Wilson Names Panel to Guide Transition to Power

In a move that may help set the tone for the first days of his Administration, Gov.-elect Pete Wilson on Tuesday named a 35-member advisory council to assist in his transition to power.

The bipartisan list of appointees includes old names and new, women and minorities, people in the private sector and longtime government officials. Many of the members campaigned for Wilson or raised money for his election.

In forming the council, Wilson apparently hopes to show that he will reach out to a broad cross section of Californians and not govern in isolation, as Gov. George Deukmejian has sometimes been criticized for doing. The council will first meet in early December and probably disband by Jan. 7, when Wilson is inaugurated.

Otto Bos, Wilson’s director of communications and public affairs, said Wilson used similar advisory boards as mayor of San Diego and as U.S. senator.

“We think it’s very important that we not get caught with preconceived notions and assumptions that don’t necessarily exist,” Bos said.

The council will be chaired by Republican Kirk West, president of the California Chambers of Commerce, and Democrat Bill Hauck, a Sacramento businessman who was the top aide to the late Assembly Speaker Bob Moretti.

Other political insiders on the list include Ken Khachigian, an attorney who has written speeches for Ronald Reagan and Deukmejian; former Rep. Clair Burgener and former Assembly Speaker Bob Monagan.

The council also includes several representatives of local government, including San Diego County Supervisor Susan Golding and Orange County Supervisor Gaddi Vasquez.

For advice on education issues, Wilson will turn to, among others, Maureen DiMarco, who is president of the California School Boards Assn.; Jaime Escalante, the Garfield High School math teacher who was portrayed in the movie “Stand and Deliver,” and University of California Vice President William Baker.

Six of the council members have a background in law enforcement, including Lourdes Baird, U.S. attorney in Los Angeles, and Ron Newman, president of the San Diego Police Officers’ Assn.

For expertise on health and social service policy, Wilson named Dixon Arnett, a former assemblyman who is now a health care consultant; Dr. Al Anderson, president of the President’s Committee on Mental Retardation, and William Tainter, executive director of the San Diego Community Center for the Disabled.

Other members of the panel include Lou Barnett, a Glendale business consultant; Joanne Kozberg, chairwoman of the California Arts Council; Matt Fong, the unsuccessful Republican candidate for state controller; Irvine Co. executive Jack Flanigan, and the Rev. William Turner, pastor at New Revelations Baptist Church in Pasadena.