News Scrapbook 1984

Handicap Won't Stop Candidate

Palm Springs, CA (Riverside co.) D1s1rt Sun (8xW. 25,783)

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Being Blind Doesn't Slow Simmons' Drive for 41st District Win

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By BARR~&TMAN, Times Staff Writer

For local Democratic Party offi- cials, who often have difficulty attractmg strong candidates for lo- cal races, the resume of 41st Con- gressional District candidate Robert L. Simmons reads like a dream. A lawyer and law professor at the University of San Diego, Simmons ha publishea- several books on crimmal law. Before moving to San Diego In . 1972. Simmons was a common pleas court judge in north- eastern Oh10 and the law director of three Ohio cities. He Is the co-founder of the Utility Consum- ers' Action Network (UCA. ), a group that aims to keep down the Saru)Jego Gas & Electnc Co.'s rates. and a respected community leader m San Carlos. mdness ---misnot stopped Simmons --:fronrdomg much m his personal or professional life, and he says he doubts that it will be a senous handicap m his long-shot bid to unseat Rep. Bill Lowery (R-San Diego). "Tm hoping that people will de- cide to allow a blind man to be their guide to a new vision of America," said the 56-year-old Simmons, who lives with his wife in San Carlos and is the father of five sons. Has Eodonemeoh Indeed. m poliucs, where being unusual often carries with it certain advantages-namely, additional news media attenuon and public exposure-Simmons' physical hamlicap could be a political boon. If. as expected, Simmons wins the four-candidate June 5 Democratic pnmary-he has been endorsed by many local elected Democrats and clearly is the preference of party officials-his blindness could gen- erate the kmd of publicity that 1s essential if a candidate is to have even an outside chance of upsetting a powerful incumbent. Simmon~• primary opponents mclude home- maker Linda Carlston. engineer Daniel Hostetter and dentist Nor- man E. Mann. "'We cert.a.Jnly have no plans to try to capitalize on my (blindness), S1mnu> also is blind. I-11s

'I'm blind . .. If that causes people to pay clos- er attention to what I say, well, I'm willing to take help wherever I can get it.'

-Robert Simmons

my life." During that period, he has written a book, ""Winning Cr1mmal Cases," co-founded the San Carlos Area Council and UCAN, and led successful community fights to pre- vent the construction of radio an- tennas on Cowles Mountam and for a zoning prov1s1on that will protect park areas from high-rises. He also is a legal consultant to opponents of the proposed San Diego-to:Los An- geles "'bullet'" train. Those accomplishments, Sim- mons believes. could help him over- come any skepticism that voters might have about whether blind- ness would hamper his effective- ness as an elected official. "I'll be glad to compare my accomplishments since losmg my sight with anyone, especially Low- ery.'' Simmons said. "A man is a measure of his abilities, not his disabilities." In Per1pedlve The passage of time also has allowed Simmons to place his blind- ness in perspective. "Bemg blind i!J a pam in the ass, but nothing more," Simmona said. "It's not true, as sighted people believe, that being blind makes life empty and a real drag. Because I once had sight, I have visual image- ry and can visualize things when I'm in a familiar place or smell a certam fragrance." Simmons also has a habit of puttmg people around him at ease about his blindness by making light of the handicap.

but obviously It'& something that we can't hide." Simmons said. "'I'm blind. That"s a fact of my hfe. If that causes people to pay closer atten- tion to what l say, well. I'm willing to take help wherever I can get it." Simmons lost his eyesight m 1978 over a 48-hour period as a result of what he termed "a hit and run virus." "It took me about three weeks to accept what had happened and start adiustmg," Simmons recalled. "At S.D.County Elections first. I was gettmg the worst kmd of response from my family and friends-sympathy. And I started feeling sorry for myself. The far- thest thing from my mmd, like everyone else's, 1s that I could wake up some morning with no eyesight. I suppose like anyone else m that situation, I wondered, "Why me?"" The turning point. Simmons said, came when he met a rehabilitation counselor who taught him certain technical skills, such as how to get around with a cane, and, more importantly, provided him with valuable advice. "He spoke roughly to me. and that's exactly what I needed to hear." Simmons said. "He told me 1t was time to stop wallowmg in mawkish self-pity and get back to work, and I did." Simmons returned to work within several weeks after losmg his sight and insists that the past SIX years "have been the most productive of

"'Probably the maior difference it made in my life is that now I don't Please see SIMMO S, Pace Z

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}!art II/Mondayl'1ay 21, 1984

SIMMONS: B indness Is No Barrier

Los Angeles, CA (Los Angeles Co.) Times (San Diego Ed.) (D. 50,010)

Contioaed from Pace 1 ,z.qqt;'° waste a lot of time watching a lot of bad television," Simmons said. "I'm not sure that missing game shows and sitcoms is a handicap. It does get a little frustrating, though, dur- ing tqrrid love scenes when you don't hear any words spoken for minutes on end." A devoted San Diego Chargers fan, S 1 mmons still attends several football games a year, following the action through radio headphones. "'I react about 10 seconds later than the rest of the crowd," Sim- mons ]oked. "While everyone else Jwnps up as they see a touchdown play unfolding, I'm still listening to the announcer saying, 'lt's a long pass ... u, Neighbors anti friends tell stories about Simmons doing yard work, 'J',e never once heard Bobget depressed orfeel hindered in any way . .. ' discus ng in detail the day's news and engaging in other "normal" activities that, in the words of Ann Ma Cullough, president of the San Car os Area Council, "'cause you never to think of Bob as being blind.' "I've never once heard Bob get depreued or feel hindered in any way his own mind by being blind, MacCullough said. Simmons keeps up with current events by listening to television news rograms. havmg his wife or friends read the newspaper to him and via his subscription to an audio ve °!' of Newsweek magazine. Memory Improved ''If I got elected to Congress, my work habits really would not be that different from that of the other members," Simmons said. "No con- gressman reads everything on ev- ery issue. He receives summaries from bis staff. That's what I'd expect to do." Sim1J1ons contends that he can concentrate better and that his memory has improved since he lost his eyesight. His public appear- ances, in which he often delivers remarkably detailed speeches packed with specific figures and quotations, seem to provide proof of that claim. During one recent meet- ing, for example, Simmons ticked off more than a dozen votes cast by

Appr I al

(S. 55,573) ,AY 2

1984

San Diego, CA (San Diego Co.) Evening Tribune (D. 127,454)

;fl SIMMONS ~t/'?5 Continued from Page 2 only one in 20. So there's hope."

AY 22 1984

Two other major factors contribute to Simmons' hope. One is that his connections to the legal community probably will give him a significant boost in one area where many other local Democratic congressional candidates fail-fund raismg. Simmons said he expects to spend about $30,000 in the primary and about $250,000 overall in his campaign. In addition, the 41st District, which stretches along the coast from Pomt Loma to Solana Beach and reaches inland as far as the San Diego-Santee boundary, is one where the Republican Party holds only a thin edge over the Democrats in voter registration-42.9% to 41.1 %. Local Democratic Party officials concede that Sim- mons faces tough odds, but nonetheless view his candidacy as perhaps their best shot of picking up an additional congressional seat in San Diego County this year. "I pray for a world where people like Bob Simmons can win," said Phil Connor, San Diego County Demo- cratic Party chairman. "He's the kind of person I'd trust my gov~~nment to and who's in politics for all the right reasons. Simmons, however, said he is not easily deterred by poor political odds. "Every day of my life is a challenge, a fight to accomplish goals," Simmons said. "'Yes, I face some big obstacles in this race. But I think I've already proved that I can overcome obstacles."

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. VA'P1_rlU,M . 1c paintings of the Vatican b V W - Eight of 91 histor- on view at a preview rece / ~rnon Howe Bailey will be Jam s S. Copley Library ~/~ge tr-4 at _the Helen K and The collection wa donated to uJ~v~ty -Of -~1ego. ~frs Hoy &!wards of Lorn m 1983 by Mr. and first artist to receive las Santa_Fe. Bailey was the vale areas of the var:tpa perm1ss1on to depict the pri- drawing which resultedc:°. The wate colors and sepia are described as '"historica~fm his 1932 Vatican residence ly appealing." Highlighting tbeunique as we!l as artistical- presentahon describin th reception will be a pecial h~n of a limited editio! r / collection and the introduc- will be available to conC:t~':.;i1~g~t reproductions which the reception collect"o . r her mformation about tained by co~tacting b n ~d reproductions can be ob- assistant to the USO pre~den1f~~kJsroown Jr.,_special :u Tl GS O VIE

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San Diego, CA (San Diego Co.) Evening Tribune (0. 127,454)

JOELZWINK Robert L. Simmons uses a tape recorder to store information. The University of San Diego law professor says that his blindness is no handicap in his campaign for a nomination to run for Congress.

MAY 22 1984

gation to do more than stand on the sidelines and complain." "I've been stewing for years as a John Doe member of the public about a do-nothing Congress and finally decided it was time to do something," Simmons said. "'I'm not a miracle worker and I know I can't hope to change the country over- night. But I would try to be the conscience of Congress, its hair shirt, its goad." Chances Slim Simmons concedes his chances of victory are slim. "'Today, I see myself as having a one in 10 chance," he said. "But last fall, I would have said my chances were Please see SIMMONS\ !'fre 8

Lowery last year. Looking beyond the primary, Simmons said that he hopes to make Lowery's record-which he char- acterizes as "anti-environment, an- ti-women and an automatic 'yes' for every unnecessary, unwise, budg- et-busting defense program that comes along" -the major issue in the fall campaign. "There's quite a gap between what Mr. Lowery says and what he does," Simmons said. "He has raised double speak to a fine art form. Our job is to simply get out the truth." Aside from his disdain for Low- ery's record, Simmons said he de- cided to enter the race because of his belief that "'if you feel strongly about something, you have an obli•

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