O.C. Crisis Returns to Haunt Wilson

He’s been trying to hold it at arm’s length for months now, but it just keeps jumping back in his lap. Like it or not, Gov. Pete Wilson’s future has been bedeviled by Orange County’s lingering bankruptcy woes.

Now the Republican governor faces his most ticklish task yet--whom to appoint to replace Gaddi H. Vasquez, the Orange County Board of Supervisors chairman who announced his resignation earlier this week.

Wilson’s pick must be someone who can resolve the deadlock on the sharply divided board and help push the county to a successful resolution of the financial disaster.

Underlying that decision are a variety of factors, among them the need for Wilson to keep the bankruptcy from re-emerging as the sort of national issue that could harm his presidential aspirations.

“It could easily mushroom onto the front pages of the national media around primary time if he doesn’t watch it,” said Sal Russo, a prominent Republican political consultant. “If it can be contained as a boring local government story, he’s fine. But the potential for it to erupt into something bigger is there.”

Given the county’s prominent role in helping elect Republicans, some even suggest that Wilson might have to appoint a conservative to avoid further alienating the county’s bedrock GOP establishment just when he needs it most.

But the smart money seems to be on the governor appointing a caretaker who would not seek reelection and would thus be willing to make the tough fiscal decisions needed to shove Orange County out of bankruptcy.

“Wilson portrays himself as a problem solver and it would fit that resume to say he put someone on the board who will fix things,” said Howard Klein, a member of the state and Orange County Republican central committees as well as the well-heeled, conservative Lincoln Club. “Having Orange County as an open, running sore is not good for his presidential aspirations.”

Among those now actively campaigning for the appointment are Assemblyman Mickey Conroy (R-Orange) and Rancho Santiago College President Charles W. (Pete) Maddox. Others mentioned frequently as possible candidates include Wayne Wedin, chairman of the Orange County Business Council; Christine Diemer, executive director of the Orange County Building Industry Assn.; Tom Fuentes, the county’s GOP chairman; and former Orange County Chief Executive Officer William J. Popejoy.

The Wilson camp isn’t revealing the names on the governor’s short list, and they’re continuing to insist that the governor’s ultimate decision will have nothing to do with presidential politics. “We’re handling this appointment no differently than we would if Gov. Wilson were not a candidate for another office,” said Paul Kranhold, Wilson’s spokesman.

Ken Khachigian, one of Wilson’s top presidential campaign strategists, scoffed at the notion that the governor’s decision on the Orange County appointment would have any bearing on the national contest. In particular, he said, the “biggest stretch” is the notion that the right appointment might solidify Orange County voters behind him for the March presidential primary.

“This doesn’t mean a thing with regard to the presidential candidacy,” Khachigian said. “It has no bearing. If he appointed the Costa Mesa dog catcher to this position, it wouldn’t hurt him. If he appointed Prince Charming, it wouldn’t help him in terms of the presidency. . . . We tend to be Orange County-centric, and in this case, I disabuse anyone thinking of this in presidential terms.”

Orange County insiders, such as Fuentes, agree. As big as it seems in Orange County, Fuentes said, the supervisorial selection won’t register as a blip on the radar screen in early primary states such as New Hampshire or Iowa.

“Let’s deal with reality,” Fuentes said. “One supervisorial appointment is not going to determine the viability of a presidential candidate.”

A more important factor in Wilson’s decision, Fuentes suggested, will be the mood of the Orange County electorate. He said that voter rejection in June of Measure R, the half-cent sales tax hike for bankruptcy relief, indicated that Orange County “wants a conservative solution to the bankruptcy. . . . I think Pete’s basic inclinations will take him that way.”

But history might dictate otherwise. Wilson was gearing up to run for reelection as governor and was trailing badly in the polls when he was faced with selecting a replacement for Orange County Supervisor Don R. Roth, who resigned amid scandal in 1993. Wilson ended up tapping William G. Steiner, a moderate who was reelected last year just weeks before the county declared bankruptcy.

Even if Wilson takes the safe political route and names a caretaker supervisor, it will be a decision fraught with ticklish problems and the potential to bruise egos.

Without Vasquez, the board is divided into two factions on resolving the bankruptcy, with Steiner and Supervisor Marian Bergeson on one side and Supervisors Roger R. Stanton and Jim Silva typically sticking to the other. Both Steiner and Bergeson are close to the governor.

Conservatives have suggested Fuentes as a caretaker or Conroy as a long-term pick. Moderates talk mostly of Wedin, Diemer or Hunt.

Buck Johns, an influential conservative Republican, said Wilson risks alienating too many people if he picks anyone but a caretaker. “If you pick one, you risk offending the rest,” he said. “If he puts in someone on a temporary basis, no one is offended.”

Wilson has to “strengthen himself in Orange County” because he needs the county and “every vote he can get here to win California” in the March presidential primary, Johns said. As a result, there is “no question” Wilson will end up selecting a caretaker.

Complicating matters further is Wilson’s role in hiking state income taxes shortly after he was elected in 1990, an effort that still haunts the governor. Wilson has worked hard to re-establish his anti-tax credentials.

“He doesn’t want to be a leading proponent of tax increases, which some of his friends are pushing for,” Russo said. “So he has that pressure. Having crossed the line on raising taxes in a big way once, the governor doesn’t want to do it a second time.”

Wilson has faced stiff competition for money in Orange County from Texas Sen. Phil Gramm, who in March held a successful dinner fund-raiser here, taking in $150,000. Gramm, who got into the race months before Wilson, has also been endorsed by a large number of local GOP legislators, including U.S. Rep. Christopher Cox (R-Newport Beach), California House Speaker Doris Allen (R-Cypress), Assemblymen Curt Pringle (R-Garden Grove) and Jim Morrissey (R-Santa Ana), and state Sens. John R. Lewis (R-Orange) and Rob Hurtt (R-Garden Grove).