Wilson Will Leave Mark in Flurry of Final Moves

In a series of little-noticed steps, Gov. Pete Wilson and aides are preparing to fill choice vacancies and impose regulations that could help Wilson leave his mark on the state until well after he turns out the lights.

Between now and his final day in office Jan. 3, Wilson has a sought-after vacancy to fill on the Court of Appeal in Sacramento, plus 16 trial court judgeships. He also could fill scores of other vacancies on boards and commissions, including one part-time post that will pay $99,000 a year.

And the Wilson administration is proposing regulations that environmentalists and some lawmakers charge would ease restrictions governing toxic waste cleanup and endangered species protections.

Administration officials say most of the regulations have been in the works for months and are aimed at helping to smooth the transition for Gov.-elect Gray Davis, who will take office Jan. 4.

“The last time I looked, Gov. Wilson is governor until a minute past midnight on Jan. 4,” Peter Rooney, Wilson’s secretary of the California Environmental Protection Agency, said in defending the administration’s right and obligation to continue working for the next six weeks.

Alarmed Davis partisans worry that the incoming governor will find himself hamstrung by some of the decisions made as Wilson wraps up his eight years in office, and that Davis will have to undo some of them.

“It’s a last-minute rush by the Wilson administration to give industry what he has always promised them--reduced regulation, less oversight and more power over the agencies,” said Bonnie Holmes-Gen, lobbyist for the Sierra Club.

Wilson’s actions are part of a time-honored tradition in which lame ducks bestow coveted jobs on their friends and lock in regulations aimed at ensuring that their legacy remains intact.

“There’s almost nothing we could do that couldn’t be undone by the next governor or Legislature--emphasis on almost,” said Wilson spokesman Sean Walsh.

Among the actions that Davis could not reverse are Wilson’s judicial appointments.

Earlier this year, when polls showed that a Democrat could become governor, the state Senate and Assembly, both controlled by Democrats, joined forces to hold up funding for 40 new judgeships--money the Legislature likely will free up once Davis becomes governor.

But Wilson does have funding--and needs no legislative approval--to fill a dozen Superior Court vacancies, four Municipal Court openings and one on the state Court of Appeal in Sacramento.

On Thursday, Wilson named Superior Court Judge Terry O’Rourke of San Diego to the appeals court in San Diego. O’Rourke is a brusque and controversial judge, and an outspoken critic of judicial cronyism. He and Wilson have been friends since they worked at a small San Diego law firm before Wilson entered politics in 1966.

Wilson’s legal affairs secretary, Dan Kolkey, a former partner at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher in Los Angeles, is under consideration for the remaining appellate court slot in Sacramento.

Wilson also is considering naming at least two termed-out lawmakers--Assemblyman Jan Goldsmith (R-Poway) and Sen. Quentin L. Kopp, an independent from San Francisco--to trial courts. Both have been Wilson allies. Goldsmith, in particular, defended the administration during hearings this year into abuses of inmates at Corcoran State Prison.

Also under consideration is outgoing Orange County Dist. Atty. Michael Capizzi. However, some Republicans, angry at Capizzi’s prosecution of Assemblyman Scott Baugh (R-Huntington Beach) over 1995 election irregularities, are trying to dissuade Wilson from naming Capizzi to the bench.

“We believe that the appointments we make today and in the coming weeks are an important part of the Wilson legacy,” Walsh said.

Beyond the judicial appointments, Wilson can fill vacancies without legislative action on several advisory boards and commissions. Virtually all the jobs are unpaid. But Wilson will have at least one vacancy on the California Medical Advisory Commission, a part-time post that pays a salary equal to that of legislators--$99,000 next year.

A governor’s appointments, particularly to the courts, can have lasting impact. Judges often remain in office for years. But some lawmakers and environmentalists are equally worried about regulations being adopted by the administration.

A set of so-called emergency regulations approved Friday would give individuals and companies more control over how they clean up toxic waste sites in California.

Administration officials say the new toxic waste regulations, which would remain in effect for 120 days, are designed merely to ensure that the state can maintain jurisdiction over the dumps after Jan. 1. They are necessary, officials say, because legislation to extend the State Superfund Program, which governs toxic cleanup, stalled this year.

“We think we’re doing the responsible thing,” said Rooney of Cal/EPA. “We don’t want it to be said that we dropped the ball.”

Sen. Byron Sher (D-Stanford), who chairs a committee that oversees toxic waste efforts, said the administration could use other state laws to enforce cleanup orders until the Superfund statute is reauthorized. And the administration could adopt a simple regulation to keep the old law in place until Davis can turn his attention to the matter.

“If I had to sum it up in one word, ‘outrageous’ comes to mind,” Sher said. “It seems like Cal/EPA is determined to go out on a sour note.”

Sher said the regulations include provisions that industry failed to win in the Legislature. The regulations would make it easier for polluters to take lesser steps, such as cementing over the sites if the property is to remain in industrial use.

Word of the toxic waste regulation began leaking this month. Environmentalists obtained a copy of the document, stamped “Confidential.” It was dated Nov. 3, election day, when few potential critics were paying attention.

“The appearance is that . . . they’re sneaking this by when they thought no one was looking,” Sher said.

As Cal/EPA pushes its toxic waste regulations, other Wilson appointees are doing more than cleaning out their desks and sending out resumes:

* The California Transportation Commission, controlled by Wilson appointees, is preparing to lock in at its March meeting how California will spend $1.7 billion in newly allocated federal freeway funds.

Davis could fill vacancies and appoint a majority to the commission before then, but only if he moves quickly. Otherwise, Wilson’s remaining appointees will earmark the money for projects they view as priorities.

Given the way transportation money is allocated, such a move could mean that Davis will have little say over transportation spending during his first four-year term, according to a memo prepared by Assembly Speaker Antonio Villaraigosa’s office.

Bob Wolf, the commission’s chairman, said much of the $1.7 billion will go to local transit authorities to repair damage from last winter’s storms. The remainder would pay for completion of projects underway.

“We’ve got people who need the money right now,” Wolf said.

* The Department of Fish & Game is pushing regulations that would exempt it from preparing lengthy environmental studies before it issues permits to developers, timber companies, farmers and other landowners allowing them to proceed with projects that might result in the death of wildlife protected by the Endangered Species Act.

“This proposal represents yet another shameless attempt by Department of Fish & Game and the Resources Agency to pander to corporate interests,” said attorney Tara Mueller of the Environmental Law Foundation.

Fish & Game Director Jackee Schafer called the new regulations “largely procedural,” adding that the process is “very straightforward. We’re doing it in accordance with the law.”

* In acts aimed at keeping illegal immigrants out of the work force, some departments are forging ahead with policies to require that individuals produce birth certificates or proof of legal residency before they can obtain commercial or professional licenses. The Department of Motor Vehicles, for one, will require that anyone obtaining a commercial driver’s license for the first time produce such papers starting in early 1999.

Wilson ordered the step taken last year, saying it was required by the federal government--even though federal authorities recently announced that they are merely asking, not requiring, that states seek such documentation.

Lobbyist Barry Broad, representing various unions including the Teamsters, whose members would be affected, calls the policy “an annoying intrusion into people’s lives.” He intends to ask that Davis quickly reverse the policy.

“I have a feeling this is going to evaporate very quickly,” Broad said.