In 1988, Gov. Deukmejian visited SLO to speak to California sheriffs — and sign a bill

Politics were different in the 1980s. For one thing, the governor visited San Luis Obispo County regularly.

George Deukmejian led California for two terms, from Jan. 3, 1983, to Jan. 7, 1991, and there are at least eight photographs in the Tribune archives of times the governor visited.

Not every governor visits that often. I can’t recall a public visit here by Gray Davis or Jerry Brown’s second period in office.

A yellowing single-page campaign biography released before he was elected governor includes how to say his name in the first line, “(pronounced Duke-MAY-jin).”

The son of Armenian immigrants, his surname would bedevil headline writers, sometimes they would write ‘Governor’ or ‘Duke’ if space was tight.

He rose to prominence with 16 years in the Legislature and three years as the state’s attorney general.

Running for governor, Deukmejian defeated the anointed establishment Republican, record executive Mike Curb, in the primary.

In the general election, Duke edged out his Democrat opponent, Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley, by less than 90,000 votes out of the 8 million cast.

Progressives criticize Deukmejian’s support for the death penalty. He was seen as a staunch ally of the law enforcement community and was a warrior on drugs.

The governor, however, surprised conservatives, standing for divesting South African investments by the University of California during apartheid.

Deukmejian’s empathy was rooted in the history of Turkish massacres of Armenians during World War I.

He repaired a budget deficit inherited from predecessor Jerry Brown without raising taxes, but also left a deficit for his replacement, Pete Wilson.

In one of the earliest Telegram-Tribune photos, Attorney General Deukmejian was the headliner at a $15-a-plate steak dinner at the Pismo Beach Veterans hall — adjusted for inflation that is $60 in 2018 dollars.

George Deukmejian died May 8 at the age of 89.

Democrat Willie Brown was speaker of the State Assembly at the time, and though they were often on opposite sides of the political fence, Brown told the New York Times: “I think (Deukmejian’s) time in office will be seen as the last the State of California actually had a bipartisan, working relationship between the Governor’s Office and the Legislature.”

When the California State Sheriff’s Association met in San Luis Obispo, political luminaries came to speak. Dan Parker wrote this story March 29, 1988:

Governor says ’No’ in San Luis Obispo

California’s heaviest of political heavyweights singled out drugs as the biggest crime problem in the state when they spoke Monday in San Luis Obispo.

Gov. George Deukmejian, Lt. Gov. Leo McCarthy, Attorney General John Van de Kamp and U.S. Sen. Pete Wilson addressed the 94th annual California State Sheriffs’ Association conference at the Embassy Suites Hotel.

While at the hotel, Deukmejian signed into law a bill stiffening qualifications people must have to run for sheriff.

Later, just before lunching at F. McLintocks restaurant in Shell Beach, Deukmejian told reporters he flatly rejected the idea of a vice presidential bid.

The Republican governor said he didn’t believe he would be sought as a running mate by front-runner George Bush and ruled out accepting any such offer if it comes.

Leaving office to be vice president would mean turning over the governor’s office to McCarthy, who is a Democrat.

“I’m not about to turn over the (state) executive branch to the Democratic Party,” Deukmejian said.

In his speech to the hotel atrium’s crowd of 300 — which included nearly all of the state’s 58 sheriffs — Deukmejian said he has helped law enforcement by appointing “common-sense judges.”

The governor said he has also assisted by promoting reforms that speed up the court process and by expanding the prison system.

Because drugs present the greatest threat to the public’s safety, Deukmejian said, his administration has spent a record $172 million “for drug abuse prevention and law enforcement activities.”

The governor said he also is pushing for legislation to allow new kinds of electronic surveillance to catch more drug traffickers.

“This legislation is long overdue,” he said. “But unfortunately, a small group of legislators have blocked this bill year after year, refusing to give law enforcement the tools it needs to combat drug trafficking in our state.”

Deukmejian said he supports strengthening laws that turn over convicted drug traffickers’ profits to the state.

Wilson echoed that sentiment.

“Let drug traffickers’ money go to fight the war against drugs,” he said.

Wilson said the nation has a long way to go before winning the war against drugs.

“I was appalled, I was embarrassed when (Ronald Reagan) said we have turned the corner in the war against drugs,’ the senator said. “We have not.”

Deukmejian told the sheriffs he signed a bill last year that increased the penalties for the second-degree murder of a police officer.

“The murder of a peace officer is a heinous crime and should carry with it a severe punishment,” he said.

Wilson said there is no reason that armor-piercing “cop-killer” bullets should be available to the general public.

Wilson also called for greater measures to protect U.S. narcotics agents who go undercover into Mexico. He called it “the most dangerous work anywhere in the world.”

At the conclusion of the governor’s speech, he stepped down from the podium and signed the sheriffs elections bill. The signing, which was not listed in the conference agenda, brought loud applause from the audience.

The election bill states that no one may file to run for sheriff without having at least a small amount of law enforcement experience and education.

Until Monday, no education or law enforcement experience was legally required to run for sheriff.

“There’s a need for professionalization to ensure that anyone who runs for the office of sheriff has law enforcement experience,” said San Bernardino County Sheriff Floyd Tidwell, president of the sheriffs’ association. “We feel people deserve that when they elect a sheriff.”

This story was originally published May 18, 2018 at 12:10 PM with the headline "In 1988, Gov. Deukmejian visited SLO to speak to California sheriffs — and sign a bill."