Who’s Minding the Store?

Spring is coming, and the pollen count is rising in Sacramento. But that is not enough to account for the tantrums and seizures that have gripped Gov. George Deukmejian and Democratic leaders of the Legislature over the governor’s nomination of Rep. Daniel Lungren (R-Long Beach) to be the state treasurer.

There is nothing new about battles between the Duke and the lawmakers, particularly Senate President pro tem David A. Roberti (D-Los Angeles). There is nothing wrong with a political spat once in a while. But l’affaire Lungren has taken Deukmejian and the Legislature both over the edge during these opening weeks of the 1988 legislative session.

The issue is whether or not the Legislature should consent to Deukmejian’s nomination of the conservative Long Beach lawmaker to succeed the late Jesse M. Unruh. The governor asked for trouble in the first place when he picked Lungren. The easy choice would have been to appoint state Sen. Ken Maddy (R-Fresno), who could have won confirmation in a breeze. Deukmejian, however, decided to play kingmaker and groom the younger, more conservative congressman as a possible successor. Roberti’s real fear was exposed when he angrily told Lungren that Democrats were being asked to confirm him just so that he could run against them in some later election.

The Legislature never needs much bait from Deukmejian before transforming itself into a house of schizophrenic pit bulls. In the carefully staged Senate hearings this week, Lungren defended himself against charges of racism by noting his active support for a Martin Luther King Jr. national holiday. But Bishop H. H. Brookins of the African Methodist Episcopal Church in Los Angeles said that “to say you are for King and are not willing to put your political career and life on the line for his programs is inconsistent and does not speak well for your commitment.”

Wait a minute. Put your life on the line? Lungren is up for state treasurer, not for President or martyr. State treasurer was one of the state’s more obscure offices until Unruh turned it into something less obscure through the force of his own personality and his political wiles.

Roberti even topped Brookins when he said, “We Democrats believe there should be an activist government to redress grievances and to equalize disparities in society between those who are powerful and those who are not.” Actually, that is the job of the Legislature and the governor. But they are too engrossed in grubby little political ego fights while state services in California slip from average into mediocrity.

Public schools are in deep trouble. Higher education is suffering. California’s urban areas face transportation strangulation. Air quality is going to get worse. There is no room for more trash, let alone hazardous waste. A $44-billion budget awaits action. Groundwater supplies are threatened with contamination. There is a crisis of congestion in the courts. Because of a lack of adequate public planning, no-growth initiatives are running amok around the state. Poor people are going without homes and health care. The list goes on. Yet Sacramento cannot seem to focus on anything beyond each day’s exercise in political one-upmanship, or the source of the next campaign dollar.

This is not just the Legislature’s fault. The governor is a stubborn man who makes decisions in a black box. Once he makes up his mind on an issue, he will not budge--particularly if it means giving in to the Democratic leadership.

Sacramento should stop all this nonsense over Lungren and get on with the real problems facing California.