CALIFORNIA ELECTIONS / GOVERNOR : Brown Pledges to Fight for Survival of Aerospace Jobs

Democrat Kathleen Brown, lamenting the breakup of the historic linkage between Southern California and the defense-aerospace industry, pledged Wednesday to fight to save one of the area’s big remaining defense operations: the B-2 bomber plant in Palmdale.

State Treasurer Brown, the Democratic nominee for governor, said it would be “disastrous” if the B-2 plant were closed and dismantled after the 20th and last billion-dollar Stealth bomber comes off the line as scheduled in 1998.

The plant should remain operational until the Department of Defense fully studies and determines the future need for long-range strategic bombers, she said. Brown said she had discussed the B-2 situation with President Clinton and his chief of staff, Leon Panetta.

“I am fighting for every single aerospace dollar. Congress must allocate sufficient funds to maintain the area’s industrial base,” she said after touring a Northrop Grumman Corp. plant in El Segundo, the last fighter plane assembly line operating in California.

The candidate walked half of the mile-long line and chatted with workers at the facility near Los Angeles International Airport. The plant produces the central and aft sections of the fuselage and tail assemblies for the McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet, the workhorse attack fighter of the Navy and Marine Corps.

There is no immediate threat to the F/A 18 facility, but it is an exception in the region. Brown claimed that her Nov. 8 opponent, Republican Gov. Pete Wilson, has moved too slowly to cushion the impact of defense cuts and the recession on California industries.

“California deserves a governor who’s got a plan and a strategy and a vision from Day 1 and doesn’t wait 3 1/2 years for a reelection campaign to get moving for the people and workers of his state,” she said.

The Wilson campaign promptly retorted that Northrop was forced to cut back the B-2 program because of decisions made by the Clinton Administration.

“Even Northrop’s own leadership credits Pete Wilson with his efforts to save the B-2,” said campaign spokesman Dan Schnur.

Schnur faxed reporters a copy of a July 20, 1994, “Dear Pete” letter from Northrop Grumman Chairman Kent Krese to Wilson, saying, “You were most helpful recently in contacting your former colleagues in the Senate regarding the B-2 program.”

Brown used the El Segundo plant, which still employs 4,000 workers, as the backdrop for her proposal to preserve and revive the aerospace industry in Southern California.

“The names Hawthorne and Northrop go together just like so many Southern California cities whose aerospace workers put the area on the map,” Brown said, referring to another Northrop plant in nearby Hawthorne.

There are Burbank and Lockheed, Redondo Beach and TRW, and Long Beach and McDonnell Douglas, she said, which produce vehicles such as the DC-3 and L-1011 airplanes and the Viking, Mariner and Discovery spacecraft.

Over the past half-century, the industry “created a whole California middle-class dream. This is the story of Southern California and it symbolizes the promise of our Golden State. But in the past four years, it has begun to unravel,” Brown said.

Brown said Southern California has lost 147,000 defense and aerospace jobs since 1990, when employment stood at 330,000--a “breathtaking” 44% decline.

Brown pledged to ease air quality rules against the use of certain paints and solvents in airplane manufacture in the Los Angeles Basin.

She said she would seek an antitrust law exemption to allow competing American aircraft manufacturers to work together on the research, development and manufacture of new passenger planes.

Schnur, the Wilson aide, said there is nothing in Brown’s plan “that Pete Wilson has not already done, is not already doing or has not found a better way to do.”

At Northrop, Brown was asked if her program didn’t sound more Republican than Democratic.

“Hey,” she replied, “You got to have jobs. You have to have good-paying jobs, decent jobs, that are going to build this California economy. We can’t invest in education if we don’t have people at work who are paying taxes. . . .

“California needs a governor who’s going to be fighting for jobs. That is a Democratic tradition.”

Political Scorecard

47 days to go before Californians go to the polls.

THE GOVERNOR’S RACE

* What Happened Wednesday: State Treasurer Kathleen Brown toured a Northrop Grumman Corp. fighter plane assembly plant and talked about her plan to revive the Los Angeles economy. Gov. Pete Wilson signed legislation in Sacramento and traveled to San Francisco for an evening fund-raiser.

* What’s Ahead: Brown will be at a San Francisco high school today talking about her plan for elementary and secondary education. Wilson attends a San Francisco luncheon with fund-raisers and other supporters, then returns to Sacramento.

THE SENATE RACE

* What Happened Wednesday: Sen. Dianne Feinstein and Rep. Mike Huffington were in Washington. Huffington’s wife, Arianna, hosted a “Women for Huffington” event in San Francisco featuring GOP presidential prospect Lamar Alexander.

* What’s Ahead: Huffington remains in Washington today; Feinstein is planning to return to California tonight. Arianna Huffington plans to speak at a Republican Women Federated luncheon in La Habra today.

NOTABLE QUOTE

“Hey, you got to have jobs. . . . We can’t invest in education if we don’t have people at work who are paying taxes. California needs a governor who’s going to be fighting for jobs. That is a Democratic tradition.”

--State Treasurer Kathleen Brown, when asked if her economic didn’t resemble Republican programs

A LIGHTER NOTE

Kathleen Brown, who has been pressuring Gov. Pete Wilson to debate her, unveiled a 10-second ad that compares him to a small carnivorous mammal. “What do you call someone who won’t debate?” asks the ad, which begins running statewide today. To the tune of “Pop Goes the Weasel,” a portrait of Wilson appears and a voice says, “That’s right. A weasel.” After urging voters to call Wilson’s campaign headquarters, the ad concludes, “Don’t let Wilson weasel out.”