundhouse restoration New visitors' center including historical displays and a gift shop. Pageant Day-long celebration May 24, including historical reenactments, air, land and sea shows, fireworks, bridge illumination and other activities. Performing Arts of the Pacific A six-week festival featuring artists from the United States and Pacific Rim countries. Bridge history A project to compile oral histories of those involved with the development and construction of the bridge, to collect bridge memorabilia, and to develop educational materials on the bridge. cial celebration.

In fact, according to Bronkema and Molinari, the bridge district didn't want a splashy party to commemorate the Golden Gate's 50th. Instead, the district was hoping to use the occasion as a fund-raiser for a new $10 million museum at the foot of the bridge and a $2 million lighting system on the bridge towers the completion of engineer Joseph Strauss' original bridge design. Td rather they fill potholes before worrying about tearing down a freeway." Richard Goldman, downtown businessman fill tim r-w lb i 1 i Would style. Lifelong hunter Richardson, known In some quarters as the "gun nut from Glendora," hasn't stopped shooting (from the lip, as usual) in this campaign, and there's no doubt his Immediate target Is his former political ally. "Mike Curb is a nice young man," he said, pausing for effect.

"And my mother-in-law is a nice old lady. But I wouldn't want her playing quarterback for the 49ers." The newly cautious Curb, who used to blast away at Brown all the time, hasn't answered Richardson's broadsides. In fact, he frequently, doesn't even acknowledge Richardson by name. In campaign literature and speeches, when Curb mentions Richardson at all, it's just as "my Republican opponent." "I haven't said one negative word about him and I'm not going to," Curb said. "I don't want the winner of this campaign to have to say he was the winner of a bitter primary." Curb and Richardson haven't spoken to each other since the primary election of 1982, when Richardson supported Curb In his losing bid for the gubernatorial nomination against Deukmejian.

Plenty of bitterness came out of that. Richardson said Curb "stiffed" him on a $36,000 campaign debt. The debt has been paid, but Richardson clearly hasn't forgotten how tardy he thought Curb was in acknowledging it. Although both deny there is a problem now, you won't find them on the same debating platform, or even in the same town, if Curb can avoid it. Whether seen at close range or HANDS From A-1 aide at the Oak Knoll Naval Hospital in Oakland, needed crutches to make her way onto the bridge.

"1 just want to be a part of this," Norman said. "I want to help starving people." Norman sprained her left ankle at work a month ago, necessitating the crutches. That was just part of her difficulty. She lost the lower part of her right leg to cancer in 1978. "I survived cancer," Norman said.

"Me being here is a miracle in itself." David, Carol and Shannon Hill of Burlingame were among the first to march out onto the bridge for the 1.8 mile lineup. David, 36, is an accountant. His wife, Carol, 37, was pushing 2-year-old Shannon's stroller. Hill had already given $25 to the Hands Across America fund. Yesterday he gave $30 for himself and his family, and they brought along half a dozen cans of food, too, to be given to the needy.

"I feel we're very fortunate," Carol Hill said. "We have a home for Shannon. We want to help those who don't." "This is just a drop in the bucket," David Hill said, "but if it raises awareness, maybe more will follow." Garfield Harris, 42, of Berkeley, described himself as a political consultant and community activist. "We were always taught to help our friends and neighbors," Harris said. "But as we get older, we seem to lose it.

"When we're young, we believe it, but as we get older It gets pushed back in the closet. There's always a reason not to do what we know we should do. Somehow it's always on the next guy; it's on the agencies, it's on the organizations." Harris was pleased to see the line on the bridge growing. "I think this gives individuals hope," he said. "We identify with each other.

Even if it's just a smile or a nod of the head. There is a real cleansing effect here." Hank Nakagawa, 61, of San Carlos, a manufacturer of plastic products, came to the bridge with his friend, Glenda Nelson, 57, of Mitlbrae. She manages the Arthur Murray dance studio in Burlingame. "When I first started hearing about Hands Across America, I felt I wanted to be part of it," Nelson said. "I was trying to drum up some people to come along with me.

Ilank was the only one who'd get up this early. We left Millbrae at a.m. "I don't think this is going to raise enough money to make a difference, but it arouses people's consciousness about the Problems in this country. "We have so many people without homes, without food, without the resources to just live. I think this will call a lot of attention from people who would like to ignore some very real problems." Stockman made about him in his recent book.

Laffer shakes his head no, and says: 'The joke is Reagan would hire John Hinckley if Hinckley said he was sorry." After 10 minutes of quips, the talk turns briefly serious. "Go at this race tough and hard," Laffer tells Richardson. "I honestly think George Bush is going to push George Deukmejian as his running mate in 198a" Richardson rumbles on to the expensive home of San Diego supporters Richard and Connie Tuthill for a lunchtime fund-raiser. The first room off the Tuthills' foyer is the den, which is overstuffed with animal heads, maybe 25 of them, including a wild boar that probably would be overmatched against King Kong. A positively frightening beast.

Richardson, founder of Gun Owners of California and Gun Own wouldn't affect anyone who had established prior rights to the bridge name. That apparently includes Redmond, who in March registered the Golden Gate Bridge 50th Anniversary Ceremonies and Festival with the secretary of state in Sacramento. Redmond said he has a half dozen sponsors lined up, including a commitment of about $12 million in equipment and products from one corporation. But Redmond said he's not prepared to name his backers "because there are eight legal They 'turned on us for political reasons. It was dirty pool, underhanded politics' Scott Redmond "moves the district could take now, and we've been told they will take every move imaginable to undercut us." Redmond said he will "be doing something visually dramatic with the bridge in the next couple of weeks" to test one of the systems he'll deploy during the celebration.

In 1979, at the age of 23, Redmond dazzled San Franciscans with a dancing light spectacle on Twin Peaks that featured laser beams, strobes and eight searchlights. Twice he has bathed the Golden Gate Bridge in light, orchestrated fireworks displays, including one for the cable car celebration in 1984, and has organized the Foot-stock celebration in concert with the annual Examiner Bay to Break ers race. Redmond said he has has been preparing for the bridge celebration since the mid-1970s, and he has been knocking at the doors of the district ever since. "They had indicated to us that we were going to be their producers, then turned on us for political reasons," Redmond says. "It was dirty pool, underhanded politics." District officials say they listened over the years, but did nothing to encourage him.

Nor did they promise Redmond a part in the of i-' Who pays: City taxpayers wou'd pay $10 million or landowners would pay i through an assessment district. The vote June 3: No on Props. I and to keep the freeway; Yes on Props. I and to tear it down. BRIDGE From A-1 cash.

"If it's controversial, we'll want to stay away from it," said Louie Gonzales, public affairs manager for the San Francisco division of Safeway Stores. Gonzales said he's confused about the official and unofficial celebrations. In late March, he received an information package from Redmond Productions inviting Safeway to be a celebration sponsor by contributing in one of 14 donor categories. Sponsorship fees range from $1,000 to $3.2 million. "It doesn't say it's not officially sanctioned," said Gonzales, questioning whether its worth shelling out money and products only to discover that a rival food chain has been designated an "official" sponsor.

Friends of the Golden Gate Bridge, whose fund-raising drive is being spearheaded by a professional outfit involved in this summer's Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island celebration, says it hopes to announce the first of several corporate sponsors within a month. That would allow the group to repay a $500,000 advance from the financially troubled bridge district and help quell public criticism over the use of public funds to host the bridge celebration. The bridge district, meanwhile, is lobbying for a bill that would prevent promoters and other outsiders from profiting from the bridge's name and image without the district's permission. "Anyone can have a party to celebrate the bridge," said David Miller, attorney for the bridge district. "What can't happen is more than one party being alluded to as the bridge district's party.

"Questions have arisen whether the bill would prevent someone from taking a picture of the bridge and selling it, or putting an image of the bridge on a T-shirt and selling it. No, it doesn't. But it would prevent someone from doing things in a fashion that would tend to link those activities to the activities of the district." The bill, which is still pending, a in celebration Sea parade Featuring military aerial demonstration teams, tall ships, America's Cup challengers, etc. "Sky Spectacular" Billed as North America's largest fireworks and light display, Redmond says it will be bigger than such displays at the Bicentennial, the 1984 Olympics display and the planned Statue of Liberty show. To include specially composed musical fanfare on radio-simulcast soundtrack and "mysterious UFOs." Sports festival Three-day event featuring triathlon, marathon, sailboard, tennis, bicycle and celebrity baseball competitions.

Exposition Two-month festival during May and June 1987 on the former site Of the San Francisco World's Fair, including film festival and other exhibits. Gala Big party at City Hall. Commemorative posters To be created by "famous Bay Area artists." Examiner graphic. But when Novick and Associates was quietly awarded a four-month $64,000 contract in December to develop a master plan for the birthday activities, the lack of a bid process though not required drew criticism from some local public relations and marketing consultants who themselves thirsted for the contract. Further questions were raised earlier this month when Novick's mil.

-v a. firm, again without competitive bid, was awarded a 16-month, $160,000 contract to carry out the birthday activities and museum development. Both Molinari and Bronkema insist their $22 million celebration designed to be financed almost totally from corporate donations and private grants has the public interest at heart. "We want to make it abundantly clear that we haven't lost our minds," Molinari, a mayoral candidate, said during a recent visit to wmmimmmmmmmmmmmmMm h- tbs mwM is David against the bureaucratic Goliath' Patricia Novick The Examiner. "This is one of the seven wonders of the world and we ought to have something for future generations." Novick, who once worked with Redmond on a fair project, said she has been hurt by the attacks on her integrity and by the wave of criticism against the plans she helped create.

She said she accepted the task out of a commitment to preserving public institutions and landmarks. "People really have a symbolic, romantic connection to the bridge, and I believe whenever there are opportunities to emphasize important human values, we should take advantage of that." In addition to plans for building a museum and permanently lighting the bridge towers, the official bridge celebration calls for six weeks of special activities, including an international arts festival and sports exposition. The highlight of the party will be an anniversary pageant and special two-hour network television broadcast. According to Redmond, the official plan is similar to the one he has promoted in 1,800 pages of plans submitted over the years to bridge directors. But the similarities won't stop him, he said.

"The battle is on." Corrections and clarifications is The Examiner's policy to correct errors. Headers are urged to call mistakes to our attention by writing to us at P.O. Box 7260, San Francisco 94120. A story that appeared in last Sunday's editions of The Examiner about San Francisco ballot propositions I and correctly reported that a yes' vote would favor tearing down the Embarcadero Freeway, while a 'no' vote would favor leaving the freeway in place. An accompanying presentation of photos had the voter information reversed.

The corrected graphic is pictured at left. The Examiner regrets the error and confusion it may have caused. Tho razing dobato I i- It's a 300 pound chicken that lays regu- larsize eggs. Jon Twitchell, chairman of committee to remove the freeway be hjtorn down Minuses? Opponents predict worse traffic congestion for Bay Bridge and downtown commuters. Pluses? Would make way for waterfront improvements, including a six-lane boulevard and trolley line from Fort Mason to Mission Bay.

f'oin nn. an4 off-ramps -V.