San Diego Magazine / April 2004 / Time Marches...

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Time Marches...

UNKINDEST CUT: San Diego expatriate Larry Thomas, one-time press secretary to Pete Wilson, George Deukmejian and George Bush the First, is dealing patiently with the realities of advancing middle age. “A young lady gave me a senior discount at Carl’s Jr. the other day, and I didn’t even ask for it,” he says. “And when I applied for my first new driver’s license in 10 years, the fellow looked up after examining my application and said, ‘Don’t you want to change your hair color from blond to white?’ That,” sighs Thomas, “is not my idea of a public servant.”

THE GROUNDED EAR: Former local FBI chief Bill Gore’s recent move from D.A. Bonnie Dumanis’ chief investigator to Sheriff Bill Kolender’s undersheriff looks like a stepping stone. Insiders see Kolender positioning his old friend Gore to run for his job when Kolender’s term is up in 2006. And that could set up a race between Gore and former Sheriff John Duffy’s son, Jim, a 42-year-old lieutenant who heads the Deputy Sheriffs Association ... City Hall insiders speculate that if Ron Roberts wins the San Diego mayor’s race, he’d push for a city council appointment of Lawrence B. Prior III, the controversial former county chief administrative officer, as city manager ... If Roberts does move on to the mayor’s office, he’d leave a vacancy on the county board of supervisors. Trivia question: What’s the only California county where supervisorial seats aren’t filled by the governor? Right—San Diego. Here, the four remaining supervisors would appoint Roberts’ successor.

RETURN ENGAGEMENT: Tony Perry, the Los Angeles Times’ San Diego bureau chief, has a wide coverage zone. Last year, the paper sent him to the Middle East, where he was embedded with Marines from Camp Pendleton during Operation Iraqi Freedom. Perry returned to San Diego 50 pounds lighter and beardless for the first time in 20 years. Since then he’s kept the beard off but regained a few pounds. His new assignment might help with that: He’s going back—shipping out on April Fools’ Day with a new contingent from Pendleton. Perry calls it the Atkins Iraqi Diet.

LIFE IN THE CITY: A convention to drink to—and at: the 21st Craft Brewers’ Conference and Brew Expo America. Beer and beer people—more than 1,200 of them—at the Town & Country Convention Center in Mission Valley April 14-17. Newest entrant in the expo’s craft brewing competition: San Diego’s own Karl Strauss, entering its Windansea Wheat Hefeweizen ... Veteran actor Billy Dee Williams (Lady Sings the Blues, Brian’s Song) was spotted in the Mission Valley Hooters one recent afternoon. Williams posed for pix with the Hooters Girls. Gracious of him ... The landmark Inn at Rancho Santa Fe, already undergoing a major restoration, has signed a cooperative deal with the Lodge at Torrey Pines. The lodge will be responsible for marketing, sales, reservations, advertising and PR for the historic 87-room inn.

RIGHT NEIGHBORLY: After a five-year battle with skittish neighborhood residents, the San Diego Rescue Mission has moved into the former Harbor View Hospital at Second and Elm. Neighbors tried everything, including lawsuits, to stop the mission, fearing blight from the 400 temporary residents there for rehabilitation. A suit settlement last year requires the mission to provide neighborhood litter removal, and it seems to be complying. A neatly groomed elderly gentleman can be spotted most mornings in the vicinity, pushing a trash cart with professionally printed placards announcing his service as part of the “Rescue Mission Ambassador Program.”

DISPOSABLE: Buyers of the Fairbanks Ranch manse built in the mid-1980s by former Chargers owner Gene Klein are dismantling the 23,500-square-foot home to rebuild. Which reminds Klein’s former PR chief, Rick Smith, of a little neighborhood dispute surrounding the property. When the original house was finished, a neighbor across the canyon objected that the behemoth was obstructing his view to the front. Klein’s recommendation: “Turn your house around.”

DOTTED WHOLE NOTES: John Renna’s Coaster Saloon—one of Stuff magazine’s top 20 dive bars in America—has added live music to the mix. Starting in May, they’ll book bands on Friday and Saturday afternoons (The Beat Farmers play in June). And among the surprise guests so far on “Open Mic Thursdays”: Pat Kim from Unwritten Law and Steve and Mike Summers of Sprung Monkey ... Hollywood still hasn’t learned you can’t remake a classic. Producers are scouting locations here for a new version of the 1974 Burt Reynolds blockbuster The Longest Yard. The unlikely costars: Adam Sandler and Chris Rock ... Meanwhile, MTV wants to return to San Diego for a new installment of Beach House. The San Diego Film Commission has joined in the house hunt ... Organizers of the third annual San Diego Film Festival in September are wooing former San Diegan Annette Bening as honorary chairman.

QUOTEWORTHY: “I want to be optimistic, but I can’t promise you. Let me just say this. It’ll be before I retire. And I’m not that far away.” —Padres CEO Dick Freeman, on when Petco Park will host its first World Series.

Listen for Tom Blair’s Friday reports on KOGO News Radio (600 AM) at 7:25 a.m. You can also hear his radio column at sandiegomag.com. Items for the magazine or radio may be e-mailed to tblair@sandiegomag.com.