Wilson Picks 3 for Regents : Education: All of the governor’s nominees to the UC board are ethnic minorities and Republicans. Senate had rejected previous choice.

Six months after a Senate rejection of his choice for the University of California Board of Regents, Gov. Pete Wilson on Thursday nominated three new candidates--all of them ethnic minorities, including two from Los Angeles--to the powerful panel.

The governor’s choices are David S. Lee, 57, of Los Altos Hills, an Asian American businessman who was born in China; college professor Velma Montoya, 56, a Latina active in civic and Latino organizations, and Tom Sayles, 43, director of public affairs for the Southern California Gas Co. All are Republicans.

The nominations come during a period of greater Legislature scrutiny of the regents and calls to diversify the prestigious board. Criticisms of recent student fee increases and pay and bonus packages for UC officials have focused attention on the regents.

The governor submitted the three names to the UC Regents Selection Committee, which reviews nominees to ensure that the board reflects the state’s economic and cultural diversity.

In March, the Senate turned down Wilson’s appointment of Saratoga businessman Lester Lee, who would have been the first Chinese American to serve on the Board of Regents. Opponents criticized Lee, who had served on the board for a year while awaiting confirmation, for going along with steep fee increases--113% since 1990--and administrators’ raises.

The rejection of Lee, which marked the first time in 125 years that a governor’s choice for the UC board had been turned down, angered Asian American groups, who questioned whether racism had played a part in denying Lee the post.

Later that month, the Senate rejected Rosemary E. Thakar, a Wilson appointee to the California State University Board of Trustees. Her Senate opponents charged that as an unconfirmed board member she had supported pay hikes and fee increases. But Thakar, whose son had unsuccessfully challenged a conservative senator in a 1992 primary race, angrily countered that she had been a victim of political retaliation.

Prospects of confirmation for the latest nominees were unclear.

David Lee, founder of the Qume Corp. and a former ITT and Data Technology Corp. executive, was appointed by then-Gov. George Deukmejian to the board governing the California Community Colleges and served from 1990 to 1993. He also was a founding member of the Asian American Manufacturers Assn. and served on the Council on California Competitiveness.

Montoya, who holds a doctorate in economics from UCLA, taught at Cal Poly Pomona, Pepperdine University and Chapman College. A member of the board of the Salesian Boys and Girls Club of East Los Angeles, Montoya also is a member of the National Council of Hispanic Women and the Hispanic National Policy Forum.

Sayles, an African American, served as secretary of the state Business, Transportation and Housing Agency under Wilson and was state commissioner of corporations for Deukmejian. A former chief legal council for TRW, Sayles was a deputy attorney general in California and an assistant U.S. attorney.

Sayles also served on the community colleges board of governors from 1988-91.