Garamendi Says State Welfare System Needs Overhaul : Politics: Bringing his race for governor here, he tells Democratic group he would put aid recipients to work.

Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi, bringing his bid for governor to Orange County for the first time, called Thursday for a complete overhaul of the state welfare system to prod more recipients into the work force.

“We must end welfare as we know it today,” Garamendi said in a speech before some two dozen members of the Democratic Foundation of Orange County, held at the Orange County Sports Hall of Fame at Anaheim Stadium.

Garamendi, considered an underdog to beat state Treasurer Kathleen Brown in the Democratic primary for governor, delivered an impassioned oration that closely paralleled the themes he is addressing in a two-week blitz of television commercials.

He portrayed himself in Anaheim as a candidate outside the typical political mold, trumpeting what he described as “a different kind of campaign” for the governor’s job. Instead of “just sitting in some back room dialing for dollars,” Garamendi said, he has been touring the state in recent weeks working at different jobs for a day to explore real issues of public concern. One of his future “jobs” may come at Disneyland, an aide said.

Working at a jail, Garamendi said, he saw firsthand the tremendous strain on the mental health system. At a construction site, he saw the need for close oversight of workplace regulations. And at a school, he saw the demands placed on teachers who had to double as school crossing guards in the afternoons because of a lack of resources.

Garamendi said there are “a thousand tasks” that are being left undone in the state, from removing graffiti to cleaning parks and roadways, and he suggested that putting more welfare recipients back to work in exchange for public support offers one potential solution.

“When I’m governor,” he said, “these school crossing guards are going to be welfare recipients who are finally given some decent work to do.”

Brown holds a huge fund-raising advantage over Garamendi and had a strong lead over him in one recent statewide poll as well, but surveys have continued to show that Garamendi is better known among likely voters than his competitor is.

He saved his fiercest rhetoric Thursday, however, not for Brown but for Gov. Pete Wilson, attacking the governor on everything from transportation planning to the schools.

“Pete Wilson cannot lead a Boy Scout troop home from a rained out weenie roast,” Garamendi said. “Pete Wilson cannot, will not, does not know how to lead, and he must therefore be led from the scene of California.”

Richard O’Neill, a longtime Democratic leader who attended Thursday’s event, said that Brown probably holds an edge among Orange County Democrats. But O’Neill said he is backing Garamendi--especially after his speech in Anaheim.

“He usually sounds pretty corny, talking about himself and his Peace Corps days, but tonight was pretty good,” O’Neill said.