COLUMN ONE : Wilson’s Growing Payroll : Despite claims to shrink government, he has boosted the number of political appointees since his predecessor. His aides say the increase is in response to new demands.

Even before Gov. Pete Wilson announced he might run for President, he trumpeted the need to shrink government and slice away at a flabby, unresponsive state bureaucracy.

But during his first term in office, amid continuing fiscal crises and rolling deficits, the number of his paid political appointees grew at a faster rate than the rest of state government, records show.

As of January, there were 755 of these employees commanding many of the highest state salaries--an increase of 9% since 1990, the final year of his predecessor. That is 2 1/2 times the growth rate of the government work force as a whole.

The total payroll for his appointees swelled about 20% to $53 million a year, according to salary figures provided by the state controller’s office. This rate of growth is almost twice that of the total state payroll.

Wilson Administration officials say the increase is in response to new demands on state government, such as the soaring prison population and the needs of federally mandated programs. And they add that many of his appointees sit in jobs converted from civil service.

“We haven’t created new jobs,” said Wilson’s $99,804-a-year appointments secretary, Julia A. Justus. “We’ve filled jobs with people from the private sector that were previously served by civil servants.

“We brought them in because we weren’t able to find the people inside civil service that we wanted to do the job.”

An examination of who Wilson’s appointees are--and how he has used his vast appointment powers--sheds light on the kind of governor he has been and the kind of President he might someday become.

These officials are a reflection of his political and personal priorities, his goals and style as the state’s chief executive. Most can be hired or fired to serve his purposes. They are agents of his power, sitting atop the bureaucratic pyramid, carrying out his directives.

Like many politicians, Wilson has used his appointments to reward friends, install like-minded people to carry out his policies and maintain a political apparatus that helped him win reelection last fall to a second term and could further his ambitions for higher office, according to records and interviews.

Despite highly publicized salary cuts initiated by Wilson in his first year, records show that almost all have received substantial increases in pay.

Many got pay hikes early this year, after his reelection. And many rising young stars of his Administration have been granted even larger increases as they advanced quickly by promotion. In a few cases, their pay doubled.

Several other patterns emerge from thousands of pages of documents and scores of interviews:

* A number of appointees are closely related to each other or to Wilson associates, including the mother and ex-wife of his campaign manager and 20 or more married couples. One couple had a combined income of $203,000 a year.

* Some of the most sensitive jobs are held by longtime supporters from his days as a young assemblyman or as mayor of San Diego, including a law school classmate who was the trustee for Wilson’s personal investments.

* Two dozen or more defeated Republican candidates for office and retired politicians serve in jobs paying salaries as high as $110,000 a year.

* Several appointees won their jobs with the backing of special interest groups supportive of Wilson’s policy agenda, such as crime victims and off-road vehicle enthusiasts.

* At least 36 people who once held posts with presidents Ronald Reagan or George Bush form a corps of experienced, politically savvy appointees who provide Wilson with the makings of a White House-in-waiting.

Wilson, who is recovering from throat surgery, was not available for an interview about his appointments. Chief of Staff Bob White, who plays a central role in their selection, declined to be interviewed but said, “We have an all-star cast. We spend a lot of time on these appointments.”

In filling vital state jobs, aides said, the governor has selected “the best and the brightest” from a pool of thousands of applicants, without regard to political ties.

“If you put political hacks in jobs and they don’t perform, you’re in trouble,” said Sean Walsh, Wilson’s press secretary, who officially joins the campaign this week. “In fact, we have had very few problems.”

Several appointees have proved controversial, although not because of their political activities:

Food and Agriculture Secretary Henry J. Voss resigned in April amid allegations that he failed to disclose at least $420,000 in gross income from agriculture-related investments and may have benefited financially from some of his official actions. Voss denied any wrongdoing, but said he quit to avoid embarrassing Wilson.

Longtime Wilson aide Craig Schmidt came under fire this year for his role in the “Adopt a Lake Program,” a foundering effort by the Department of Fish and Game to restore fish habitats, which now is under investigation by the state attorney general. The Times reported that Schmidt assisted a Fresno truck driver, whose nonprofit corporation won no-bid contracts but failed to complete the work. Schmidt, who says he acted properly, recently got a raise and promotion.

Wilson’s lottery directory, Sharon Sharp, stepped down in 1993 amid allegations--and later an audit finding--that she had tailored specifications for a major contract so only one firm could compete. During her tenure, nearly $500 million in contracts was awarded to the company, GTECH.

There have been few public firings of Wilson aides. Indeed, mutual loyalty--between the governor and his appointees--is the keynote sounded by the more than 50 interviewed by The Times.

“You give Pete Wilson an ounce of loyalty and he rewards you with buckets full,” said Justus, who in 1986 at age 21 joined the Los Angeles field office staff of then-U.S. Sen. Wilson. “Look at the people who have been around Pete Wilson for years, they’re completely dedicated.”

At the same time, appointees know they serve at Wilson’s pleasure without the protections offered by Civil Service. And that, says Justus, ensures that the state’s top appointed managers will “carry out the governor’s philosophy and policy direction.”

Competitive Exams

California’s Civil Service system of competitive examinations, appointment by merit and job protection was a reaction to the old spoils system, in which politicians controlled all of the state’s public jobs. Enacted in 1913, the system was one of the sweeping reforms ushered in by Republican Gov. Hiram Johnson and the other California Progressives.

Governors were left with the ability to appoint judges and members of most state boards and commissions, but only a relatively small personal staff and top department executives.

As the state’s population rose, so did the size of the bureaucracy--and the number of salaried employees appointed by the governor. About one in five of the governor’s full-time appointees are subject to confirmation by the state Senate, according to Wilson’s office.

This year, while exploring a presidential bid, Wilson has talked about the need to reduce government and his success in doing so in California. In January, in his annual State of the State address, he promised a broad tax cut: “To ease the burden on taxpayers, we’re shrinking government.”

State payroll records show that as of January, there were 755 salaried appointees in the Wilson Administration, compared to 691 under Gov. George Deukmejian in September, 1990--an increase of 9.3%. State figures indicate that most of the gain resulted from Wilson’s converting Civil Service jobs to Civil Service-exempt appointed positions controlled by him.

Over the same period, the total government work force, including the staffs of state colleges and universities, has grown to 270,000--an increase of 3.6%. The growth among agencies that directly report to the governor and account for 140,000 workers was 5.5%, according to the state Department of Personnel Administration.

The governor’s personal staff has grown at an even faster clip, interviews and records show. At least 172 salaried appointees worked in the governor’s office in January--or 13% more than worked under Deukmejian in January of 1990, the final year of his Administration.

At least eight appointees who work for Wilson are listed on the payrolls of other departments and agencies.

John R. Wallace works in the governor’s Downtown Los Angeles office, where he said he serves primarily as an “advance man”--coordinating Wilson’s frequent trips to Southern California. His $32,004-a-year salary is paid by the state Air Resources Board, which is charged with cleaning up air pollution.

His duties, said Wallace, include working on the dispute between the federal and state government on smog cleanup plans.

Karen L. Morgan tracks bills as a deputy legislative secretary in the governor’s Sacramento office. But on paper she works for the state printing plant, part of the Department of General Services, which pays her $71,796-a-year salary.

Press secretary Walsh says it does not matter which agency pays the salaries of the governor’s office staff, “they are still carrying out the policies of the Wilson Administration.”

But state Senate budget committee member Daniel E. Boatwright (D-Concord) is targeting Wilson’s appointees, recommending that the number in state agencies and departments be cut by up to 30% for a savings of $15 million a year.

“These [non-Civil Service] people are usually very highly paid individuals,” he said. “We’re talking about $60,000 and up.”

The state controller’s payroll records show that the average pay of the governor’s salaried appointees has grown to almost $70,000 a year. That is 10% higher than it was in 1990, in the days before the state’s financial crisis. The average pay for a Wilson appointee is 65% above the government work force as a whole.

The salary increases have come despite a “5% reduction” in pay that Wilson instituted three years ago and has since touted on virtually every news release announcing an appointment.

But in exchange for the pay cut, many of the employees get an added day of paid personal leave each month--which they can choose to cash out when they leave government service. And the controller’s office lists it as part of their salary.

Records show that with merit pay and promotions, the salaries of many appointees have risen more than 25%--a few by 100%.

Thomas P. McCaffery, a Republican activist with a master’s degree in public policy, started as a legislative assistant in the governor’s Washington, D.C., office in 1991. His $38,400-a-year salary was paid out of the state transportation budget, even though he says his primary responsibilities were health, welfare and the environment.

Today, at 31, he is assistant secretary of the health and welfare agency, addressing health planning, emergency care and diseasecontrol issues. His salary is $77,028 a year.

As a group the appointees are “a combination of political apparatus for campaign reasons and a device for controlling policy and administration,” said state Senate President Pro Tem Bill Lockyer of Hayward. He and other Democrats have repeatedly tried to reduce their numbers, without success.

In closed-door budget negotiations a year ago, Lockyer said, “the governor argued very, very forcefully that he considered those positions his personal staff and he had always appropriately refrained from interfering from the legislative budget and we should treat him in a similar manner.”

“It is contrary to this general theory about shrinking government that we hear,” he said.

‘The Wilson Family’

Who are these political appointees whom Justus and Walsh call “the Wilson family”?

One is Terry B. Gorton, who served as Wilson’s lawyer in his 1990 gubernatorial campaign. She is his $86,268-a-year assistant secretary at the state Resources Agency.

Her ex-husband is George Gorton, a longtime Wilson political adviser who managed his races for governor and now for President.

Terry Gorton’s current job, which includes seeking federal relief for the state’s depressed timber regions, was created at her suggestion after a two-year stint as Wilson’s chairwoman of the state Board of Forestry--a part-time post that paid up to $10,000 a year.

“You flourish in this Administration based on your own merit,” she said. “I think even if some could make the argument that you can knock on the door because of who you know, you don’t get through the door except because of who you are substantively.”

Another of Wilson’s appointees is Margaret Gorton, George’s mother. She was hired in 1991 to work in the governor’s appointments office and last year was promoted to a $38,268-a-year job as regional program officer for the Improving Life Through Service Commission, the state agency that dispenses federal money from President Clinton’s volunteer service program.

One of the Wilson Administration’s couples--Joseph D. Rodota Jr. and Anne E. Sheehan--met and married while he was working in the White House under President Reagan and she was in the Department of Energy.

They moved to Sacramento in 1988 to start a campaign research company, snagging as clients Bush and Wilson. Sheehan took a job with then-Gov. Deukmejian and later held one in the Wilson Administration. In 1992, Rodota was hired as Wilson’s “Cabinet secretary”--gatekeeper between top department and agency heads and the governor.

He took a five-month leave last year to help with Wilson’s November reelection. Then he left his state post at the end of March to become issues director for Wilson’s exploratory presidential campaign.

By then Sheehan had become undersecretary at the State and Consumer Services Agency, and their combined state incomes had climbed to $202,980 a year.

Appointments secretary Justus said the Administration did not set out to hire couples. “If we have people who are well qualified . . . we are not going to discriminate against the person because the spouse is an appointee,” she said.

Few appointees have as close, or as long, a relationship with the governor as does John Davies. The San Diego native was a law school classmate of Wilson’s at UC Berkeley’s Boalt Hall.

Davies has served as an informal political adviser, fund-raiser and campaign contributor to Wilson, and until this year, he managed a blind trust for Pete and Gayle Wilson’s assets.

In the late 1980s, Davies helped then-Sen. Wilson screen candidates for federal judgeships. More recently, he set up the system that the governor uses to pick judges for the state bench.

In 1992, the governor named Davies to the prestigious UC Board of Regents. This year, Wilson made his friend his judicial appointments secretary at $99,800 a year.

He also turned to Davies this spring to investigate the controversial circumstances surrounding the hiring of an illegal immigrant by Wilson’s first wife, Betty Hosie, almost 15 years ago.

Other longtime associates among Wilson’s appointees include his chief of staff, Bob White, who held the same title when Wilson was in the Assembly, and Lee Grissom, the governor’s director of planning and research, who headed the San Diego Chamber of Commerce when Wilson was mayor. White makes $106,404 a year; Grissom, $99,804.

At least 24 defeated or retired politicians also have found full-time employment in the Wilson Administration.

Jeff Wallack, who met Wilson while campaigning unsuccessfully for the State Board of Equalization in 1990, served as state fair marketing director and later as a deputy to the governor’s insurance adviser, making $71,220 a year.

When Wallack left state service last summer, Wilson appointed him to the part-time Cemetery Board and Board of Accountancy.

Wallack said that his political activity as a candidate and chairman of the Sacramento County Republican Party did not guarantee him an appointment. “That only got me into the mix. It did not get me any positions.” No longer a direct gubernatorial appointee, Wallack has returned to state government as the $57,540-a-year director of the state Acupuncture Committee.

When John Seymour, Wilson’s choice to replace himself in the U.S. Senate, lost to Democrat Dianne Feinstein in 1992, the governor named him director of the Housing Finance Administration at $98,076 a year. Seymour left the job last year.

In 1991, after ex-Senate Republican Leader James Nielsen of Rohnert Park was defeated at the polls, Wilson named him to the state Agricultural Labor Relations Board. A year later, when it was clear that Nielsen could not win the needed Senate confirmation, the governor withdrew the appointment and later named him to the state Board of Prison Terms, which Nielsen now chairs. His wife, Marilyn, is an assistant deputy director at the Department of Consumer Affairs. Their combined income: $131,160.

Wilson has frequently appointed representatives of organized interest groups to state jobs, such as John Gillis, a retired Los Angeles police detective whose daughter was brutally slain in 1979. Gillis and his wife, Patsy, founded Victims & Friends United. As a senator, Wilson urged then-Gov. Deukmejian to name Gillis to the Board of Prison Terms. As governor, Wilson reappointed Gillis to the $83,148-a-year post.

Clifford R. Glidden won his $82,236-a-year job heading the Department of Parks and Recreation’s off-highway motor vehicle recreation division, with the backing of the off-road community. A motorcycle enthusiast, Glidden is a past president of the Northern California district of the American Motorcyclist Assn.

For the governor’s reelection campaign, Glidden at his own expense sent out 4,000 pro-Wilson letters to fellow motorcyclists, he said.

A number of other appointees joined the Wilson Administration after working in the Reagan or Bush administrations.

Tim Coyle, Wilson’s director of Housing and Community Development, had been assistant secretary for congressional relations at the federal Housing and Urban Development agency under Bush, when he got to know then-Sen. Wilson and chief of staff White.

Coyle’s wife, Susan, worked for Wilson in the Senate and now is a special assistant at the Department of Developmental Services. Their combined income: $152,707 a year.

California Environmental Protection Agency Secretary James M. Strock, who makes $109,603 a year, was chief of enforcement at the federal EPA when he left the Bush Administration in 1991.

Wilson’s $99,804-a-year communications director, Leslie Goodman, held jobs under Reagan and Bush and was deputy communications director for the Bush-Quayle reelection campaign.

Press secretary Walsh, whose salary jumped by 25% to $75,000 this year, was another who came west after President Bush was beaten by Bill Clinton.

“Our loss back there was the California governor’s office’s gain,” he said.

Times staff writer Virginia Ellis, library researcher Julia Franco and director of computer analysis Richard O’Reilly contributed to this article.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

About This Series

For an in-depth look at Gov. Pete Wilson’s paid political appointees, The Times obtained computerized payroll records from the state controller’s office for all of his appointees. Richard O’Reilly, director of computer analysis for The Times, removed from the data members of part-time boards and commissions and so-called career executive appointees, who retain Civil Service protection.

The data allowed a direct comparison of Wilson’s paid appointees on the public payroll in January, 1995, and those of his predecessor, Gov. George Deukmejian, near the end of his term in September, 1990.

In the Wilson years, many of the appointees took a 5% pay cut but were given additional paid leave time to be used as added vacation or to be cashed out when they quit state service. The controller’s salary figures treat the leave time as “deferred compensation”--as part of the employees’ basic pay. Because the leave time is a potential liability to taxpayers, The Times used the controller’s figures.

Computerized records from the Senate Rules Committee and a complete set of news releases from the governor’s office provided biographies of most Wilson appointees. Under a California Public Records Act request, Wilson’s office also provided a breakdown by gender, race and ethnicity of Wilson appointees and those of his predecessor.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Who Holds the Jobs

What do a former homeless drug addict, a law professor and a gay Republican activist have in common? All have found a home in state government as appointees of Gov. Pete Wilson. Here is a sampling of the people he has chosen:

THE ACADEMICIAN

* Name: Daniel William Fessler, 54

* Title: President, California Public Utilities Commission

* Salary: $103,178

* Duties: Regulating rates of public utilities. Has led efforts to overhaul electrical rate structures. Also describes himself as the Administration’s chief spokesman for rebuilding the state’s infrastructure.

* Background: A Georgetown University law graduate, served as clerk to several Congress members and as a special assistant to Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare Robert Finch. In 1973, became a professor of law at the University of California.

* Getting the job: Knew Wilson’s wife and his appointments secretary, but had met Wilson only once, in 1987. After election, governor met with him for 45 minutes, discussing Fessler’s book about economic regulation and the role of the PUC in revitalizing basic utility services.

* Quote: After the job interview, Fessler recalled, he turned to Chief of Staff Bob White and asked, “ ‘Is this all there is?’ And White said, ‘Yes, it’s a done deal.’ ”

THE PESTICIDE LOBBYIST

* Name: Elin Miller, 35

* Title: Chief deputy director, Department of Pesticide Regulation

* Annual salary: $103,176

* Duties: Runs day-to-day operations of the state agency overseeing pesticide use.

* Background: Was western government relations manager and registered lobbyist for DowElanco, a major pesticide manufacturer, and once ran a pesticide manufacturers trade association in Sacramento. In 1990, coordinated the $12-million industry effort that helped defeat Proposition 128, the so-called “Big Green” environmental initiative. Her husband sells pesticides and fertilizers. To avoid potential conflicts, Miller removes herself from decisions affecting DowElanco or her husband’s employer.

* Getting the job: Recruited by the department director, James W. Wells, who knew her from her trade association days.

* Quote: “Because of . . . the political baggage . . . I just didn’t think the Administration would want to appoint me . . . I was real pleased they had the guts to do it.”

THE REFORMED DRUG ADDICT

* Name: Askia Muhammad Abdulmajeed, 53

* Title: Assistant deputy director of the Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs

* Salary: $61,836

* Duties: Delivers anti-substance abuse speeches, and represents Administration on issues of gang violence and teen-age pregnancy. Designed programs for high school dropouts.

* Background: An insurance agent and bus driver from South-Central Los Angeles who turned into a homeless crack cocaine addict. Underwent drug rehabilitation and headed a drug abuse program at Union Rescue Mission.

* Getting the job: Met governor’s wife during a tour of the mission, and she suggested that Wilson recruiters interview him.

* Quote: Sober for eight years, Abdulmajeed says he “often walks through skid rows . . . sort of reminding me . . . where I came from.”

THE RABBI

* Name: Michael Sternfield, 49

* Title: Chief deputy director of the California Conservation Corps, until he resigned last month

* Salary: $82,164

* Duties: Helped run 1,700-member corps dedicated to developing youth skills and protecting environment. Vowed to bring “a sense of harmony” to the agency, but served just two months before taking a job in May as co-rabbi at a Chicago synagogue.

* Background: A leader of Congregation Beth Israel in San Diego for about 20 years, until 1993, when he admitted having affair with a married woman rabbi. Moved to a pulpit in Durban, South Africa.

* Getting the job: Has known the governor since Wilson’s days as San Diego mayor. Discussed possibility of job with governor’s chief of staff and appointments secretary. He said that Wilson was aware of publicity surrounding his affair.

* Quote: “I think the simple truth is that he [Wilson] and those around him believe in me notwithstanding the unpleasant part of my past. . . . What happened, happened a very long time [ago].”

THE GAY ACTIVIST

* Name: Frank N. Ricchiazzi, 50

* Title: Assistant director, Department of Motor Vehicles

* Salary: $80,748

* Duties: Position created to reduce frustrations of businesses dealing with the DMV bureaucracy.

* Background: Former bank officer and manager of income properties. Was an appointee of Gov. George Deukmejian to the New Motor Vehicle Board.

* Getting the job: First met Wilson at Republican events. In 1988, then-U.S. Sen. Wilson attended gay Republican event hosted by Ricchiazzi in Laguna Beach. After Wilson was elected governor, a gubernatorial aide urged Ricchiazzi to apply.

* Quote: “In the governor’s office and in the Cabinet, I can walk in and be as blunt and honest as I want to be.”

THE SOCIAL WORKER

* Name: Eloise Anderson, 53

* Title: Director, Department of Social Services

* Salary: $102,804

* Duties: Runs the state agency responsible for welfare programs, including food stamps and Aid to Families With Dependent Children.

* Background: Was administrator of community services for Wisconsin, including programs on aging, mental health and job training. After a divorce, took a minimum-wage job pumping gasoline and for six months was on food stamps. Built a reputation for modifying programs to encourage AFDC recipients to get married, stay in school and go to work.

* Getting the job: Was hired after a governor’s aide saw her on MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour. Anderson spoke twice for a total of 30 seconds--arguing on the need to withhold added welfare payments from women who have additional children while on AFDC. This led to a job interview with Wilson.

* Quote: On her job interview with Gov. Pete Wilson: “No other elected official I have ever met ever talked about child welfare. I got excited about this man.”

Source of salaries: Payroll records, state controller’s office

Note: Salary figures provided by the state controller’s office include 5% deferred compensation--12 days of leave time a year that can be cashed out when an employee leaves state service.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Increase Under Wilson

Under Gov. Pete Wilson, the size of the state government work force and the number of his salaried appointees have continued to grow. And so have state payrolls. The following provides a comparison of numbers and salaries in 1995 under Wilson and in 1990 under his predecessor, Gov. George Deukmejian:

WILSON DEUKMEJIAN PERCENT 1995 1990 CHANGE Salaried appointees 755 691 up 9.3% Total salaries $52.8 million $43.8 million up 20.7% Average salary $69,955 $63,317 up 10.5% Total state 270,143 260,622 up 3.6% government work force Total state salaries $11.4 billion $10.3 billion up 11.0% Average state salaries $42,276 $39,477 up 7.1%

SOURCES: State controller’s office for appointees (January, 1995, and September, 1990). Governor’s budgets for total work force (1990-91 and estimated 1994-95). Note: Many salary figures provided by the state controller’s office include 5% deferred compensation--12 days of leave time a year that can be cashed out when an employee leaves state service.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

When Is a Pay Cut Not Really a Pay Cut?

Gov. Pete Wilson issues a news release whenever he names an appointee to one of the more than 750 paid jobs he controls. In most cases, the person’s salary is listed along with the proviso that the pay reflects “a 5% reduction as directed by the governor.”

But for hundreds of appointees--mostly upper-level managers scattered throughout state government--the pay cut is not exactly a pay cut.

Their paychecks are regularly reduced by 5% from their official salaries as listed on state payroll records.

But personnel officials describe that 5% as a form of deferred compensation, because in return for the cut in take-home pay, the appointees get an added day of personal leave each month.

The leave can be used as paid vacation. Or the appointees can accumulate the time and be paid for it in a lump sum when they end state service. If cashed out, the leave amounts to about 5% of a worker’s pay.

There is no limit on the amount of time that can be accumulated. And the employees are paid at the generally higher pay levels that are in place when they leave. The pay cut is a potential liability against the state treasury.

The bulk of the employees under the deferred compensation system, which Wilson started in 1992, are gubernatorial appointees, according to the state controller’s office.

State Controller Kathleen Connell chose to end the leave-deferred compensation system for her own non-Civil Service employees. “Her position was she would rather pay now than pay later,” said her chief deputy, Tony Miller. “She has a problem deferring state liabilities into the future.” The state controller treats the 5% as income and not a pay cut.