Replacement Governor Gets His Turn at Bat

Major league baseball this spring has its replacement players and California has its replacement governor--a veteran pol who has kicked around the minors for years and now has his sights on the show.

The replacement governor is not trying to hit home runs. He just wants to avoid striking out. There’ll be nothing daring; just don’t get caught off base. Forget spectacular plays; don’t make errors.

“I’m not an off-the-wall wacko,” says Lt. Gov. Gray Davis. “I’m a solid citizen. I’m trying to demonstrate that I take this responsibility seriously. That may be tough for guys who need a sexy column, but it’s just fine for the voters.”

The message: Just because he was Jerry Brown’s chief of staff doesn’t make him, well, a “wacko.” There may be subtle similarities in style, but Davis is less extreme. He does ride around in an unmarked CHP car, waiving his option of a luxury sedan. Gov. Brown rode in a worn-out blue Plymouth.

Recently, I found the replacement governor walking alone through a Capitol corridor carrying a small tray with a grilled-cheese sandwich, en route to a legislator’s office for lunch. That’s Spartan, but Brown brazenly would have been walking alongside eating the food off Davis’ tray.

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Already Davis has been acting governor 32 days this year--more than a third of the time--while Gov. Pete Wilson has been out of state.

“The voters should revolt and demand that Wilson rebate that portion of his salary when he’s out of state running for President,” Davis says. “They’re paying his salary to solve their problems, not to campaign for votes in New Hampshire.”

The governor’s salary is $120,000, but--as a Brown-like symbol of austerity--Wilson has been taking 5% less, or $114,000.

“I think he’s making a big mistake reneging on his promise not to run for President,” Davis continues. “I am old-fashioned in this regard. I think keeping your word is not out of fashion.

“The state has serious problems. It’s barely coming out of a recession. Schools have been starved. Higher fees are driving kids out of a college education. There’s lots of work that needs to be done. Voters expect Pete Wilson to do it.”

Whoa! Brown ran for President twice. Did Davis ever try to talk that governor out of running? “I don’t think it would have done any good if I had, but I didn’t. . . .

“That’s why I feel so strongly about it, because I know how difficult it is to juggle both balls. Running this state is a full-time responsibility; running for President is more than a full-time responsibility.”

The responsibility of a replacement governor is not to foul out--as Lt. Gov. Glenn Anderson did when he delayed calling out the National Guard in the 1965 Watts riots and Lt. Gov. Mike Curb did in grandstanding while Brown was running for President in 1980.

You make your own role as acting governor, but cautiously.

If Davis had his druthers--if he were the real governor--he’d move the entire Capitol to Los Angeles or some other city for a couple of months each year. Legislature and all. “Move it around. Maybe Fresno,” he says, “go be with people, interact with business, get to understand this rapidly changing world.”

But so far as acting governor, probably the biggest thing Davis has done is proclaim last Monday Teachers Day. Nobody noticed except the California Teachers Assn., whose potent support he covets for a future gubernatorial race.

Exactly when that race will be is a sore point between Democrat Davis and Republican Wilson.

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Wilson, blatantly trying to justify his broken promise, is orchestrating a 1996 ballot initiative to require a special election if a governor quits. It has always been that the lieutenant governor automatically fills the vacancy. But Wilson dreams of being elected President and not having to turn over his office to a Democrat.

It’s a good bet that Davis, in his favorite dream, sees Wilson being elected to the benign office of Vice President and himself ascending to the governorship, then running in 1998 as the incumbent.

For somebody who should be trying to get along with his lieutenant governor, Wilson has been rather ungracious. First, he ordered him evicted from the Capitol and Davis reluctantly agreed. He cut his staff by 26%, then arranged the initiative.

Now Davis is balking at leaving the Capitol. “That move is indefinitely on hold,” says chief aide Garry South. “Courtesy and consideration are a two-way street.”

Maybe if Wilson wants Davis out, he’ll have to order State Police to forcibly evict him. Great TV.

Wilson has been tossing more than brush back pitches; he’s been throwing at the head. Davis could slam one right back at the pitcher’s gut, a sure crowd pleaser.