Embattled Appointee Wins Senate OK as DMV Chief

Del Pierce, Gov. George Deukmejian’s embattled appointee as director of the Department of Motor Vehicles, was confirmed today by the state Senate on the final day of a constitutional deadline.

Pierce, who had been opposed by groups representing gays and Latinos, was approved 28 to 4 in a bipartisan vote. The governor appointed Pierce to the position a year ago, and today was the final day on which the Senate could act upon Pierce’s confirmation.

“He’s done a tremendous job,” said Sen. Daniel Boatwright (D-Concord), the chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee. Sen. Jim Nielsen, the Republican leader of the upper house, called Pierce “a respected administrator” who was the target of a “vendetta . . . to besmirch the reputation of a fine individual.”

Nielsen was apparently referring to Mark Guerra, former director of the Department of Fair Employment and Housing, who testified against Pierce at a stormy Senate Rules Committee hearing. Guerra, Pierce’s main accuser, resigned his position earlier this week but denied that his resignation was connected to the Pierce confirmation.

Guerra testified that during a 1983 meeting at the Consumer Services Agency, where Pierce then served as an undersecretary, Pierce facetiously said that a machine gun or submachine gun could be used on gays, referring to AB1, a gay rights bill that was then pending in the Legislature. Pierce denied making the statement.

Latino representatives also testified that Pierce had harassed Latino employees.