Governor Lends His Hand to Woo Alpert on Tax Vote

In a highly unusual move, Republican Gov. Pete Wilson struck a deal to cross partisan lines and help turn down the political heat for a San Diego-area Democrat who voted for one of his tax increases.

Assemblywoman Dierdre Alpert (D-Del Mar)--who faces a tough 1992 reelection in a Republican district--confirmed that she agreed to vote for Wilson’s 1 1/4-cent sales tax increase only after the Republican governor personally guaranteed to write an open letter taking partial responsibility for her action.

“I suggested to him that it was something that would help me in explaining to the people in my district why I made that decision . . . if he was willing to say that he had asked me to try and help out with the (budget) solution,” Alpert said late Sunday.

There was another reason that Alpert listened to the governor.

“I am his Assemblywoman,” she said. Wilson and his wife, Gayle, are registered to vote at a Point Loma condominium on Groton Street, in Alpert’s district.

A source close to budget deliberations said Wilson also tried to make the same kind of political deal with Assemblyman Tom Umberg (D-Garden Grove), who beat a Republican incumbent in a conservative Orange County district last year.

Umberg, who declined comment, reportedly rejected Wilson’s offer to write a letter and became the only Assembly Democrat to vote against Wilson’s sales tax increase.

Wilson’s overtures to the Democrats underscored to what extent the Republican governor has been willing to go to pass his $56.4-billion budget package. So far, attention has focused on his arm-twisting of fellow Republicans, but the Alpert deal shows he even took the rare step of offering political cover to a Democrat as well.

Alpert said she talked to Wilson before a legislative showdown Friday over the 1 1/4-cent sales tax, which would raise nearly $4.2 billion to help close the state’s monumental budget gap.

The Assembly mustered the necessary two-thirds vote for approval shortly before midnight Friday, only after fellow San Diegan, Republican Robert C. Frazee of Carlsbad, switched his “no” vote to “yes” in response to five phone calls from Wilson.

The governor signed the tax into law Sunday night, shortly before the 1991-1992 fiscal year kicked in on Monday. Before the signing, Alpert said she originally intended to vote against the measure.

“Basically, I decided I was going to vote ‘no’ on the sales tax proposal. I don’t like sales taxes,” she said.

Alpert, who beat Republican incumbent Sunny Mojonnier by 5,914 votes, said she also mentioned to Wilson that she had political qualms as well.

Alpert surprised political observers by upsetting the scandal-plagued Mojonnier last year, and she is widely considered to be one of the most politically vulnerable Assembly members in 1992. The reason: Her coastal district, which includes Del Mar, La Jolla and Coronado, is 52% Republican.

“I told him my problem, of course, was that I was in a district that didn’t want to see any tax increases. And I have voted for a number of (tax) proposals already, and I felt that I couldn’t vote for this one.

“He said he would be glad to send a letter on my behalf saying that I was a part of the solution to the budget impasse,” Alpert said. “So, I told him then that I would go ahead and join and vote for the sales tax proposal. . . . I guess it made me a little more comfortable with making the compromise.”

Alpert said she wanted the letter to “help me explain to my voters why I had done that,” adding that it could come in handy during the next campaign on the home turf of the former San Diego mayor.

“I think Gov. Wilson certainly is popular in San Diego County, and it is some help,” she said.

James Lee, a spokesman for Wilson, declined Sunday night to discuss the governor’s offer to Alpert or any other Democrat.

“I cannot confirm nor deny the conversation with Dede Alpert because (Wilson) doesn’t characterize private conversations with legislators,” Lee said.