Watchdog Group Chairman Says He Will Step Down

Ravi Mehta, chairman of the watchdog state Fair Political Practices Commission, whose resignation has been demanded by two fellow commissioners, says he plans to quit soon.

Mehta, a former Orange County prosecutor who was appointed to the four-year post by Gov. Pete Wilson in 1995, took the day off Wednesday and was unavailable for comment.

Sean Walsh, Wilson’s spokesman, said Wednesday that Mehta alone made the decision to leave a “tough and thankless” post and that “we wish him well.” Walsh said Wilson has “a number of exceptionally well-qualified candidates” in mind to succeed Mehta when the resignation becomes official, probably in two months.

Gary Huckaby, Mehta’s spokesman, said “recent events” played into Mehta’s decision to resign early.

But Huckaby insisted that leaving the $103,000-a-year post “is something [Mehta] has had in the back of his mind for some time, despite the events of the last few weeks.”

Those events included a speech Mehta gave to lobbyists attending an ethics training seminar at which he questioned the constitutionality of Proposition 208, the campaign finance reform initiative enacted by voters last November. Mehta’s agency is responsible for implementing the measure and defending it in federal court.

Mehta also spoke in apologetic tones to the audience about carrying out the initiative, though he also said with apparent pride that he is becoming known as the “eviscerator” of Proposition 208.

In the aftermath, two fellow FPPC commissioners called on him to resign, which he refused to do.

Supporters of Proposition 208 accused Mehta of eroding the state’s legal case and demanded that Wilson remove him. The governor defended Mehta, but influential administration officials said privately that they believed Mehta should find other work.

Among those who thought Mehta should resign was Shirley Grindle, co-author of Orange County’s ordinance on campaign-contribution limits and an organizer for Proposition 208. She said Mehta lost the respect of his fellow commissioners after his comments to the lobbyists.

Grindle, who regularly attends commission meetings, said she believed Mehta was too “cozy with lobbyists and political attorneys being paid to find a way around Prop. 208.”

“He doesn’t belong on a commission when he doesn’t support true campaign reform,” she said. “He should become a lobbyist. He’ll probably fit right in.”

Newport Beach lobbyist Scott Hart said Mehta, an ambitious member of Wilson’s inner circle, eventually chafed at a difficult job.

“Once he took the appointment, no one wanted to talk to him because he’d become the top political regulator in the state,” Hart said. “I think he was burned out. It’s a tough job for a person who is a political animal like Ravi.”

Hart said many top Wilson appointees have been looking elsewhere for jobs with his administration winding down.

Mehta, who has 1 1/2 years left in his term, told the Sacramento Bee he had been contemplating quitting for some time. He did not say when he would leave, but sources told the newspaper they expect him to give up the post within two months.

Recently, Mehta has been looking for job possibilities at law and lobbying firms, the newspaper said.

Mehta was controversial from the beginning of his tenure. New at the job in 1995, Mehta drew criticism from fellow commissioners for assuming the powers of the commission’s executive director, a then-vacant post.

He also was chided by colleagues for performing private legal work for Wilson’s then-chief of staff Bob White at the same time the FPPC was investigating a Wilson-appointee, Agriculture Secretary Henry Voss.

Mehta said his departure had nothing to do with the criticism from other board members and that Wilson did not pressure him to resign.

Times wires services contributed to this report.