Fiedler Case Hurts All, Deukmejian Says

Gov. George Deukmejian told a statewide gathering of newspaper executives on Friday that California’s political process has been scarred by the indictment of Rep. Bobbi Fiedler on charges that she tried to bribe state Sen. Ed Davis out of the U.S. Senate Republican primary race.

“I think it’s obviously most unfortunate that any situation of that type could arise in terms of the effect that it has on the entire political process in the state,” the Republican governor said.

Fiedler and her top aide, Paul Clarke, pleaded not guilty after being indicted by the Los Angeles County Grand Jury in late January for allegedly offering Davis a $100,000 contribution to quit the Republican Senate primary. Davis, a former Los Angeles police chief, brought the matter to the attention of authorities, and he and his campaign manger, Martha Zilm, assisted in the investigation that led to the indictments.

Deukmejian’s remarks on the messy political affair were his first to date and came in response to questions posed after his keynote address to the California Newspaper Publishers’ Assn.’s annual conference.

11th Commandment

Until Friday, the governor had repeatedly refused to comment on the case, preferring to abide by the GOP’s so-called 11th commandment not to speak ill of other Republicans.

But the governor kept his comments brief and refused to say whether Fiedler or Davis ought to drop out of the race. A recent Times Poll found that both Fiedler and Davis have been hurt politically by the case.

Earlier this week, Assemblyman Robert Naylor (R-Menlo Park), one of eight GOP Senate candidates, publicly called on both the Valencia state senator and the Northridge congresswoman to drop out for the good of the party.

Asked Friday whether he agreed that the two ought to quit the race, Deukmejian declined to comment, other than to say: “I would just trust that this matter will be resolved through the legal process, and everyone can go forward from there.”

Deukmejian’s keynote speech, which focused heavily on California’s improving economic outlook, was largely devoid of the political attacks he has repeatedly launched against Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley, his expected Democratic rival in this year’s gubernatorial election.

Swipes at Brown Administration

But the Republican governor did take a swipe at former Gov. Edmund G. Brown Jr., charging that Brown’s Democratic Administration was responsible for driving business out of California.

“We’ve worked long and hard to reverse the anti-business attitude that characterized the last administration,” Deukmejian said.

The governor specifically cited his veto last year of a Democratic-sponsored bill that would have raised temporary disability benefits for injured workers.

Labor sponsors of the bill, introduced by Sen. William Lockyer (D-San Leandro), have decried the veto, saying the proposal was a modest effort to increase benefits that are below that of 38 other states.

Employer groups, however, lobbied hard against the bill, contending that it would cost firms $200 million annually and do little to discourage workers from abusing the system.