Number of Wilson Appointees in State Jobs Draws Fire : Politics: Aides defend the governor, but some legislators warn of a return to the pre-Civil Service ‘spoils system.’

The growth in the number of Gov. Pete Wilson’s political appointees serving in salaried state jobs undercuts the spirit of the current Civil Service system and should be curbed, a lawmaker and officials of the state’s largest public employee union said Monday.

State Sen. Quentin Kopp (I-San Francisco) and other lawmakers have been seeking to cut the number of Wilson appointees serving in state agencies by as much as 30%.

In an interview, Kopp commented on a Times report this week that found that since 1990 the number of Wilson’s appointees has jumped 9.3%, or 2 1/2 times as much as the government work force as a whole.

Noting that Wilson once served as mayor of San Diego, Kopp said: “He’s learned the ways of the big-city mayors, in terms of rewarding people . . . [by making them] exempt from Civil Service.”

Gubernatorial aides have said that much of the growth in appointees since Wilson’s predecessor, Gov. George Deukmejian, has resulted from jobs Wilson has converted from Civil Service. That merit-driven system was imposed early in this century as a reaction to the old political spoils system.

“The bottom line,” said Wilson spokesman Paul Kranhold, “is that [for] a number of positions, the caliber of candidate whom the governor wanted was unavailable through the Civil Service process.”

He said the governor has used his authority to convert certain jobs from Civil Service to get the best-qualified people.

Records show that since 1990 the state government work force is up 3.6%, to 270,143. But Kranhold said Wilson has lowered the ratio of state employees from 8.7 per 1,000 residents to 8.3. He said there are fewer state employees per resident now than at any point in the last 30 years.

Facing another tight state budget, Kopp, a member of the Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Committee, and several Democratic lawmakers have inserted language into the Senate’s proposed spending plan that would reduce the number of Wilson’s appointees in the bureaucracy.

Records and interviews show that Wilson had 755 appointees as of January, including 172 in the governor’s office. Kopp said the proposed cut would not touch Wilson’s office or most members of full-time boards and commissions.

The proposal is before a Senate-Assembly conference committee that is hammering out details of Wilson’s proposed $56-billion spending plan, which goes into effect July 1. Kopp said that in recent years similar legislation to reduce staff has not survived final negotiations with the governor.

On Monday, The Times reported that many top gubernatorial aides perform political chores on their own time while also working as Wilson appointees in the state bureaucracy. A few Wilson appointees already have left state service to join his exploratory presidential committee.

Drew Mendelson, a spokesman for the California State Employees Assn., said these findings reinforce his group’s concern “about the return of the spoils system” that Civil Service is designed to protect against. Mendelson said the increase in Wilson’s appointees demonstrates “a lack of respect” for Civil Service.”

Julia A. Justus, Wilson’s appointments secretary, said last week: “It’s not unreasonable . . . that the governor would tap people whom he is personally familiar with and whom he trusts to carry out his initiatives.”

Ruth Holton, executive director of California Common Cause, said there is a potential for conflicts of interest with political appointees. In fact, her group is drafting a November, 1996, ballot initiative that would prohibit state board and commission members from soliciting campaign funds for the official who appointed them.