Did right-wing loons establish the SOCCCD?

     We at DtB have on occasion delved into the district’s formative years, revealing, for instance, its various early designations ("South Coast Junior College District") and the nature of its early controversies (long hair, plans for library windows, rumors of hippie invasions, etc.).
     One name that comes up a lot in the record of our glorious past is "Hans Vogel," who, as far as I know, is still with us (he’d be about 90 years old now).
     Now, before I go on, I want to be clear that, for all that I know, Mr. Vogel is a really great guy. For instance, he may be a terrific father and husband and, oh, pet owner. We know that he's a war hero.
     We're only talking about his politics here. OK?

     The above "groundbreaking" photo can be found at the district website. The caption mentions Vogel among other members of the “charter board":

With the formation of the district, residents voted as their charter board: Alyn M. Brannon and Hans W. Vogel of Tustin; Louis J. Zitnick of Laguna Beach; Patrick J. Backus of Dana Point; and Michael T. Collins of Laguna Niguel. The first president-elect was Dr. Vogel who served four times as president during almost eight years on the board.

     Previously (see), I reported that Vogel had distinguished himself as an interpreter/interrogator during World War II while serving under Patton in Europe. (I recall that, on one occasion, trustee Don Wagner marveled at Vogel's wartime adventures.) After the war, Vogel became a noted college volleyball coach; he also wrote about and published some of his wartime experiences. (He's a German scholar.) In the 50s, he left collegiate life behind in favor of the construction industry. Much later, he returned to education at the K-12 level. (At one point, he was invited to join the CIA!)
     And he's been active in local politics.
     We’ve long suspected that some of the district’s early movers and shakers were, oh, seriously conservative—even Neanderthalic. Given some of Vogel's decisions and positions, we've wondered if he was anything like the stereotypical 60s South County right-wing loon.
     Some readers have come out of the woodwork, seeking to refute any such suggestion.
     Today, I happened upon a brief description of Vogel in Tom Rogers’ book about Orange County politics, Agents’ Orange (2000). Rogers, an early (1962) admirer of notorious right-winger John Schmitz, was the chairman of the OC GOP from about 1969 until 1972, and he remained active in local politics at least until 2000 (he died six years ago). By the 1980s, owing to his fidelity to conservative principles and his determination to conserve the look and feel of rural OC, Rogers had become alienated from the GOP establishment. He felt that the party had utterly sold out to big business interests, especially developers.
     Here’s what Rogers says about Vogel:

     Hans Vogel was one of the first county residents to become involved in conservative politics. As a local businessman and bookstore owner, Hans was able to gather a circle of friends and associates to informal discussion concerning many issues. He was an early supporter of [notorious John Bircher*] John Schmitz, but his most impressive accomplishments was to sponsor a book-signing event at his Tustin bookstore, featuring a rising star in GOP politics, Ronald Reagan who had written a book Where’s the Rest of Me? [1965] The event was a success by all standards, and really introduced the future governor to local conservatives who came away with a signed book and a determination to support Ronald Reagan in his political career.
     Hans was also active in the County Republican Central Committee as publisher and editor of the Observer. [Elsewhere, Rogers explains that Vogel did an excellent job in that role. The Observer faded from the scene many years ago.]

     I suppose that answers our questions about Mr. Vogel, who, as far as I know, did not experience Rogers’ gradual disaffection with the local GOP. He was (and perhaps is) seriously right-wing. Remember: John Schmitz was a member of the John Birch Society, which was very active in OC.
     According to the district website, Governor Reagan participated in the dedication of Saddleback College on October 15, 1968—and Vogel "was instrumental in securing the Governor's participation in the historical event."
     Ronald Reagan, of course, deserves a high position on any shitlist assembled by critics of development in Orange County. With regard to overdevelopment, surely one of the worst events in OC history was Governor Reagan’s appointment, in 1974, of Tom Riley to replace the deceased Ronald Caspers on the OC Board of Supervisors.
     "General" Riley was extremely pro-development.
     And the rest was history.
     By the way, originally, Reagan had announced his intention of naming Tom Fuentes as Caspers’ replacement, but a residency rule nixed that plan. The disappointed Fuentes gave himself a big fund-raiser and then went to seminary instead.
     But it didn’t take.

"Prior to the dedication [10/15/68], Governor Reagan met with Board of Trustees, from left to right:
Allyn Brannon, Hans W. Vogel, Michael Collins, Patrick Backus,
Louis Zitnik and Superintendent Fred Bremer." (From district website.)

*The John Birch Society was much bothered by its reputation as a haven for extremists and, at some point, it purged itself of some noisy members who seemed to be anti-Semitic. John Schmitz was among these. After losing his Congressional seat, Schmitz ran for President for the American Independent Party, receiving about one and a half percent of the votes. Unfortunately, his later years were marked by a sordid scandal.

Norton Simon in Orange County—Tom Rogers' terrific "chopper" yarn—and Arlene Hoffman

Jennifer Jones

     He was a rich industrialist (Hunt-Wesson, Avis) and art collector who ran for Republican candidate for the Senate (in 1970), married actress Jennifer Jones (1973), and is most remembered today for his impressive art museum.
     I'm talking about Norton Simon, Republican.
     He was born in 1907, in Oregon. He died in 1993.
     Susan Stamberg of NPR did a great little piece about Simon and his museum a year or so ago: The Best Museum You Haven't Visited.
     The piece was occasioned by the publication of a book by Sara Campbell, the museum’s senior curator, who has some interesting stories and comments about Simon:

     The successful industrialist approached his art museum with a businesslike efficiency. When he came to visit, he would inspect his collection, but never linger, Campbell recalls: "He would make a circuit of every single work of art and walk as fast as he could."
     Simon hired Campbell 41 years ago [1970] as a typist. She remembers him as a wonderful boss who solicited opinions about art from everyone.

Norton Simon

     "He asked everybody what they thought about the collection," Campbell says. "He would ask me, he would ask the most prestigious museum director, and he would ask his cook."
     But after gathering the information so democratically, Simon would do whatever he wanted, Campbell says.

     SIMON COMES TO OC. Simon quit college (UCB) in 1925 to start a sheet-metal business. In 1927 he paid $7000 for an orange juice bottling plant in Fullerton, named Val Vita Food Products Co. The company soon expanded into vegetable juices and then canning. By 1943, Simon was in charge of Hunt Foods after its merger with Val Vita.
     Evidently, Simon was a pioneer of aggressive marketing, placing ketchup ads in upscale magazines. By 1945, Hunt Foods was a household name and the company slogan, “Hunt for the best,” was familiar to everyone. I recall the slogan from my youth.
     So Simon was an Orange County guy, in some sense.
     I found this picture of workers at Val Vita in Fullerton (see at right)—probably in the 30s. Very cool. (I briefly worked at the Hunt-Wesson factory during one summer, circa 1974. As I recall, the whole place—even the interior—seemed covered in oil.)

At Val Vita, Fullerton

     TOM ROGERS' YARN. Do you recall Tom Rogers? I’ve written about him recently—in connection with Tom Fuentes and his mentor, the decidedly hinky Mr. Ronald Caspers, the OC Supe who died in 1974.
     Rogers, who died about six years ago, was an OC landowner and rancher who became involved in OC Republican politics starting in the early 60s. He served as OC GOP chair starting about 1968—just before things went all to hell. By the 80s, he became alienated from the GOP establishment and was a leader in OC’s “slow growth” movement, which, sadly, failed miserably in staunching the tide of ruinous development, which continues.
     Despite his having supported right-winger John Schmitz, all things considered, Rogers seems to have been an admirable guy. (See Straight-shooting conservative Tom Rogers on Caspers, Harber, and what they portended.)
     Well, I’ve been rereading Rogers' important book (Agents’ Orange—I seem to have the only copy that's left) and I came across the following terrific story about the Norton Simon campaign of 1970:

Actor George Murphy

     In 1970, [conservative Senator George] Murphy was up for reelection, and a surprise opponent appeared, vowing to contest the Republican Primary [—namely, industrialist Norton Simon of Fullerton]….
     It was clear to most observers that Simon was in the race as a stalking horse [i.e., not a serious candidate] to discredit Murphy. He had scads of money, and would be formidable in weakening Murphy in the primary campaign.
     Given the scenario, I [as OC GOP chair] was at the Registrar of Voters office in Santa Ana on the last day for filing papers, a practice that I had followed for several years. My purpose was to scout the opposition, and to dissuade any “ringer” from jumping in on the GOP side of the ticket. To solve any problem which might arise, I had three of my most trusted interns assist me at the Registrar that particular day.
     At about 3:30 P.M. a stranger came in looking somewhat harried. It was obvious that he did not know the procedures, so I approached him and asked if he needed help. Grateful, he told me he was from the Norton Simon campaign, and when they tried to file their papers with the LA Registrar, they were told that because Simon had listed an OC address as his place of residence (Hunt Foods in Fullerton), the papers would have to be filed in OC. They were also told that the papers would require the signatures of 30 local residents.
     I took the man in the gray suit over to the counter, and helped him obtain the forms. When I asked him how he was going to get signatures at such a late hour, he told me that they had a roomful of local Republican employees ready to sign, and he was on his way to gather the signatures and would return to Santa Ana before 5:00 P.M.
     It was after 4:00 by the time he had everything, and when he left the building I called one of the interns over, filled him in on the situation and directed him to follow the man’s car to the Grand Avenue on-ramp, and to rear-end him on the ramp. My orders were to insist that the Highway Patrol be called, and this [delay] would effectively end Simon’s bid since any delay would cause the papers to be filed too late. It would have been close even without the fender bender.
     The young staffer, always loyal and unquestioning, jumped into his wreck of a car, and took off in hot pursuit.
     I could not believe my great good fortune. I had pulled off the coup of the decade, and even called Murphy headquarters to let them in on how brilliant I actually was. In what seemed a rather short time, the intern came back, out of breath and red in the face. I was concerned that he had gone too far and had actually caused a real wreck.
     “What happened?” I asked.
     “I jumped into my car, and the man got into his, but he drove across the street to the orange grove. He got out and ran, and I followed him on foot.” His story stopped while he caught his breath.
     “Then what?”
     He responded, “The man ran to a clearing past the grove, and jumped into a helicopter which was waiting for him—he jumped in and they took off and I tried, but I couldn’t stop the chopper.”
     Simon’s man got back in time with the papers, and the business tycoon spent millions in a campaign, which did nothing except discredit George Murphy.
     Murphy lost to John Tunney…. (pp. B-18-B-20)

     Now that’s a great yarn. I believe every word of it.
     (You’ll recall that the Robert Redford movie, The Candidate (1972), was loosely based on the Tunney campaign.)

Val Vita Foods, Fullerton

P.S.: Arlene Hoffman—& Simon—& Harber—& Cella

     At the time of the "chopper" incident, Simon's secretary was one Arlene Hoffman.
     Remember her? From 1972 until 1974, she was the office manager or secretary for Fred Harber and Associates. Harber was the “genius” political consultant who, starting in the late 60s or early 70s, assisted the infamous Dr. Louis Cella (partner of Richard O'Neill), who essentially controlled Orange County politics (or at least the Board of Supervisors) during the mid to late 70s. 
     It was the worst scandal in OC's history.

     Among the OC Supervisors Cella owned was Ron Caspers, for whom Tom Fuentes was chief assistant (Fuentes had also been made a "consultant" to Caspers S&L).

     Both Caspers and Harber mysteriously disappeared off the coast of Baja California in June of 1974—in the famous “Shooting Star” incident.

     After that tragedy, Ms. Hoffman worked at Cella's hospital and was eventually (1976) compelled to testify before a grand jury about Cella's political and business activities. 
     Some (in the DA's office) believe that she lied on the stand to protect him.

     Then, from 1978 through 1991, she ran her husband’s office (he was a probate referee).

     Late in 1994, not long after her husband's death, at the recommendation of Lyle Overby [who, incidentally, disembarked the Shooting Star just before it left for its doomed voyage], she was employed by newly-elected OC Supervisor Jim Silva, a Republican. When, one day late in December, she didn’t show up for work, Silva had the police go to her Laguna Niguel home. They found her dead body near the entry. She had been killed with an arrow, possibly from a cross-bow, the night before. The arrow was not found on the scene. Nothing was.

     Evidently, nothing had been taken from her home; it had not been ransacked. Her dog was still with her when the police arrived.

     The murderer has never been identified.

Unsolved 1994 murder in Laguna Niguel

OC Register
May 10, 2006
Police, fire, courts LAGUNA NIGUEL

     Orange County sheriff's investigators continue to ask for the public's help in finding the person who killed Arlene Hoffman nearly eight years ago [sic?—eleven and a half years ago].
     Hoffman, 57, was found dead in her Laguna Niguel home Dec. 30, 1994. She may have been killed with an arrow or a similar instrument.
     Anyone with information about the case is asked to call (714) 647-7055.

Shooting Star, part 11: mob connections, an unexplained murder

The entire “Fuentes/Shooting Star” saga can be found here.

      For those of you with the patience, I have more background on the “Shooting Star” story. You’ll recall that the yacht, Shooting Star, disappeared off the coast of Baja California in June of 1974, taking ten men with her, including Orange County Supervisor (5th District) Ron Caspers and political consultant Fred Harber. Harber was a key strategist for Dr. Louis Cella and his “shadow government” (to use OC DA Cecil Hicks’ phrase), which included in its stable four Supes, including Caspers. Caspers’ “executive aide” at the time of the Shooting Star incident was Tom Fuentes, who, it is often reported, decided to pass on the trip at the last minute, but not before he packed an extra ice chest for his boss filled with hors d’oeuvres and drinks.

      In my last post, we learned (based on the account of one-time OC GOP chair Tom Rogers) that Caspers, a Republican banker, engaged in foul deceptions to tarnish the reputation of 5th District Supervisor Alton Allen, whose office he evidently coveted.

      Below are excerpts from two articles from the January, 1976, edition of The California Journal. The first, by Dan Walters and his partner, describes Dr. Cella’s relationship to former Buena Park Mayor Fred Harber. Here, Harber emerges as a more interesting, and perhaps important, figure (at the time of the Shooting Star disappearance, he was 55 to Caspers’ 43 years of age).

      We also learn that Cella, (OC land baron) Richard O’Neill, and Harber partnered with a man tied to the mob.

      The next article, written by Nancy Boyarsky, briefly discusses Dr. Cella’s background. These details are pretty interesting.

      The last pair of articles, from the LA Times, have no very clear relationship to the Shooting Star/Cella saga. They concern the mysterious 1994 murder of a much-beloved woman who had worked as an assistant to many of the characters who have cropped up on these pages. Arlene Hoffman was slain, evidently, with an arrow from a cross-bow, in her Laguna Niguel home. The murderer took the arrow with him.
      Her murder has never been solved.

      She was once Fred Harber’s secretary at one of Louis Cella's hospitals. She had also worked for "Big Daddy" Jess Unruh and Norton Simon. At the time of her death in 1995, she had just been hired by new OC Supervisor Jim Silva.

The Tangled Web: Two

Unscrambling Dick and Doc’s financial and political empire

By Al Downer and Dan Walters

. . .

Mysterious figure [Dr. Louis Cella]

      Cella, whose business interests range from ranching to real estate but are concentrated in the medical field, is the mystery man of Orange County politics. Rumors about him and his political and business deals abound, but most of them evaporate under scrutiny.

      Cella operated behind-the-scenes until 1974, when he lost his front man, Fred Harber, who had been Cella’s chief political aide and sometimes business associate until his disappearance in June 1974. He and nine other persons, including Orange County Supervisor Ronald Caspers, vanished when Harber’s boat apparently sank off the coast of Baja California. Caspers was a member of the Cella-ONeill stable and his family savings-and-loan company had provided at least some of the financing for Cella’s chain of hospitals. “Harber was smooth, and as long as he was around things operated quietly with no fuss and muss,” says a knowledgeable Orange County observer. Harber operated out of one wing of the Cella clinic across the street from the county courthouse and once was on the payroll as an assistant to Supervisor Robert Battin, another organization politician who is now under indictment for using his staff in a political campaign.

      [State Controller Ken] Cory has described Harber as “a very good friend of mine, perhaps the best friend I have had.” And with good reason. Harber not only was the tactician for Cory’s early political successes, but he loaned Cory’s small insurance agency, Cornet Insurance Counselors, $95,250 in 1967 when the agency appeared to be having difficulty making payments on a note.

      Harber and Carl D’Agostino, now Cory’s deputy controller, were the co-founders of Demographic Communications Consultants, a campaign-management firm that has handled many campaigns for the Cella-ONeill organization. With Harber’s passing, Cella was forced to move into the open, and investigators began taking an interest in his complex of business affairs. Orange County District Attorney Cecil Hicks, perhaps the only major Orange County official openly hostile to Cella and O’Neill, has called Cella the man behind “a shadow government”. Cella hired a private investigator, through one of the hospitals, to investigate arch-enemy Hicks.

. . .

More ties 

      The influence of Cella and O’Neill in county government is apparent in many ways. A prime example is the El Toro case.

      El Toro Land Company was formed as a partnership in 1970 to develop a 39-acre parcel along the San Diego Freeway in Orange County. One of the original partners, with a $25,000 investment, was Albert Parvin, one-time Las Vegas casino-owner and head of the Parvin-Dohrmann Company and the Parvin Foundation. Meyer Lansky, reputed Mafia financial brain, was one of Parvin’s partners in the Flamingo Hotel and the Parvin Foundation had former Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas on its payroll for $12,000 per year – a revelation that sparked an impeachment effort against Douglas several years ago.

      Cella, O’Neill and Harber bought into El Toro Land in 1971 and remain as major partners, along with Parvin, according to corporate records. Shortly after they bought in, the Orange County Board of Supervisors took emergency action to establish a freeway interchange adjacent to that property and the land increased in value by 600 percent, county records show.

      As Cella and O’Neill were expanding their business and political empires, Cory was experiencing a growth of personal wealth and political influence. Cory, who attended four colleges and graduated from none, became involved in politics while still a teen-ager. He went to Sacramento in the early1960s as an aide to then-Assemblyman Richard Hanna, the first Democrat to achieve major office in Orange County in recent years, and Cory served on the staff of the Assembly Education Committee, which was chaired by Hanna.

. . .

The Tangled Web: Three

Richard O’Neill—last of the big spenders?

By Nancy Boyarsky

. . .

An enigma 

      The 51-year-old physician [Lou Cella] is something of an enigma. Two popular exercises in Orange County political circles are estimating the size of his wealth and speculating on its source. The estimates on size range from $50 million to $500 million, although he generally is regarded as being less wealthy than O’Neill. Even his closest business associates, including O’Neill, don’t know the extent of Cella’s business interests. And Cella’s own explanations elude verification. It is known that he came to Orange County about 20 years ago from Providence, Rhode Island, where his father was also a physician and political figure. But the elder Cella left an estate of less than a quarter-million dollars. Cella came to Orange County after losing a position as senior resident surgeon at Rhode Island Hospital. The hospital’s staff had given him a vote of “no confidence”. Cella had been expelled from one medical school for cheating and eventually graduated from another. Although he has maintained a small private practice in Santa Ana, Cella’s chief occupation in California has been that of businessman and political operative. He is involved in at least seven Orange County hospitals and has wide real-estate and other investments. The Internal Revenue Service says, however, that Cella hasn’t filed an income tax return for the past three years.

Arlene Hoffman

Who Killed Arlene Hoffman?

January 27, 1995 - NANCY WRIDE

. . .

      …From 1972 to 1974, she worked as a secretary for a political consulting firm called Fred Harber and Associates.

. . .

      "She spent everything they had trying to prolong his life," said Lyle Overby [you'll recall that he was on the Shooting Star but disembarked at Cabo], a political consultant and friend of 20 years whose admiration for Arlene Hoffman led him to recommend her to Silva….

One Year Later, Strange Slaying Still Unsolved : Inquiry: Whoever killed Arlene Hoffman with a hunting-type arrow left few clues. The Laguna Niguel widow was a longtime political aide and moved in high-profile circles.

December 30, 1995

NANCY WRIDE - TIMES STAFF WRITER

LAGUNA NIGUEL — Portions of drywall were hacked away from her condo in a futile hunt for clues. Detectives asked childhood friends and family to undergo fingerprinting and lie detector tests to narrow the field of suspects. Her son even offered a $25,000 reward from his inheritance for details leading to the conviction of the killer.

      But, one year later, the mystery remains unsolved as to who fired a hunting-type arrow through the chest of Arlene Hoffman, leaving her to bleed to death on the marble floor of her Laguna Niguel foyer.

      Hoffman, 57, widowed nine months earlier, was long active in the backfield of Southern California political campaigns. Shortly before she was found slain Dec. 30, 1994, she had been hired as personal secretary to Jim Silva, newly elected to the Orange County Board of Supervisors.

. . .

      Simply put, there was little if any physical evidence at the scene to trace back to Hoffman's killer—no shell casings or fingerprints, no permits or licensing required to buy or use an arrow, no weapon left behind….

*

      In her lifetime, Hoffman moved in some high-profile circles. In the 1970s, she was connected to some of the major stories and players of the day.

      She worked for the late millionaire industrialist and world-class art collector Norton Simon, up to and including his failed campaign for U.S. Senate in 1970. She was involved in other political campaigns, including former Assembly Speaker Jesse M. Unruh's unsuccessful 1973 bid to become mayor of Los Angeles. She was secretary to Fred Harber, a political consultant who vanished at sea off the coast of Baja California in June 1974.

      In 1976, she was called to testify as a witness before the Orange County Grand Jury investigating political corruption.

      Hoffman told the grand jury she was an employee of the hospital run by Dr. Louis Cella, a political kingmaker and largest campaign contributor in California at the time. Now dead [sic], Cella was accused of billing Medi-Cal for nonexistent patients, then funneling the money into the campaigns of numerous candidates who went on to hold major office. He ultimately was convicted of income-tax evasion, Medicare and Medi-Cal fraud, embezzlement and conspiracy. He spent 31 months in federal prison.

      Investigators believed Hoffman was on the payroll of a state-funded hospital but was actually working on political projects at Cella's behest—such as mimeographing campaign hit mailers out of the hospital's print shop. District attorney investigators say now that they believe she lied to protect her employers. Cella ran the first campaign of former Orange County Treasurer-Tax Collector Robert L. Citron, who has pleaded guilty for his role in the county's bankruptcy.

      Because Hoffman's slaying occurred in the high-anxiety days after the nation's largest municipal bankruptcy, the case has seemed ripe for speculation about a political connection. But beyond smoky rumor, investigators say, no such link between Hoffman's death and the bankruptcy has crystallized.

*

      By nightfall on Dec. 30, 1994, there was no call from Hoffman's cellular phone, no sign of her Mercedes-Benz in the county government parking lot. Supervisor Silva, whose entire family had become quite fond of Hoffman, grew worried and personally called Sheriff Brad Gates to have deputies check his secretary's condo. They found her dead in her hallway, the victim of an arrow possibly fired from a crossbow. An autopsy placed her death sometime during a 12-hour period between 7:30 p.m. Dec. 29 and 7:30 the following morning.

      Detectives have not recovered the arrow—which might have passed through her body or been removed from it by the killer. Her dog was skittering around the entryway, its bark surgically squelched by a previous owner. The front door was unlocked and there was no sign of a break-in.

      Inside her garage was her Mercedes and her cellular phone. Nothing of any value appeared missing from the house. Partial fingerprints taken from a stairway from which investigators suspect the killer fired the arrow down on Hoffman didn't lead to an arrest.

      Archery shops and sporting good stores in the region were questioned for leads.

      "They've interviewed everyone who ever had contact with her or might have had contact with her," Wilkerson said, "and any place she might have frequented, employees."

      Her relatives declined to discuss the case, requesting privacy in their grief. Her son, Charles Anthony Hoffman, 26, who was talkative July 12, 1994, when he announced the reward for information leading to the conviction of his mother's killer, did not return phone calls….

      No creditors emerged, court records show. There were not even any claims stemming from the personal bankruptcy she and her late husband, Joel, filed and had resolved two weeks before his death in March 1994 after battling cancer.

      Hoffman leased her condo from her sister and brother-in-law, Joanne and John Dougherty, who friends say wanted her close to them in Dana Point.

      The condo was sealed off for several months during evidence gathering. Then came cleanup and repairs totaling $12,000 from damage caused by the slaying and police investigation.

      Wilkerson said Hoffman's son eventually made the condo his home—at least for several months after that.

      At the time he offered the $25,000 reward, Charles Hoffman said he hoped it would lead to an arrest and some "closure" for his family, which had suffered two deaths within a year.

      In the year since her death, though, there has been no closure.

      The Sheriff's Department has not received any calls responding to the reward, Wilkerson said, and they have no fresh clues.

      The family still grieves.

      And everyone still wonders why someone would kill Arlene Hoffman.

SEE That wasn't Caspers' first sinking

Shooting Star, part 10: the "grand scheme of patronage"

The entire “Fuentes/Shooting Star” saga can be found here.

El Toro Road, 1970

Ronald Caspers

            This series of posts has focused on the 1974 disappearance of the Shooting Star and the political corruption and misdeeds that served as that tragedy's backdrop. Recently, I acquired a copy of Agents’ Orange, a history of recent Orange County politics by former OC GOP chair Tom Rogers, who, starting in the 80s, emerged as a leader in the fight against developers and the Supervisors they “owned.”

            Here’s Rogers' discussion of Ronald Caspers, who perished in the 1974 disaster and who, it seems, was a pretty nasty piece of work:

            [TAKING OUT ALTON ALLEN.] The incumbent in the 5^th district was [Republican] Alton Allen [born: 1897], a retired banker, who lived in the charming village of Laguna Beach….

            Allen was widely respected for his representation of the 5^th District, which included the beach communities of Newport, Balboa, Laguna, and San Clemente, plus the vast inland areas held by the Irvine Ranch and the Rancho Mission Viejo, with thousands of acres devoted to agricultural production.

Alton Allen

            It came as a rude shock when, in 1969, a tabloid-type mailer was received by residents of the 5th District alleging wrongdoing on the part of Allen and his staff. Allen’s reputation for honesty and integrity had been undoubted, never a whisper against his character had ever been heard. Campaign finance reporting requirements were almost nonexistent in those days, so it was impossible to determine who was behind this puzzling attack, which was to develop into a recall movement. Anthony Tarantino, one of the nominal sponsors of the mailer, … was a man of modest means and it was obvious that there was someone else, unidentified, who was engaged in the expensive campaign to destroy Alton Allen’s character.

            Allen contacted Republican leadership for help against this scurrilous attack. At a meeting at the Balboa Bay Club, GOP leaders met with Allen and those in attendance were at a loss for any explanation of the anti-Allen campaign. The retired banker was obviously distraught at having unfounded insinuations directed at himself and his staff. There was some speculation tentatively expressed. Organized crime? Democrats taking over a neglected facet of Orange County politics? ….

            [NEXT: RECALL.] The mysterious anti-Allen forces opened a headquarters in Laguna Hills from which to launch a formal recall campaign. The mailers kept arriving with insinuations of Allen’s “wrongdoing.” Staff at the recall headquarters refused any information to the press that had become interested in the plot. The Alton Allen recall petition failed to obtain sufficient signatures and it is doubtful that the exercise was anything other than to prepare the way for the upcoming supervisorial election in the 5th District. Alton Allen’s campaign for reelection was close at hand.

Paul Carpenter

            [CELLA AND HARBER.] It would be revealed later that Tarantino had ties to [corruption kingpin] Lou Cella, [Shooting Star owner] Fred Harber, and others identified by [corrupt Supervisor] Robert Battin as “the Coalition.” Battin, in an attempt to depict his own conviction as discriminatory, revealed the existence of the group, which also included [OC land baron] R.J. O’Neill.

            Tarantino’s connection was that as a cabinet-maker he had worked for Cella and become friends with both him and Fred Harber. It was at their request that he agreed to lend his name to the Allen recall. Tarantino was also on the payroll of the Mission Viejo Hospital at $800 per month, until the law caught up with Cella.

            The original plan to recall Allen was scrubbed when it was decided that if Allen were recalled, Governor Reagan would probably appoint his assistant John Killifer, who was in no way connected to the scheme….

            [THE "SHADOW GOVERNMENT"* VS. ALLEN.] Robert Battin was to use his position on the Board of Supervisors to make Allen look inept in dealing with certain issues. [Local politician and (ultimately) convicted felon] Paul Carpenter also admitted to being part of the recall effort much later, but denied knowledge of the other Coalition members being involved. Carpenter claimed that the clandestine effort was confined to himself and a Republican who aspired to be a supervisor.

            [RON CASPERS EMERGES.] Emerging out of the shadows was Ron Caspers, a Republican who was the owner of Keystone Savings and Loan in Westminster. In the beginning there were suspicions expressed that he was the moving force behind Allen’s recall, a charge he denied but which was later confirmed in the course of several unrelated criminal prosecutions.

Robert Battin

            [AN EARLIER BOATING DISASTER.] Caspers had made headlines prior to the Allen affair. He and his wife Beatrice had been cruising in coastal waters south of Port Hueneme in the ketch Aloha on the night of October 1, 1954. With Caspers at the helm, the Aloha veered in front of an oncoming Coast Guard cutter. The Aloha sank and the remains of Beatrice Caspers were never found, despite an intensive search by Coast Guard vessels and aircraft. An investigation by the U.S. Coast Guard of this tragedy at sea never resulted in any criminal proceedings.

            Allen’s reelection campaign received no help from the GOP, and his campaign staff were amateurs, at best. Alton never recovered from the personal attacks and he went down to defeat.

            Casper had made his conservative Republican credentials a key part of the contest, although investigation turned up the fact that he had been a sponsor of and signatory to a “Republican for Alan Cranston” newspaper political advertisement. [Cranston’s political career was later destroyed by his involvement in the Keating Five scandal.]

. . .

            [CASPERS, THE COALITION, AND “SHAKEDOWN” RUMORS.] With Caspers’ election, Orange County politics were turned upside down. It was the dawning of a new era, and whether Caspers was a Republican or a Democrat, the special interests flocked to his office confident that they had a supervisor with whom they could do “business.”

            The fact he claimed to be a Republican had little to do with the support he received from the Coalition. That group supported other Republicans including Larry Schmit for supervisor.

            Caspers is rumored to have indicated that important county appointments, such as the Planning Commission, would cost an applicant $15,000.

            [ENTER YOUNG TOM FUENTES.] Caspers hired a young graduate of Chapman College who had helped in his campaign to serve on this staff. As Casper’s assistant, Tom Fuentes [born: 1949] (who would become prominent in Republican circles later on) worked diligently to convince Republicans that Caspers was not what many party regulars feared, an unscrupulous opportunist who had no permanent loyalty to any political party. Fuentes was aided in his duties by the ubiquitous Frank Michelena. Michelena, a lobbyist with a checkered career, was notorious in the field of political influence. [“Checkered” is an understatement.]

            If there were ever any doubts regarding Casper’s ties to the Democratic Party, they were soon dispelled. It was discovered later that Caspers had a business arrangement with [Democrat] Ken Cory through a company called Anaheim Insurance Agency. It was out of the office of this company that Democrats operated their registration efforts in Orange County. Assemblyman Cory was to be the subject of a criminal investigation concerning the no bid purchase of insurance by the City of Carson in Los Angles County. Although several Carson City Councilmen were involved, Cory was never indicted.

Ken Cory

            In this election, it appears that the candidate preceded the special interests, and it was after his election that Caspers made the contacts and set the ground rules for developer participation in the grand scheme of patronage carried to an exponential degree.

            [ORGANIZED CRIME?] In a later criminal case, a paid informant with reputed ties to organized crime would allege that Caspers had received a $600,000 loan from two banks, Coast and U.S. National. The informant, Gene Conrad, had been working with the district attorney’s office in an attempt to connect the Board of Supervisors to the syndicate. Conrad’s testimony did not bear out the suspicion of the D.A. that supervisors had been provided with interest-free loans from gambling interests. Conrad stated that his research had determined that the loan in question did carry interest. Whether it was ever paid back remains a mystery.

. . .

Leisure World, 1974

            Casper’s career was cut short on June 14, 1974, when he disappeared at sea aboard the Shooting Star owned by Fred Harber. Caspers and his two sons were returning from a trip to Cabo San Lucas in Baja California when Harber’s converted … rescue craft was overtaken by a violent storm. After sending out a mayday signal on January 13, the vessel was never heard from again, and all of the occupants were presumed dead, lost at sea.            

            [FUENTES AND OVERBY DODGE A BULLET.] Tom Fuentes, who was scheduled to go on the trip, backed out at the last minute, and was saved from a similar fate. Another county luminary who backed out of the ill-fated trip at the last minute was Lyle Overby.

            Despite a full-scale search operation directed by Fuentes that included the use of commercial swordfishing “spotter planes,” no trace of the craft of its passengers was ever found.

SEE Part 11

*OC DA Cecil Hicks' phrase (referring to Louis Cella, et al.)

Shooting Star, part 9: straight-shooting conservative Tom Rogers on Caspers, Harber, and what they portended

The entire “Fuentes/Shooting Star” saga can be found here.

Tom Rogers (1924-2006), OC GOP chair, 1969-1972

             (For parts 1-8, go here.)
             TALK TO TOM ROGERS. The other night, I spoke with an old acquaintance who’s been active in mostly Democratic politics in Orange County going back at least thirty years. I mentioned to him that I was researching the sinking of the “Shooting Star.” He immediately knew what I was referring to.

            “You need to talk to Tom Rogers,” he said. “He’s the guy who knows.”

            “Yeah? Is he still alive?” I asked.

            “Don’t know.”

            When I got home, I did a little research. Tom Rogers was an interesting guy. He grew up in LA County, served with distinction during WW II, went to college on the GI Bill, got married, and, by the early 60s, owned a ranch in south Orange County.

Tom Riley, developers' friend

            That’s when he got into politics. Rogers was decidedly right-wing—he was an early supporter of the notorious John Schmitz. But he was also the kind of now-rare conservative who was into “conserving” things, especially the rural life of OC that still existed in the 60s and that now exists only in the canyons of the Santa Ana Mountains (where the Reb and I live). 
            He was a leader: he served as the Chair of the local GOP from 1969 to1972 and then served as a state GOP big shot during Reagan’s gubernatorial years (see).

            But things changed. Especially after Ron Caspers was replaced with Reagan appointee Thomas Riley—that fellow was the answer to developers’ dreams—Rogers settled into a slow-growth philosophy that directly opposed the “rapid development” direction of the Board of Supervisors and their Big Money patrons. Hell, in his efforts to oppose the developers and their Supervisors, he even embraced bipartisanship.

            The story is told in a 1996 article by Nathan Callahan: Tobacco Road: Tom Rogers & the Philip Morris Tollway.

            I’ve gotta say: Tom Rogers may have been a conservative Republican, but he was a cool guy. Read the article and see why. It comes as no surprise that the left-wing Callahan declared Rogers to be “my favorite Orange County Republican.”

            According to my friend (who is a close associate of Callahan's), Rogers always thought that the sinking of the Shooting Star was seriously hinky. The whole business soured him on the OC GOP. Or so the friend said.

* * *

Ron Caspers

            CALLING MRS. ROGERS. I looked Rogers up. I managed to find a phone number, called it. His wife, who seems to have a European accent, answered the phone.

            I said: “Hello, is Mr. Tom Rogers there?”

            “My husband died six years ago. In fact the date of his death is a month away: April 16. Why are you calling?”

            “I’m writing an article about the sinking of the Shooting Star in 1974.”

            “Oh, Ron Caspers?”

            She told me that she wasn’t the one to talk to about that, that her husband had written about Caspers and the Shooting Star in his book.

            “Agents’ Orange?” I asked. That was the only book that Rogers seems to have written. It was published in 2000.

            She then recited the whole title: “Agents’ Orange: the unabridged political history of Orange County 1960-2000.”

            “We stopped printing it,” she said. “But we made the book available to local libraries.”

            I told her that I had already located a copy at the Santa Ana Public Library and that I would probably be reading it tomorrow.

            “Sorry to bother you,” I said.

            “It’s no bother. I’m glad that people are still interested in those things.”

            I’m not entirely sure what she meant by “those things,” but I'll take whatever encouragement I can get.

Irvine Heritage Library: "lost"

            LIBRARY SNIPE HUNT. Yesterday, I finished my last class and got back to my office. I Googled “Agents’ Orange.” I found that the book was supposed to be available just down the street, at the Irvine Heritage Park Library. So I zipped over there, found the book’s call numbers, and headed for the stacks.
            Couldn’t find it.

            I asked a librarian for help, and that sent her into a fury of searching and conferring and whatnot. After about twenty minutes, she acknowledged that the book was “lost.” That’s an official category, evidently. 

            While at the Irvine Heritage, I found that the book was supposed to be available also at the San Juan Capistrano Library, and so I headed down the 5. Fifteen minutes later, I entered the smallish building, just behind the Mission, and headed for the reference section. 
            Couldn’t find the book.

San Juan Capistrano Library: "lost"

            Talked to a librarian. She informed me that the book was in the “California Collection,” which, as it happened, was immediately behind me. Aha! She walked over and looked for it. 
            Couldn't find the book. 
            That sent her into search and confer mode, and, at the end of that process she declared that the book was “lost.”

            Gosh, what are the chances?

            I headed home and called the Santa Ana Public Library, which was also supposed to have a copy, but their copy was in the “Local History” room, which is only open from Tuesdays through Thursdays. (It was Monday.) Dang! So I planned to go there the next day.

            Feeling lucky, I did a quick search at Irvine Valley College Library, and, guess what? They supposedly had a copy, too, and it was “available”! Skeptical, I called up the IVC Library and spoke with some guy who went in search of the book. After about fifteen minutes, he declared, “Got it!”

IVC Library: "Got it!"

            TOM ROGERS' EXCELLENT ADVENTURE. So, today, I picked up the book. Just now, I got a chance to give it a quick once over. It appears to be excellent. It is a marvelous book that seems to have been almost entirely ignored for the last dozen years. Near as I could tell, it had never been checked out at any of those libraries.

            I’ll have more soon, but, for now, I'll start off with some quotations that provide a sense of Rogers' theses.
            This is from Rogers’ “Introduction.” According to Rogers’ "unabridged" OC History, starting in the 1970s,

the driving forces behind those who would gain political control of Orange County were motivated by the pursuit of corporate profits, and party affiliation was simply a matter of convenience rather than conviction.
. . .
        The most devastating result of dollar politics was that Republicans and Democrats abandoned their core party principles. The temptation was just too strong to win elections with the unlimited funds available to those who passed the litmus test. The special interests were soon able to control the county and some cities when computer technology replaced motivated volunteers as a decisive force in winning elections.

El Toro Road (in Caspers' district), 1970

             THE "CAVE MEN." Eventually, according to Rogers,

a relatively small group of Republican incumbents began to exert influence at the state level, by pre selecting candidates for State Assembly and Senate. The criteria for their selection process was a willingness … to accept and embrace the incumbents’ view of what constitutes a “proper” conservative. Once they passed this Biblical/Philosophical vetting, those Republicans who made the cut would have the assurance of sizeable donations plus professional management of their campaigns. This all-knowing, all-powerful group became known as “The Cave Men” [elsewhere, Rogers notes that the term is non-pejorative], who by virtue of being incumbents had the capability of extracting money from lobbyists in Sacramento, a literal bonanza for all ambitious politicians…. Whether it was the financial support of the special interests or of the GOP incumbents, the net result was that in many cases individuals were elected to an office for which they were totally unqualified.

Tom and wife at Supervisor Riley's annual BBQ, c. mid-80s

             THE COALITION. In one section of his book, Rogers provides a chronological sketch of the events covered in his book. Things don’t really start popping until 1970:

1970   Mysterious newcomer runs a behind-the-scenes campaign to gain election to the Board of Supervisors. Ron Caspers is elected in the 5th District, changing the direction of politics in Orange County. Ralph Clark is also elected to the board making a third vote for the emerging special interests. This new group of wealthy individuals is called The Coalition, and they begin to exert power in Orange County. [Rogers later states that the “Coalition” comes to an end in 1978 with the indictment of Louis Cella, Richard O'Neill's partner in achieving political influence.]

Dr. Louis Cella

            Despite their brief tenure, Caspers and Co. loom large in Rogers’ remarkable account of OC political corruption: “…[M]any blame [Caspers] for the descent of Orange County into the world of political intrigue, campaign finance abuses, and influence peddling” (p. 154).

            CASPERS AND HARBER: SHAKEDOWN. Elsewhere, Rogers discusses “Shooting Star” owner, Fred Harber (you’ll recall that Harber was among the ten victims of the Shooting Star disaster that also took Caspers' life), who, according to Rogers, engaged in an activity “now called lobbying”:

     Harber had been considered a prime mover in county politics….   Prior to his disappearance, he was alleged to have been involved in a shakedown of a developer in behalf of Supervisor Caspers. The builder Richard V. Jordan, in a sworn statement, declared that Harber had contacted him after his project in Casper’s 5th District had been turned down, and had told him what it would take to solve the problem. “$10,000 and $2,000 per month” Harber is alleged to have demanded form Jordan…. 
     Jordan asserted in his deposition that the meeting with Harber was prior to meeting with Caspers in a rubber raft off Cabo San Lucas. Jordan was represented by attorney R.S. “Sam” Barnes and his client contacted District Attorney [and Cella foe] Cecil Hicks and arranged for a payoff with marked bills. [A sting!] Before the plan was put into motion, Caspers won reelection and, with Harber, boarded the Shooting Star and headed once again for the Cape…. [From there, the ship headed north and disappeared.]   In the end the county paid off $700,000 to Jordan’s company…, as a result of losses caused by the extortion scheme.

            In his 1984 article ("The Sinking of a Political Machine"), journalist Larry Peterson wondered if Harber and Caspers attempted this "shakedown" with others—others who, unlike Jordan, were disposed to respond with violence rather than litigation.
            Rogers’ account of the dirty tricks campaign waged in 1969 against Republican Supervisor Alton Allen is fascinating. As it turns out, Ron Caspers was behind that campaign. Caspers won the Supervisorial seat away from Allen in 1970, with Tom Fuentes’ help.

            One more thing: in his book's first reference to the "Shooting Star" disaster, Rogers writes: "Fred Harber's controversial career was cut short by what appeared to be a maritime accident" (151).
            "Appeared to be"?

—More to come—
SEE Part 10

OC Supervisor Alton Allen, 1969.
Essentially taken out by dirty trickster Ron Caspers.
Tom Fuentes was Caspers' right hand man