A Refusal to Delegate Power Is Hampering Davis

The honeymoon is over for Gov. Gray Davis. Not his honeymoon with the Legislature, nor even the Capitol press corps. The honeymoon that has soured is the one with his own government.

There’s a cry for help welling up from within the Davis administration. It is being heard all the way from the innards of the bureaucracy to the exclusive “horseshoe,” the governor’s office complex.

Our new governor, it seems, is a control freak. A micromanager. A meddling, overbearing, nit-picking, demanding perfectionist.

Well, no kidding! Anybody who has ever worked for Davis--and Sacramento is littered with such people--could have warned these new underlings. There are many horror stories.

For weeks now--practically from the time of Davis’ inauguration 53 days ago--there have been increasingly louder rumblings of anxiety and frustration among the troops, principally because:

* The governor has decreed that all Cabinet members and other high-ranking appointees clear it with him before being interviewed by reporters, even for puffy profile pieces. Similarly, any speaking appearances--no matter how mundane--should first be run by him.

* All government news releases touching on state policy must be cleared by the governor’s press office. There’s even one memo to agency PIOs directing that the governor’s office be informed “immediately of all press inquiries.” It’s an illogical edict: There are dozens of government entities and more than 80 Capitol reporters.

* Davis has been excruciatingly slow in organizing his administration because he insists on personally interviewing second- and third-tier job applicants. The Cabinet secretaries all have been selected, but he’s choosing their undersecretaries, department directors and even staff lower down the ladder. Fewer than a third of the directors have been named.

* That’s probably just as well because Davis wants to focus all public attention on education anyway. Other issues can wait until his school legislation passes, he insists. But this prompts non-education recruits to ask, Just what am I doing here?

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Says Communications Director Phil Trounstine, regarding the snail’s pace appointments: “The governor would rather be right than hasty. He is putting together the team he wants. He’s been through this movie before.”

That “movie” would be the administration of Gov. Jerry Brown, many of whose appointees Chief of Staff Davis considered disasters.

As for the muzzling, Trounstine says: “Gov. Davis doesn’t want Cabinet secretaries freelancing their own views. They’re free to speak if they know what his views are on policy issues. But until they do, we don’t want them speaking as if they do. It won’t be a problem when there’s a comfort level between the governor and the secretaries.”

Of course, not even Gray Davis knows what the governor’s views are on many policy issues because he hasn’t decided.

One person close to Davis comments: “The way they’ve carried this out was ham-handed. If you treat people like idiots, they’ll act like idiots. If you treat them like responsible adults, they’ll act like responsible adults.”

The Davis loyalist adds: “The edicts have been draconian and unrealistic. When you tell people they’re not going to talk to the press, they’re still going to talk to the press--just through the back door.”

Which, of course, is what has been happening. Administration officials quietly have been passing the word to reporters about Davis’ iron grip and encouraging them to write stories. That’s the time-proven way political underlings complain anonymously to their boss.

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So far, decision-making may be bogged down, but there’s no permanent harm. Davis, no doubt, still is looking good to voters. It’s the view down the road that seems somewhat scary.

Barry Munitz, who headed Davis’ transition team and is president of the J. Paul Getty Trust, observes: “Gray has the chance to be a really terrific governor if he will share the burden and lean on some very good people he has brought in. If he doesn’t, then he’ll be an absolutely wonderful chief of staff.

“Look, it’s one thing to say, ‘Everybody’s got to be part of my team.’ That’s true. On the other hand, these people are there because they’re strong and have opinions and perspective and Gray will be much better off allowing them to express those opinions.”

Indeed, Davis should permit his Cabinet members to become stars. It would give his administration added stature and inspire creativity. The stars could launch trial balloons.

And it’s the way to create scapegoats for when he inevitably steps in it. Every governor needs plausible deniability. But to deny, Davis first needs to delegate.