News Scrapbook 1982-1984

San Diego, CA (San Diego Co.) Daily Transcript (Cir. D. 7,000)

San Diego, CA (Sa1r _ -o.) Evening Tribune (D. 127,454)

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Commentary

An end to be desired

"could be in trouble. n M counselor, was ed to make a re- turn appearance after Democrats y terday demanded another chance lo qu tlon him on 1980 Carter cam- patgn memos that have been found in M ' files and on some financial matt Recalling Meese for more ques- ti run ill d lay the Judiciary Com- mitt 's vote on Meese's nomination to th nation's top law enforcement pot. A vote had been schedul for tomorrow The White Ho spo esman said M admitted that his wife, Ursu- la, received the $1~.000 inter t-free loan in December 1980 from Edwin Thomas, a close friend who later rved as Meese's aide In the White Ho Pl< currently the White House

Aside from the ideological position that government ought not to regulate business exc, pt in the face of severe abuse of the public interest, there are other reasons the bill ought to It appears that it has abus- ed both ends of its responsibili- ty. It has revoked only one license in the last 10 years, ac- cording to research at the US!) Center for Public Interest Law, and although it has the authori- ty, through a 1980 legal opi- nion, it has not required dry cleaners to post prices. On the other hand, it has created such severe re- quirements to applicants for be passed and the board abolished.

By ROD RIGG~~.?~

new licenses that the pass rate on the Board exams as low as 40%. Better that the business be regulated by the free market system than by a state board. Consumers who now may pay prices kept artificially high by lack of competition would benefit by the entry into the business of additional practitioners. The board has an $831,000 budget, yet does not perform any important function. Better to get rid of it and at the same time send a signal to other un- necessary state regulators that they are at peril. That may be unrealistic, but it's certainly desirable.

SA.\DIEG()DAJI.YTR.4NSC71IPT~F.diw In this over-regulated state, there are specialty boards and commissions, some with licens- ing PQWers, which probably are totally unknown except to those who come within their One such, perhaps, is the State Board of Fabric Care, created in 1945 to license and those who operate businesses involved in clean- ing, dyeing and pressing regulate regulatory authority.

clothing.

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1968, 1971 and 1979 Now there is another effort, initiated in

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the State Senate

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

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ACCOMPLISHMENTS QUESTIONED

B,~.fil.ics Tribune C.Spitol C-Orrespondent The state Board of Fabric Care, which licenses more than 15,000 dry cleaners, is under fire from critics, who con- tend it neither protects con- sumers nor improves the in- dustry. As one San Diego dry cleaner put i~ "H the board can't clean up its act, let's get rid of it." A bill to eliminate the board and state regulation of the industry, sponsored by the Center for Public In- terest Law at the Univeai- ty of ~o. was intro- duced last month by Sen. Leroy Greene, D-Sacramen- to. The seven-member board operates with an $800,000 annual budget and has built up a $1.1 million surplus for the year ending June 30. The money comes from $200 license fees paid every other year, and lesser oper- ator fees. But there are questions about what all that outlay is accomplishing. SACRAMENTO -

seek to abolish state fabric care panel the Fabulous Inn zn Mission it bas nothing to do with Ji. Valley and a two-tenn for- cesse requirements im- mer board member, said pored by the board

' ... There are so many rules and regulations that nobody enforces,·so we have a lot ofgood cleaners and a lot ofhad cleaners'

istration's chief concern is that some agency of gov- ernment should be responsi- ble for safety in the clean- ing industry's use of toxic substances if the Greene bill eliminates the board.

th~ board shoul~ be main- lain~ because 1t regulates the mdustry and provides a ent of Consumer Affairs f?rum fo: consumers. Vola- said the Deukmejian admln~ tile clearung solvents can be Torn Cecil, legislative laison for the state Depart-

deadly and should be regu- lated, he said. But Gene Erbin, field di- rector for the USD center said abolishing the board would send a signal to the myriad licensing boards and commissions that they could suffer the same fate if they didn't shape up. Palmer, who was named to the board by then-Gov. Ronald Reagan, dismisses the USD center as "an intel- lectual hippie organiza- tion." Erbin said earlier efforts to abolish the fabric care board failed because legis- !ato~ saw no point in jump- mg mto a debate involving thousands of politically sa- crosanct small businesses. · Only California and Okla- '· homa have state regulatory i agencies for dry cleaners, and other states do quite well without them, Erbin said, adding, "Competition will eliminate the incom- petent dry cleaner." With or without a board, the consumer would have recourse to small claims court, he said. "Sophisticat- ed transactions are not in- volved. Visual inspection of

BLADE TRIBUNE MAR l S 7984

URSULA MEESE Figures In $15,000 luterest-free loan agreement

law workshops set SA~ DIEGO-:- The University of San Diego School of }f w m Acloopeahon with Certified Public Accountants eres, p_ert, a nd Carne will hold a series of four whorkshops m March and April in The Douglas F Man- e este~ Execut!ve Conference Center. · For mformat10n and reservations call 293-4585 The schedule of workshops is: · Friday~: March 23 and 30: "Accounting Concepts for L~wyers, a_ two-pa~ workshop to familiarize lawyers :th f cdountmg practices and provide them with a basic an~w e J{ of 1 enerally accepted accounting principles atu ing s andards as they apply in specific cir- cums ances. Friday, April 6: "Overview of Personal Injury Wr?ngful Death, Other Earnings Loss Situations," t~ asfrst t~e lawyer m evaluating lost earnings situations ca culatm~ th_e damages,_presenting the damages in court and questionmg/evaJuatmg the testimony of other ex - Frid~,Y,. April 13: "Examination of Questioned Docu- m_ents? mcludmg methods to detect forged initials on wills, mcorrect dating, additions and alterations, for1;ed

*Meese Continued From Page I Thomas a former San Diegan, was associated with Edwin Meese at the Center for Criminal Justice at ~e University of San Diego f:om 19~7 to 198~. ~omas now is a General Services dmirustration off1c1al m San Fran- cisco. The Meese letter to Thurmond said the loan was for Mrs. Meese to buy stock in B1otech for thell' children. The stock was sold in 1983 at a lo of $3,000 and the loan was repaid in full, Mees said. Meese is expected to fly back to Washington from Flor- ida and appear before the committee, perhaps tomorrow. "Meese has said that he will come," Thurmond spokes- man Mark Goodin said after the chairman telephoned Meese in Florida Thomas who d rlbed himself as a friend of Meese since 1967: when the two joined Reagan's admjnist~~tion in California, said, "I lent him money several times, Tbe Washington Post reported. The most recent loan was in December 1980, just before Reagan took office. Thomas said at first he gave the money to the Me "family:• but la_ter said,_ "I didn't loan it to Ed. I gave it to Ursula. ' He 1d be believes the loan was repaid about two years ago, the Post reported. The loan was not disclosed in Meese's statement to.the Office of Gov rnment Ethics, although the law requ1~es senior government officials to disclose all outstanding loans of more than $10,000, including loans to members of their families. The controversy over Meese's nomination took a new twist last week with the disclosure that he was sent m?re than a dozen memos during the 1980 Reagan campatgn containing inside infonnation on President Carter's re- election strategy. President Reagan in an interview released yesterday, blasted committee Democrats and reaffirmed his support for Meese. "I trust him more than some of the senators that have been raising these i ues," he said. /' ~ ------=======~

Geraldine Hurley, a Los Angeles-area educator and two-tenn public member of the board appointed by e:i- Gov. Jerry Brown, says there is a need for govern- ment to regulate an indus- try that uses toxic substanc- es as cleaning solvent, as well as police the growing busin~ of home or office carpet and drapery clean- ing using the same chemi- cals. However, she said the board could do more to reg- ulate the industry and should be abolished unless it changes course. Henry Gelbart, owner of Town and Country Cleaners and president of the San Diego County Dry Cleaners Association Inc., says, "I don't think they do a good job. There are so many rules and regulations that nobody enforces, so we have a lot of good cleaners and a lot of bad cleaners." Gelbart, whose associa- tion has about 140 mem- bers, said, "I'm in favor of abolishing it unless there are stricter controls." Walter Palmer, owner of

The generous funding notwithstanding, the board has revoked only one li- cense in the past decade. Those promoting the repeal legislation say it would have an important side benefit - discouraging the proliferation of such boards, with their mixed blessings. Pending bills would set up new panels to deal with such occupations as interior designers, recreational therapists, travel coun- selors and literary agents. But there are others who believe the fabric care board should be maintained if it reforms itself. '

h~lographic wills, cut-and-paste photocoples and forged signatures. '

clothing readily enables the consumer to detect poor work. Irreparable or se- rious injury is not involved. Dissatisfied consumers will take their business else- where." Gelbart said he doub the cost of cleaning a shirt would change if the boarq were abolished, but Erbi said deregulation would in- crease competition and re- duce consumer prices. Gelbart said there al- ready is intense competi- tion within the industry and

SAN DI EGO UNION r-~----MAR~ l 8 198.J ----

Uniformly popular

Lt. Robert 0. ~_man, the U.S. Navy flier who was held captive 10 Syria as a POW, will be the honored guest here March 31 at the Militar Ball: The Navy ROTC of San Diego State unf- vers1ty and the University of San Diego will host the third annual ball at the Sheraton Har- bor Island. Sponsored by the two universities and the Army, Navy and Air Force ROTC pr; gr_ams of both, the event will begin with cock- tads. at 7 p.m., dinner at 8 p.m., followed by dancmg to the Navy Band San Diego. Military dress or blac~ tie is the requested attire. Other special guests will be Thomas B. Day, Spindrift SDSU president; Author H h and Merrill J Less! ey, actmg dean of SDSU• e~e of Professional Studies and F· A s Donat10ns for the ball are $25 me rts. per couple, with proceeds O per person or $40 programs and the military s~h:~~. the ROTC make reservations, call the Navy R01pTfCundff._To at USO. o ice . u~ es, USO pres1den~ Coll .

LA COSTAN MAR151984

Vatican painting collection at USO

A major donation of 91 Vatican paintings to the University of San Diego will touch both San Diegan. and the rest of the country in a variety of way . "A Trip Through The Vatican" Is a collection of watercolors and sepia drawings completed by V mon Howe Balley during a 1921-22 stay a• the Vatican. He was the first artist ever to r c Ive papal perm! Ion to paint the private quarters of the pontiff. After Balley completed the serie , though, It acquired a history of mystery and intrigue. Individuals who sought to profit from the paintings met sudden death. After repeated difficulties in promoting them,

the paintings were finally permanently stored ... until now. The collection was donated by Mr. and Mrs. Roy Edwards of Lomas Santa Fe, who acquired the paintings more than twenty years ago from one of Howe' original underwriters. The coll ction will fir t reach the public through a serie of USD•sponsored "Invisible University" courses. Georgie Stillman, a na- tionally recognized appraiser, became an ex- pert on Bailey' career while assessing the col- lection. She will present a lecture and slide show about the artist and collection in neighborhoods throughout the country