We couldn't even get in to see the assemblyman from Long Beach. His a.a. [administrative assistant] stood in the office doorway, elbow on the doorjamb, asking us how this bill would affect the tidelands. It didn't take long to figure out: tidelands, in Long Beach, are the source of a lot of money. The oil industry is there. It is money that really makes Sacramento tick. Of course the Z'berg bill didn't get anywhere.

The third thing I worked on was the Clean Environment Act initiative by the People's Lobby, an organization that was headed up by Joyce and Ed Koupal. They rescued kids who were drugged out, gave them a place to nod off and get clean, taught them how to run a printing press and how to go out with an ironing board and gather signatures for various campaigns. I chaired the study for Women For: that led the organization to support the initiative. It was a real citizen initiative, people going out on the street and gathering signatures--not being paid to do so, but because they cared.

C&O: That process sure has been degraded.

DG: Oh my God, has it been changed. The 1970s had a lot of real citizen-sponsored initiatives.

C&O: After that you worked for campaign reform with Common Cause.

DG: After the People's Lobby Clean Environment initiative went down to defeat, the Lung Association brought the environmental community together to assess what we would all want to do together. They wanted to get the lead out of gasoline. The discussion led instantly to campaign-finance reform. Carlyle Hall, an attorney specializing in land use and environmental law, was asked to lead the effort to write an initiative and declined. Ellen Stern Harris, who had led the successful campaign for the Coastal Initiative in southern California in 1972, also declined. I was next-most vocal and was duly appointed. I was then between issues, so I formed Citizens for Campaign Reform. Monthly meetings were held in my home. We attracted folks from the ACLU, Common Cause, a number of prominent attorneys, and worked out a proposal. It was sent with a cover letter to about 100 nonprofits all over the state, stating that we all suffered because of the way campaigns are financed, and asking for feedback. You know what response I got back? Zero. Zero.

C&O: You're kidding.

DG: Zero. People were not tuned in yet. Now everybody sees it. Our group was absorbed into Common Cause as it formed a state board, and I ended up working on the initiative that would require reporting of campaign contributions and expenditures and would establish the FPPC [Fair Political Practices Commission]. I served six years each on the state and on the national board trying to push public financing.