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Posted on 09/28/2003 9:37:54 AM PDT by John Jorsett
Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante didn't have time for small talk when he dropped into Salinas on his campaign trail Saturday. Not that there were many who seemed to care.
Bustamante, who has mostly run on a "no on recall, yes on Bustamante" campaign for California governor, visited with a small group at a private fund-raiser in a home south of Salinas.
Apparently, anyone not willing to pay to speak with Bustamante was out of luck. The politician arrived in a private jet at Salinas Municipal Airport at 4 p.m., and within minutes of landing was whisked into a black sedan.
He arrived around 4:40 p.m. at the Alisal Road home of Jose L. Alcala, owner of Shorty's Portable Toilets. The chauffeured car was driven to the rear of a roped-off driveway, where Bustamante was escorted to the back door of the house and greeted by paid guests.
The visit to Salinas was the first, and likely the last, for Bustamante while on the recall campaign trail.
Despite assurances that he would address the public and talk to the press, Bustamante was swiftly escorted to rear entrances. Not once did he greet onlookers to answer their questions.
Then again, onlookers were few. Aside from mostly local reporters and a half-dozen Arnold Schwarzenegger supporters, no one seemed to notice or care that Bustamante was in town.
The Schwarzenegger fans were actually renegades from a convention of California Young Republicans being held this weekend in Monterey. Some said they had traveled from as far as Simi Valley to attend the conference.
Holding signs that read "Don't Gamble on Bustamante," the group protested the Democrat's campaign practices and policies, such as supporting higher vehicle registration fees. They decided to ditch the convention for the fund-raiser in order "to get the message across that we support Arnold," said Young Republican member Leigh Ann Cook of Bakersfield.
Cook and her cohorts said they would undoubtedly show their support for Schwarzenegger today at Monterey Jet Center, where the actor-turned-politician is expected to make a public appearance at 2 p.m. The Jet Center is at Monterey Peninsula Airport.
The group stood on the street for two hours, eliciting car honks from fellow Schwarzenegger fans, until Bustamante's event had ended around 6 p.m.
They received little attention from Bustamante, however. He acknowledged them only with a thumbs-up from his car while on his way back to the Salinas airport.
It was unclear how many attended the exclusive event, but only a dozen or so people were seen bidding goodbyes as Bustamante returned to his tinted-window sedan.
Fund-raiser tickets had been said to cost $250, but a woman who showed up Saturday to meet Bustamante said she paid only $100.
Chris Conley of Soledad said she wanted to talk with Bustamante about convicted sex offender Brian DeVries, who was recently assigned by the court to live on prison grounds in her city.
"We want him to know that we've gathered 5,000 signatures on a petition" to have DeVries removed from Soledad, Conley said. "Hopefully, he'll have some insight on the issue."
The adult-school teacher also said she wanted to speak with Bustamante about the three issues that matter to her most: "affordable health care, housing and driver's licenses for immigrants."
How appropriate.
'Cause Bustawhitey is circling the bowl.
LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR SEEKS ENDORSEMENT
Bustamante made his remarks after being asked if his candidacy was hurting the Democrats' chances of beating the recall. The lieutenant governor dodged the question and said instead that he hoped the governor would publicly support him. ``He hasn't quite said it yet, but we're hoping he will,'' Bustamante said at a campaign event at a Huntington Park senior center, where he outlined a plan to lower prescription drug costs.LOS ANGELES - Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante sought the endorsement of Gov. Gray Davis on Saturday and said he hoped the two would soon be campaigning together, a day after the Davis campaign publicly discounted Bustamante's chances of prevailing in the Oct. 7 recall election.
In a related story, Alisal Road Department of Public Works complained bitterly about the number of empty crack bottles and Mecha flags they had to remove from the site.
FMCDH
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