Wilson Calls on Cities to Help Improve Climate for Business

Ignoring a gay rights protest outside, Gov. Pete Wilson on Wednesday urged city officials from around the state to create local councils to study ways to loosen government controls on the business community.

Wilson, delivering a campaign-style speech touting his record when polls show his popularity slipping, said California needs a combined state and local effort to help improve the business environment.

“We must be partners in identifying and removing obstacles, burdens, costs and delays that artificially constrain California’s economic activity and cost our state needed jobs,” Wilson told delegates to the annual convention of the League of California Cities.

The Republican governor urged the city officials to create “competitive councils” to complement a panel he intends to name to study state business issues, including workers’ compensation and civil liability laws.

Defending his performance after nine months in office working with the Democrat-controlled Legislature, Wilson seemed sensitive to recent polls that showed voters are unhappy that he advocated more than $7 billion in tax increases to help close the state’s $14.3-billion budget gap.

“The fact is, no one was able to offer a serious plan for balancing the budget that didn’t include taxes,” he said.

While Wilson spoke, several dozen gay rights advocates picketed outside the hotel, criticizing the governor for vetoing a gay rights bill earlier this month. The legislation would have prohibited employers from discriminating against their workers or potential workers on the basis of their sexual orientation.

“Hey, hey, ho, ho, Pete Wilson’s got to go,” the activists chanted in a protest that was mild compared to earlier demonstrations aimed at Wilson while he was speaking at Stanford University and working at the state Capitol.

Inside, activists distributed small leaflets asking the city officials to walk out on Wilson’s speech because he surrendered to “ultra right-wing groups who say that gays and lesbians should be discriminated against.”

San Francisco Supervisor Harry G. Britt, who is openly gay, asked the league in a letter to cancel Wilson’s speech, the highlight of a convention that was built around the theme of “Celebrating Our Diversity.”

But Britt’s plea was rejected and the governor’s speech went off without a hitch.