Wilson Campaigners Fill Many Top Jobs in Capitol : Politics: Governor picks people he knows and trusts, aide says. Some have joined his presidential race.

Last fall, the state’s $103,000-a-year housing chief spent a weekend walking precincts in the San Gabriel Valley on behalf of Gov. Pete Wilson and the Republican ticket. One night he camped on his sister’s sofa with her Labrador retriever.

Meantime, other state officials who make more than $100,000 a year as appointees of Wilson staffed phone banks in their off hours and hosted house parties to drum up support for their boss’s reelection.

Partisan politics is the tie that binds the 755 Wilson appointees who serve in salaried state jobs, according to records and interviews with dozens of officials.

For many of these loyalists, campaign work points the way to high-paying jobs in state government. California’s payroll is layered with political operatives who easily shuttle back and forth between prized state jobs and their assignments in Wilson’s campaigns.

“It’s not unreasonable at all that the governor would tap people who he is personally familiar with and who he trusts to carry out his initiatives and implement his policy direction,” said Julia A. Justus, the governor’s appointments secretary and a longtime grass-roots organizer for his campaigns.

Almost all of the 50 appointees contacted by The Times said they campaigned for the Republican governor in 1994. And campaign records show that late in the race, one in 10 of Wilson’s appointees were reimbursed for expenditures they made to assist his campaign.

While mostly unknown to the public, these political appointees are securely in control of Sacramento’s executive suites. They help shape policy on immigration, welfare reform, the environment and taxes. Many work directly on the governor’s personal staff, screening his appointments and advising him on legislation.

Now, with Wilson gearing up to run for President, these faithful followers also provide the chief executive with a seasoned political army that can help smooth his way to the White House. Some joke about spending the early months of next year helping Wilson win the first presidential primary in New Hampshire or the first caucus in Iowa.

Even before Wilson’s official announcement, at least five appointees have obtained full-time jobs with the campaign team. Among them are top trade and commerce adviser Kathleen Shanahan and cabinet secretary Joseph Rodota, veterans of the gubernatorial campaign, who both gave up $100,000-a-year state posts to join the presidential effort. Wilson’s press secretary, Sean Walsh, officially joins the campaign today. Other appointees have set aside vacation days to solicit financial contributions or organize rallies.

Politics is interwoven into the fabric of the Administration. Records show that at least 24 defeated candidates or retired GOP elected officials have been appointed to state jobs by Wilson. His gubernatorial campaigns have spawned coalitions of appointees that were set up to allow state officials to participate on their own time.

The most visible group is called the Wilson Leadership Team, which sponsored two social events this spring to whip up interest among appointees in a Wilson presidential bid. The group’s 31-member steering committee is made up of those who are willing to dedicate more time to such activities as organizing house parties.

One of the steering committee members is Justus, who as Wilson’s appointments secretary recruits and screens candidates for non-civil service state jobs.

All the campaign work by Wilson appointees, Justus said, is voluntary--and Wilson has been careful not to trade political support for the state’s top jobs.

Payroll records obtained by The Times show that the ranks of Wilson’s salaried appointees have grown steadily despite a depressed state economy and rolling budget deficits. By January, the number of these appointees had jumped about 9.3% from the final year of Wilson’s predecessor, compared to about 3.6% for the state government work force as a whole. The appointees’ annual payroll had increased to $53 million--a jump of more than 20% since 1990.

While Wilson recently has begun to dismantle state affirmative action policies, the Administration has sought to reflect “California’s rich ethnic diversity,” Justus said.

Records show that Wilson has substantially increased the ranks of women among his full- and part-time appointees. While the percentages of Asian American, Latino and African American appointees have remained virtually the same as under his predecessor, women make up 38% of Wilson’s full- and part-time appointees, compared to 27% for Gov. George Deukmejian.

The Wilson campaign sought to drive home this point in last fall’s race against Democrat Kathleen Brown, who was banking on strong support among women.

During the campaign, more than 160 women, part of a women’s network called Pro-Wilson, assembled on the Capitol steps for a photo with the governor snapped for an advertisement captioned, “The Best Governor for California Women Just Happens to Be a Man.” These women, most of them appointees, were asked to shell out as much as $100 each to place the ad in a variety of magazines.

An informal group of high-ranking African American women in the Administration held several house parties. For one event called “Sistahs for Wilson,” the hostesses dished up sweet potato pie and collard greens.

“This is something we’re proud of,” said Wilson’s $75,000-a-year press secretary, Walsh, adding that it shows the staff is “very loyal.”

As a practical matter, appointees who serve for the most part at the pleasure of the governor have a vested interest in seeing him reelected.

Jeffrey A. Randle, 32, is one of the thirty-something appointees called “Wilson Wunderkinds” because of their relatively quick rise from jobs as campaign volunteers or low-paid staff members. Randle started out as an aide to Sen. Wilson, joined the 1990 campaign staff and by 1993 was in the governor’s office making $54,996 a year. He took off a full year to serve as the political director for the 1994 campaign.

Now, back on the state payroll as director of external affairs for the governor, Randle has seen his salary mushroom by 45% to $80,004 as of January, according to pay records. Randle said that was about the same pay he received in the campaign.

“I believe it [the raise] was a reward for a job well-done, for a lot of years of service,” said Randle, noting that in 1987 he joined Wilson’s Senate staff as a $16,000-a-year aide.

Others spent far less time promoting their boss’s candidacy. Caltrans Director James Van Loben Sels, whose salary is $107,952 a year, said he made phone calls on behalf of Wilson about four times to prospective voters after the campaign solicited his assistance. He said he “thought it would be interesting. I wanted to contribute.”

The entwining of politics and government is not new nor limited to Republicans.

Recently, at least 175 Democratic legislative staffers flooded into the San Gabriel Valley to fight what turned out to be the successful recall of Assemblyman Paul Horcher (I-Diamond Bar), who last year defected from the Republican ranks and voted to continue the reign of then-Assembly Speaker Willie Brown (D-San Francisco).

Joining Republican legislative staff members working to oust Horcher, the Wilson team sent a delegation of its own, 130 people, at least half of them appointees, to knock on doors.

Wilson’s appointees operate under strict guidelines regulating their political activity, Administration officials said. They were put on notice last year to guard against mixing politics and state government duties.

As Election Day approached, Chief of Staff Bob White wrote a memo, saying, “While the Administration recognizes the right to participate in the political process on personal time, every effort must be made to avoid the inappropriate use of state resources for campaign purposes. . . . This policy is not intended to encourage or require appointees to participate in campaign activities.”

Appointees said they were never asked officially by the governor’s office to participate in political events. But several who spoke on the condition of anonymity said some full-time appointees were sent campaign materials or received calls from the campaign--and it was understood that they were expected to participate.

“You were considered disloyal if you didn’t,” one department director said.

But Dan Schnur, a spokesman for Wilson’s presidential campaign who formerly worked in the Administration, said he has “never seen that type of pressure” applied to appointees on the state payroll.

Schnur said it is only natural for people who work on the public payroll for an elected official to agree with a major share of the politician’s agenda and “support that person politically.”

Several Democratic lawmakers suggested that Wilson’s staff places a strong emphasis on partisan politics because Wilson has continually set his sights on higher office. Sometimes, they said, this can result in the blurring of lines between campaign activity and government service.

“They [appointees] are working two jobs,” said state Sen. Tom Hayden [D-Santa Monica], who has waged several well-publicized fights against confirmation of Wilson appointees. “And the two jobs are blended--appointed jobs they are paid for and the political.”

Three decades ago, Pete Wilson was a youthful lawyer and back-bench member of the Assembly from San Diego. With the exception of an unsuccessful 1978 bid for governor, Wilson has steadily mounted the political ladder: mayor of San Diego, U.S. senator and finally in 1990 governor. His unbroken service in public office has allowed him to attract a corps of loyal supporters, many of whom wound up with government jobs.

White, who is paid $106,404 as the governor’s chief of staff, has served as a top Wilson adviser since the late 1960s when he was a San Diego field representative for the Republican Party. His stamp of approval is required for virtually all the governor’s appointments.

Another San Diegan who has made the journey is Gladden Elliott, a physician who hung campaign materials on doorknobs during Wilson’s Assembly campaign.

More recently, he and his wife contributed $14,000 to Wilson’s gubernatorial campaigns. And Elliott now is paid $68,568 a year as one of Gov. Wilson’s three appointees to the California Medical Assistance Commission, an obscure part-time state board that negotiates Medi-Cal contracts with hospitals.

Elliott said he was the candidate of the California Assn. of Hospitals and Health Systems, an influential lobbying group, but that his longstanding ties to Wilson helped. He was not interviewed for the job.

“I think they knew [me] pretty well,” the doctor said.

Wilson Administration officials deny any direct connection between political support and appointments. But records and interviews show that, like most successful politicians, Wilson remembers his old friends and rewards loyalty.

In fact, his other appointees to the commission have similar longstanding political ties to the governor. They are Al Anderson, a San Diego dentist who has chaired past Wilson election efforts, and former Assemblywoman Tricia Hunter (R-San Diego), a nurse who volunteered in the governor’s unsuccessful long-shot 1978 gubernatorial campaign.

Wilson first offered Hunter a job in November, 1992, the day after she was defeated in her bid for reelection to the Assembly. “We don’t want abilities to go away, and I’d like you to be in the Administration,” she recalls the governor saying.

Hunter, who receives $72,000 a year, estimated that the job takes about 40 hours a month, which works out to $150 an hour. And she said it leaves her time to prepare for a possible political comeback: a run for the Assembly next year.

Handing out political plums to allies and friends is not solely the province of Republicans. Last year, then-Democratic Assembly Speaker Willie Brown drew headlines when he appointed his frequent companion, attorney Kamala Harris, to a $72,000-a-year post with the Medical Assistance Commission, and he named lawyer Philip S. Ryan, a longtime friend and business associate, to a $99,996-a-year slot on the Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board.

In seeking higher office, Wilson has attracted a larger circle of followers outside his original base in San Diego. Marin County Republican activist Sally Rakow counts herself among a handful of volunteers in Wilson’s first, unsuccessful campaign for governor in 1978.

Rakow, who later handled energy issues for Wilson as a Senate staff member, secured an $88,068-a-year job on the five-member state Energy Commission in 1991.

Though she now seldom talks to Wilson, Rakow said the governor is “very loyal to the people who have worked for him over the years and who work for him now. There’s a great deal of mutual trust and mutual respect.”

Over the years, Wilson and White have sought to widen their base by recruiting high-profile figures from a variety of ethnic and racial groups for roles in campaigns and then in state government.

Take the case of Rosalie Zalis. In the 1990 campaign, Zalis served as director of coalitions, a job that included promoting Wilson among Jewish and women voters. After the election, Wilson and White approached her about serving in a similar capacity within the Administration and named her a senior policy adviser, whose annual pay rose 24% in the past year to $87,000.

Zalis said she never mixes politics and her role as a state official. “Does the fact that we opened a trade office in Israel play well with Jewish voters?” she said. “Sure it does.”

Other Wilson appointees have helped the governor corral votes among special groups of voters.

After 11 years in the United States, Chiling Tong now finds herself back in her native Taiwan as the state’s Taipei trade representative. Wilson named Tong last year to the $71,220-a-year post after she had served as a community relations specialist at the Employment Development Department. Tong last year organized Asian American voters for Wilson.

Likewise, Maria Guzman Kennedy, who is paid $58,632 for duties in the governor’s office, took to the hustings for Wilson among Latino voters. For her help, Kennedy in November was invited on stage with Wilson as a representative of Latino supporters when he declared victory over Democrat Kathleen Brown.

Similarly, Darlene Ayers-Johnson, an $88,860-a-year deputy director of the Department of General Services, is a Wilson stalwart going back to 1990 when she helped organize a fund-raiser and served as a poll watcher. Shortly after the election, Chief of Staff White enlisted Ayers-Johnson for a job with the Administration.

In the 1994 election, Ayers-Johnson stepped up her activity. She served on the Wilson Leadership Team steering committee, walking precincts, manning phone banks and holding a house party with other African American women appointees.

“I had a special party for Wilson. It was called Sistahs for Wilson. . . . Gov. Wilson had appointed lots of women to high-level positions and women of color and the [black] community didn’t know that because Wilson doesn’t seem to brag about it,” Ayers-Johnson said.

While Ayers-Johnson was serving up soul food, Tim and Susan Coyle held a house party of their own for Wilson with an Oktoberfest theme. He is the state’s $102,804-a-year director of Housing and Community Development; she is a $49,908-a-year assistant to the director of the Department of Developmental Services.

In addition to speaking on Wilson’s behalf, Tim Coyle devoted four or five weekends to helping Wilson. He spent the final days before the election in the San Gabriel Valley, staying at his sister’s place. “I slept with the dog on a sofa in the family room,” Coyle recalled.

Times staff writer Virginia Ellis and library researcher Julia Franco contributed to this article.

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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.

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The Wilson Women

During last year’s gubernatorial campaign, more than 100 female supporters of Gov. Pete Wilson--part of a women’s coalition called Pro-Wilson--assembled on the state Capitol steps for this ad photo. Representative of Wilson say the women, all but a few of them gubernatorial appointees, were asked to contribute as much as they could afford, up to $100, to place the ad in a variety of magazines. A spokesman for Wilson stresses that participation was strictly optional. The message accompanying the ad said, in part: “Women’s priorities are his [Wilson’s] priorities.”

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Diversity of Appointees

Gov. Pete Wilson has made opposition to affirmative action one of his key issues as he explores a run for the presidency. But how has he done compared to his predecessor in appointing individuals who reflect the diversity of California’s government work force? The following is a breakdown of Wilson’s and former Gov. George Deukmejian’s non-judicial appointees by gender, race and ethnicity. The figures show appointments made to both full-time jobs and part-time boards and commissions. The makeup of the state Civil Service is shown for comparison.

WILSON (1/91-5/95) Men: 62.5% Women: 37.5% Native American: 0.6% African American: 4.7% Asian American*: 4.8% Latino: 6.5% White/Other**: 83.4% ****

DEUKMEJIAN (1/83-12/90) Men: 73.2% Women: 26.8% Native American: 0.5% Asian American*: 3.5% African American: 4.7% Latino: 6.5% White/Other**: 84.8% ****

STATE CIVIL SERVICE (as of 12/31/94) Men: 53.5% Women: 46.5% Native American: 0.3% Asian American*: 10.9% African American: 11.8% Latino: 16.8% White/Other**: 60.2% * Category includes Filipinos and Pacific Islanders

** Category includes non-Latino whites, individuals identified by race and ethnicity, and others.

Sources: Governor’s appointments office; State Personnel Board

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Politicians on the State Payroll

Gov. Pete Wilson has found jobs for at least 24 defeated and retired politicians. “These are people who Pete Wilson has worked with, who he trusts, who are committed to the implementation of his agenda with tremendous skills, talents and abilities,” said Julia A. Justus, the governor’s appointments secretary.

NAME: Albert Aramburu

POSITION: Director, Calif. Conservation Corps

SALARY: $95,232

COMMENT: Lost Assembly race, 1992

****

NAME: Ingrid C. Azvedo

POSITION: Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board

SALARY: $88,068

COMMENT: Lost Assembly race, 1982

****

NAME: Lou Barnett

POSITION: Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board

SALARY: $99,996

COMMENT: Lost Assembly race, 1991

****

NAME: Carol Bentley

POSITION: Board of Prison Terms

SALARY: $83,148

COMMENT: Lost Senate election, 1992

****

NAME: Ed Davis*

POSITION: Alcoholic Beverage Control Appeals Board

SALARY: $24,288

COMMENT: Retired from state Senate, 1992

****

NAME: William Duplissea

POSITION: Occupational Safety/Health Appeals Board

SALARY: $83,148

COMMENT: Lost Board of Equalization race, 1990

****

NAME: Gerald Felando

POSITION: Youthful Offender Parole Board

SALARY: $83,148

COMMENT: Lost Assembly reelection, 1992

****

NAME: Robert Frazee

POSITION: Integrated Waste Management Board

SALARY: $90,864

COMMENT: Retired from Assembly, 1994

****

NAME: Marz Garcia

POSITION: Public Employment Relations Board

SALARY: $92,460

COMMENT: Lost Senate race, 1984

****

NAME: Jan Hall

POSITION: Caltrans lobbyist

SALARY: $89,028

COMMENT: Lost Assembly race, 1990

****

NAME: Margie Handley

POSITION: Timber Transition Coordinator

SALARY: $41,052

COMMENT: Lost Senate race, 1993

****

NAME: Tricia Hunter

POSITION: Medical Assistance Commission

SALARY: $72,000

COMMENT: Lost Assembly reelection, 1992

****

NAME: Tom Mays*

POSITION: Toxic Substances Control Department

SALARY: $64,728

COMMENT: Lost Assembly reelection, 1992

****

NAME: Jim Nielsen

POSITION: Board of Prison Terms

SALARY: $86,172

COMMENT: Lost Senate reelection, 1990

****

NAME: Barbara Pieper

POSITION: Director, Arts Council

SALARY: $83,952

COMMENT: Lost Assembly race, 1992

****

NAME: John Rousselot*

POSITION: Board of Prison Terms

SALARY: $80,724

COMMENT: Lost congressional race, 1992

****

NAME: John Seymour*

POSITION: Director, Housing Finance Agency

SALARY: $103,236

COMMENT: Lost U.S. Senate election, 1992

****

NAME: Norman Shumway

POSITION: Narcotic Addict Evaluation Authority

SALARY: $33,540

COMMENT: Retired from Congress, 1990

****

NAME: Wilbert Smith

POSITION: Director, Governor’s Office of Community Relations

SALARY: $80,004

COMMENT: Lost race for state schools chief, 1994

****

NAME: Sandra Smoley

POSITION: Secretary, Health and Welfare

SALARY: $109,608

COMMENT: Former county supervisor lost bid for Congress, 1992

****

NAME: Kate Squires

POSITION: Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board

SALARY: $90,468

COMMENT: Lost U.S. Senate primary, 1994

****

NAME: Jeffrey Wallack*

POSITION: Assistant insurance adviser

SALARY: $71,220

COMMENT: Lost Board of Equalization race,1990

****

NAME: Carol Whiteside

POSITION: Governor’s office

SALARY: $82,164

COMMENT: Lost Assembly race, 1989

****

NAME: Oscar Wright

POSITION: Office of Public School Construction

SALARY: $84,648

COMMENT: Lost state Senate race,1982

Note: Many salary figures include 5% deferred compensation--12 days of leave a year that can be cashed out when an employee leaves state service.

* Appointee has left job

Sources: Offices of the governor and state controller