Swap

By a whopping 54-11 margin, the Assembly late Thursday decisively defeated a measure sponsored by the City of Paramount to crack down on swap meet vendors who fail to pay sales taxes. The Assembly, where members were rushing to adjourn on Friday, cheered as Assembly Speaker Willie Brown (D-San Francisco) announced the vote on the measure by Sen. Ralph C. Dills (D-Gardena) and cracked, "The bill and the author are rejected."

A Santa Ana resident said Friday that he will use profits from downtown swap meets for Mexican relief as part of Santa Ana's efforts to assist earthquake victims. These include a city-sponsored "Baile Bajo de las Estrellas (Dance Under the Stars)" next week. Jose Pena, who heads Pena Referral Service which provides food and services for low-income residents and senior citizens in Santa Ana, will organize mariachi concerts and collect donations on Saturdays and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Until recently, the golden cherubs and embellished pillars lining the walls of the Westlake Theatre swap meet meant little more than a fancy backdrop for Virginia Anaya and her busy vitamin and makeup business. This was the place where, decades earlier, Charlie Chaplin delighted audiences and Los Angeles' elite, the residents of the district's Spanish-style mansions and high-rise homes, gathered to relax with an evening of theater. Today, it is where Anaya sells laxatives and eye shadow to make a living.

Mention the word "diverters" to Mossimo Giannulli, and the Irvine-based fashion designer grows noticeably agitated. After calling them a few choice names, he calms down just a little: "They're people who see an opportunity when a label's hot to make extra dough," he says. "It's so unethical." His sentiments are shared by another Orange County designer, Shawn Stussy, as well as the people at Quiksilver, Vans and other manufacturers who have been stymied by diverters.

With Orange County schools looking for places to cut expenditures, why don't they raise money by renting parking lot spaces for weekend swap meets? Swap meets are an excellent way to raise funds for school projects. Richard Roehm Santa Ana

Because the term non-summit summit is so awkward, I propose that the coming events in Iceland be known as the Reykjavik Swap Meet. ROBERT R. RISHER 3RD Monrovia

Can it be just coincidence that President Reagan's career-ending slump began when Donald Regan replaced James Baker as the White House chief of staff? Since Regan succeeded Baker, we've been treated to the following spectacles: Bitburg, the Nicholas Daniloff swap that wasn't a swap, the Iceland summit that wasn't a summit, the Libyan "disinformation" fiasco, the Eugene Hasenfus fuss, and, finally, Irangate. Perhaps it's time to retire the Ronald and Donald Show. GEORGE KISEDA Los Angeles

They are a hardy breed of entrepreneur, selling their wares in the open air. Some swap meet vendors are hobbyists; some sell there instead of renting a storefront, and others are mall retailers Monday through Friday who get down to basics on the weekends. Then there are the nomads--vendors who travel the country on a circuit like the itinerant peddlers of yesteryear. Joe Donahue is one of these, visiting swap meet after swap meet to make his living.