State Probing Watson’s Use of Staff, Funds

For the last two months, the state attorney general’s office has been investigating allegations that Sen. Diane Watson (D-Los Angeles) improperly used campaign funds and her legislative staff to prepare the final manuscript for her doctoral degree.

Alan Ashby, a spokesman for Atty. Gen. John K. Van de Kamp, on Thursday confirmed that “our investigation continues to be open,” but declined to spell out the details.

A source in the attorney general’s office who asked not to be identified said the inquiry began in January, after a preliminary review that was prompted in part by news stories about Watson last year in The Times.

Watson’s lawyer said his client is cooperating with investigators and denies any wrongdoing.

‘Reasonable Relationship’

A former Watson secretary last year told The Times she was required to type the doctoral dissertation on a state computer as a condition of her employment. Another aide said that other Watson staffers helped by proofreading the treatise during working hours. State law prohibits the use of public equipment for personal projects.

It was also reported that Watson used campaign funds in 1987 to prepare the final draft of her doctoral dissertation. State law declares that campaign funds “shall not be used for personal use,” but allows for political donations to be spent on anything that has a “reasonable relationship to a political, legislative or governmental purpose.”

Watson, a former member of the Los Angeles Board of Education, was awarded her Ph.D. from the Claremont Graduate School. Her dissertation, dated April, 1987, was titled “The Effects of the Desegregation Controversy on Trustee Governance in the Los Angeles School District (1975-1980).”

Watson, a member of the Senate Education Committee, declined to comment on the investigation Thursday.

Michael Sands, Watson’s lawyer, said the senator has “cooperated completely” with investigators. Further, he said, Watson has turned over records subpoenaed by investigators as well as voluntarily provided other documents which demonstrate “that there’s been no wrongdoing.”

Sands said he hopes the investigation “will put to rest these rumors” that Watson required employees to type the dissertation and that she improperly used campaign funds.