HOT-BUTTON ISSUES FIND A FRONTMAN

His hot-button issues and defiant politics have made Jeff Stone a
lightning rod for controversy on the Riverside County Board of Supervisors.

He has railed against the scourge of methamphetamine dealers, sexual
predators and jailed felons - all popular and carefully chosen
political themes during his one-year tenure as a supervisor.

Stone's proposed remedies are just as well crafted, with acronyms
such as IMPRISON ("incarcerate more prisoners responsibly in
satisfying overwhelming need) and ERACIT ("enforce responsible
alcohol consumption in Temecula"). Increasingly, he has been breaking
protocol by taking on local issues in the districts of fellow board
members, and challenging rivals.

"I'm a rabble-rouser," the pharmacist said from his district office
in Menifee. "I take stands on issues people at home want something
done about; I'm their frontman . And I'm the first to admit I'm an
obsessive-compulsive personality - not pathological, though."

Stone recently made headlines by shepherding a county measure that
would have made pharmacies keep records on customers who bought
certain cold medicines. But county lawyers pointed out that only the
state can regulate drug sales.

Now, he is in a war of words with Sheriff Bob Doyle over reopening an
old prison at Eagle Mountain, midway between Indio and Blythe.

"Both Stone and the sheriff have lots of good ideas. I don't
understand why they are at loggerheads," Board of Supervisors
Chairman Marion Ashley said. "It's a difficult environment to work in
on this issue. I just hope it doesn't spill over into other matters."

Stone argues that the old prison can be modified to handle up to
2,000 inmates, half in an adjacent "tent city" that would be modeled
after one that Maricopa County, Ariz., Sheriff Joe Arpaio built in a
sun-baked field.

Doyle, who has authority over county jail facilities, says the Eagle
Mountain structures are inadequate and not secure. He says the
dormitory-style cellblocks would put deputies in danger.

"I can't force the sheriff to do what he doesn't want to do, and I
don't have support on the board," Stone said. "So I'm taking it to
the streets. My staff and I have prepared a 21-page report on this
matter that will be filed on Tuesday."

His hope is that the report will prompt residents to demand that the
board take the matter under review, or even raise the estimated $11
million needed to rehabilitate the facility.

Doyle, who supported Stone's opponent in the 2004 race for
supervisor, called Stone a "grandstander" and suggested that the plan
doesn't stand a chance. "We'll do the right thing, despite Stone,"
Doyle said. "If he wants to fabricate or spin this issue - so be it."

Whether Stone wins or loses the showdown with the sheriff, the
dispute will only add to his rising political trajectory in the
county. Stone is attracting the attention of Republican leaders who
have come to view his brash style as refreshing in a county growing
out of its skin."He gets people wound up, and on occasion gets people
bent out of shape. But he really believes he's doing it for the good
of the people he represents," said Kevin Jeffries, county Republican
Party chairman. "I view Stone as someone who'll do a few turns as
Riverside County supervisor and then make a run for Congress or some
other higher office."

In Temecula, where Stone served 12 years as a councilman and three
terms as mayor, people still talk about his clashes with colleagues
and constituents over the prior council's plan to offer Wal-Mart
hundreds of thousands of dollars in incentives to locate on property
reserved for a shopping mall.

In that fight, Stone prevailed.

"The first thing Jeff did after being elected in 1992 was
successfully keep a Wal-Mart from coming to town - which I regard as
the single-most important event in our city's history," said Temecula
Mayor Jeff Comerchero, who served on the council with Stone at the
time. "It was an uphill battle."

"Today, there is a flourishing mall surrounded by restaurants on that
land that produces the sales tax that allows us to bring a very high
level of services to our residents," Comerchero said.

Nonetheless, rampant growth in Temecula while Stone was at the helm
spawned a backlash organized under the Citizens First of Temecula
Valley that nearly cost Stone his third bid for reelection.

"We were a pro-smart-growth group, and it seemed like Jeff Stone was
pro-any kind of growth," Michelle Anderson, a former member of the
group, said. "As mayor, he ran the council with an iron fist. But
because of our efforts, he won his last election by only 63 votes."

Stone, 49, grew up in Anaheim and has been speaking his mind and
challenging authority since his fourth-grade teacher told his
parents: "This boy is not going to finish high school."