PERRY GIVES CAMPAIGN SPEECH AT CITY ANTI-DRUG LUNCH

Organizers say event was not meant to be political

Copyright 1998 Houston Chronicle

Republican lieutenant governor nominee Rick Perry was given an exclusive
opportunity Friday to deliver his campaign message at a luncheon
co-sponsored by the city of Houston, which also donated the use of the
Wortham Center for the event.

Perry, now the state's agriculture commissioner, spoke almost entirely
about his campaign issues, including his new anti-drug strategy, in an
address at the Drug-Free Workplace Awards luncheon.

Officials with the luncheon co-sponsors, the Drug-Free Business Alliance
and Houston Crackdown, the mayor's anti-drug office, had stressed that the
event was to acknowledge anti-drug advocates for their work in keeping
drugs out of the workplace.

"This issue is not about politics and it's not a political event," said
Becky Vance, executive director of Drug-Free Business Alliance, a nonprofit
organization prohibited from taking sides in political races.

Perry's speech, however, was publicized by his campaign and centered on
tough sentences for drug dealers, teen-age drug abuse and public education.
He did not address workplace drug abuse issues until the end of his
address, and then only briefly.

Perry told the crowd of more than 200 that children must be taught the
right choices to make when it came to drugs, alcohol and tobacco.

"Their behavior leads to out-of-wedlock birth, sexually transmitted
diseases and a host of social problems," he said.

He also told the crowd that the use of drugs among eighth graders has
tripled; among 10th and 12th graders, it has doubled since 1977. He said
parents can no longer send mixed signals to children and issued a zero
tolerance approach to marijuana use.

"The state of Texas must never legalize or decriminalize marijuana or any
other illegal drug for medicinal or any other purpose.

"Parents should not be put in a position of having to explain why grandma,
it's okay for her to use marijuana for her glaucoma but you can't while
you're boating out in Lake Texoma. We don't want to ever have to explain
that in Texas," Perry said.

He later acknowledged that the event gave him a prime opportunity to get
out his message.

"The best market in the state of Texas for getting the message out
regardless of whether it's Texas wine or an anti-drug message, Houston,
Texas, is the absolutely best market in the state to get one's message
out," he said.

Ray Andrews, Houston Crackdown executive director, said the luncheon was
never intended to be political and that organizers had no control over what
Perry would say in his address.

Donald Hollingsworth, executive assistant for public safety and drug policy
office, said Perry had been chosen by the Drug-Free Business Alliance
because he was a businessman.

When asked what criteria was used in selecting Perry, Hollingsworth could
only cite his experience as a businessman and his anti-drug stance.

Democratic lieutenant governor nominee John Sharp, who is the state
comptroller and has struck similarly tough stances on drug use, was not
invited, Sharp spokesman Kelly Fero said.

Vance declined to comment on why Perry was selected to speak at the
luncheon. When asked if Sharp was invited, Vance would not say whether he
had been specifically invited, but she said she "was sure" he received an
invitation.

"I'm sure that he was on our list. We invited every politician in the state
of Texas," she said. No other candidates were present.

David Dewhurst, the event chairman who is also the Republican nominee for
land commissioner, said he had no role in the selection process. He said he
first learned of Perry's selection a week ago. His opponent, state Rep.
Richard Raymond, D-Benavides, did not attend.

"They simply asked me to lend my name as a chair and to do some minor
fund-raising for this important event," he said. "I played no role
whatsoever and I was not involved in the selection of the recipients or the
guest speaker."

Dewhurst, who introduced Perry, used the event as a opportunity to get in a
word on a campaign issue when he spoke about the $8.5 billion drain drug
abuse has on the state through loss of productivity, lives and health
costs. He said that amount of money lost could easily have paid for teacher
pay raises. Dewhurst has promised to be "the education land commissioner."

As co-sponsors of the event, Mayor Lee Brown's anti-drug office provided
the publicity and other preparations for the event and donated the use of
the foyer of the Wortham Center, which rents for $200 an hour.

A booking agent for the theater said the minimum cost for use of the
upstairs foyer for a luncheon, including set-up time, is usually about $1,500.

In his speech, Perry unveiled a portion of his anti-drug policy which
includes a get-tough policy on drug dealers who hide behind children.
"Adult drug pushers who use children to infiltrate our schools and deliver
illegal substance are going to be punished with a minimum 25 years in
prison, no deal, no parole.

"It's important that we send a message to those who are poisoning our
children and communities that they are no longer going to hide behind the
law. They're not going to hide behind our children to escape long
sentences," he said.

Perry also emphasized the need to strengthen the fundamentals in education.

"Improving our public schools, it's got to be our state's No. 1 priority.
That's why I'm going to be working with Governor Bush to increase public
school funding by $3.6 billion, including funding for teacher pay and
class-size reduction," he said.

He also spoke of his support of rewarding specialized reading teachers with
a $5,000 pay increase, with incentives of up to $2,000.

Other issues included earmarking $45 million to encourage nonprofit groups
to go into public schools after hours to establish after-school centers.

Checked-by: Mike Gogulski