Lawmakers’ Office Costs Run Gamut

SACRAMENTO — It cost taxpayers more than $3.3 million to keep San Diego County’s 11 state lawmakers in business during the second half of the last legislative session, recently released figures show.

Assemblyman Larry Stirling, a Republican whose district stretches from East San Diego to Lakeside, ran his office on the tightest budget, spending $210,000 for the 12 months ending Nov. 30, 1986, the most recent period for which the numbers are available.

During the same period, Sen. Marian Bergeson, a Republican with a sprawling, mostly rural district about the size of the state of Massachusetts, spent more than $510,000 to keep her constituents happy.

San Diego was home to California’s lowest spending senator--Republican Jim Ellis--and the highest spending Assemblyman--Democrat Pete Chacon.

The numbers cover everything from staff salaries to phone bills, from newsletters to new furniture and equipment for district offices.

It generally costs more to run a Senate office than one in the Assembly, but variances within each house of the Legislature are slight because the lawmakers have put limits on how much they can spend for various purposes.

During 1986, Assembly members were given budgets of $213,150, which they could spend however they pleased or turn back to the state treasury. In addition, members could collect $75 a day for living expenses while in session and were allowed to send three newsletters to each household in their district with a registered voter.

Senators were given different amounts depending on the size of their districts and their staffs and the cost-of-living in the areas in which their offices are located.

Chacon’s Expenses

Assemblyman Pete Chacon (D-San Diego), who has a compact district with the second-lowest number of registered voters among county lawmakers, spent more than any other California assemblyman on his legislative office during 1986: $277,057.

Chacon was propelled to that level mainly by the $170,241 he paid his office staff. He was highest among San Diego assembly members in only one other category--the cost of renting vehicles for himself and his staff. Chacon could not be reached for comment for this article.

Stirling, who had the lowest expenses among area assembly members, said he budgets a certain amount for each office category and keeps a month-by-month watch on the numbers to ensure the office stays within the budget.

But Stirling, who also controlled an extra $279,000 budget as chairman of the Assembly Public Safety Committee, said his office budget is not his most important concern.

“Anyone who rests his political future on returning expense money unspent while allowing phone calls to go unanswered or leaving constituent problems unaddressed is not going to get very far,” Stirling said.

Stirling said his equipment budget was high because he bought a state-of-the-art electric typewriter, which he said helps him keep his staff costs low. And Stirling, who had the highest phone bill among San Diego assembly members at $27,664, said that might be because he frequently patches constituent calls directly through to state offices in Los Angeles and Sacramento.

Office Rent

Assemblyman Robert Frazee (R-Carlsbad) paid the most to rent a district office, shelling out $21,000 for his suite just off Interstate 5 near Carlsbad City Hall.

“Some people are able to negotiate sweetheart deals for their offices,” Frazee said. “We weren’t able to do that.” But Frazee credited his district office staff with giving him one of the lowest budgets in the Assembly for office supplies. He said they regularly recycle paper and envelopes.

“It gets so bad that sometimes I don’t know which side I’m supposed to be reading because they send me memos on the backs of old memos,” Frazee said. “I went out and bought some clean white paper with campaign funds and said I want that used for memos sent to me.”

Assemblyman Steve Peace (D-Chula Vista) spent the least on rent despite operating two district offices, one in Chula Vista and the other in Imperial County. One reason was that his offices are in public buildings, one owned by the city of Chula Vista and the other at the Imperial County airport.

But Peace said he may soon move out of his Chula Vista quarters because the city has tried to raise his rent despite what he believes is inadequate parking for his office.

“My staff people have to go outside every two hours because there’s a time limit on their parking,” he said.

Low Salaries

Assemblywoman Lucy Killea (D-San Diego) paid less in salaries than any other San Diego member, and her staff costs of $91,766 were the second-lowest in the 80-member Assembly. As chairwoman of a committee and a member of the Assembly Rules Committee, Killea has two consultants that don’t count against her personal budget.

Killea also said she tends to pay lower salaries because she hires younger staff members with little seniority in the state system.

“In 1986, I had a lot of turnover, people going onto bigger and better things, maybe because of my lower salaries,” Killea said.

On the other side of the ledger, Killea spent $45,353 mailing newsletters to her constituents--tops among San Diego assembly members.

“We just take advantage of what’s there,” Killea said. “That’s available to everyone. We just used it.”

Assemblywoman Sunny Mojonnier (R-Encinitas), whose $11,800 travel budget was among the highest in the Assembly, could not be reached for comment. She was attending a national conference of legislators in Connecticut.

In the Senate, Bergeson, a Newport Beach Republican who represents a large but mostly rural swath of the San Diego County backcountry, spent more than any of her San Diego colleagues on salaries, district office rent and telephones.

Bergeson attributed the high costs to the “size and diversity” of her district, which stretches from Huntington Beach to El Centro and includes parts of four counties.

“I have a hands-on philosophy,” Bergeson said. “I believe in bringing the Legislature to the people.”

Until recently, Bergeson had three district offices, in Newport Beach, Rancho California and Imperial. She said she closed the Rancho California office because she could not afford to keep a paid staff member there.

Sen. Jim Ellis (R-San Diego) ran the cheapest shop in the entire Senate, spending $285,164 on his office during the most recent period. The Senate average was about $440,000.

“We’re very prudent,” Ellis said. “We do the job. But I don’t feel the need to spend a lot.”

Ellis’s district office is in the basement of a savings and loan building on Navajo Road in El Cajon. He didn’t send any newsletters to his constituents during 1986. His $9,048 phone bill was the third-lowest in the Senate. And the $276 Ellis spent on publication subscriptions was by far the lowest in the Senate and was less than a third of the average spent by the 40 members.

“I can hardly read all the stuff we get now, let alone getting more,” Ellis said. “I’m a pretty good reader, but not that good.”