Big Payoff for a Little Unity

Some encouraging news for California is coming out of Washington: The Pentagon will locate four regional finance centers in the state. That decision--made after a strong bipartisan push by the California congressional delegation--will translate into at least 1,800 new jobs. The centers will perform accounting work for the Army and other financial chores.

Every member of the delegation, the largest in Congress, signed a letter in December of 1992 seeking a regional center at Norton Air Force Base in San Bernardino. Their effort continued after the new Administration changed the plan from a few mega centers to 20 satellite centers.

Reps. George E. Brown Jr. (D-Colton) and Jerry Lewis (R-Redlands) deserve credit for taking the lead. Their districts will benefit directly because the closed Norton Air Force Base will get one of the coveted defense accounting centers. The base, which Brown represented when the long process began and which Lewis now represents, needs major tenants. The Pentagon financial center will constitute the first major reuse of the base. The new economic activity is expected to persuade other businesses to locate there, and that would mean even more jobs.

It was the promise of jobs that prompted hundreds of communities to lobby the Defense Department. Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer campaigned hard, and California prevailed. No other state will get as many.

In addition to the site at Norton Air Force Base, the Pentagon is putting centers at another closed base, Ft. Ord, which is ably represented by Rep. Sam Farr (D-Carmel), and at the Oakland Naval Supply Center, in the district of Rep. Ronald V. Dellums (D-Oakland). Reps. Bob Filner (D-San Diego), Duncan Hunter (R-El Cajon) and Lynn Schenk (D-San Diego) also worked hard in securing a center for San Diego.

California desperately needs these new, high-quality jobs. The state economy had long been dependent on defense spending. Base closures and defense down-sizing hit this state disproportionately, causing the loss of jobs by the hundreds of thousands.

This victory ought to set a precedent. California Republicans and Democrats should unite to flex their collective muscles more often.