Gov. Slowpoke

Gov. Gray Davis’ excuses for failing to fill hundreds of state jobs are beginning to wear thin. After 10 months in office, Davis has made only about half of the 1,000 appointments available to him. A number of the 1,000 are part-time board and commission posts that may not be critical to day-to-day operations, but, as Times columnist George Skelton noted Thursday, Davis has chosen only 22 state department directors out of 42. Six departments still are being run by holdovers appointed by Republican Gov. Pete Wilson. Fourteen other such posts are vacant.

There’s no director of the Department of Motor Vehicles, the state agency that has the most direct contact with citizens. Holdovers remain in charge at the departments of Mental Health and Environmental Health Hazards. There are vacancies at the lottery agency and the Department of Boating and Waterways. Scores of Republicans continue to make important decisions at lower levels throughout state government.

Davis’ press secretary, Michael Bustamante, insists there’s been “no harm, no foul.” He says voters elected Davis to fix the schools, pass a budget on time and control guns, not to “deal with boating and waterways or to get somebody to sit on a waste board to oversee the number of Q-Tips tossed into a garbage dump.”

In fact, the state Constitution makes Davis the state’s supreme executive authority, responsible for everything from agriculture to veterans’ affairs. Many Californians will be very concerned if, for instance, toxic waste is being illegally tossed into dumps along with the Q-Tips or into the state’s waterways.

Bustamante says Davis will work at his own pace to find the best people available while he “continues to make appointments on almost a daily basis.” But Davis filled only two full-time staff jobs during October, one for deputy department director and one for deputy agency secretary. The last appointment announced was on Oct. 22. Many of the most talented and motivated potential appointees sought jobs in the administration for as long as a year but gave up in frustration and no longer are available.

Californians voted for change when they went to the polls one year ago--for a new team led by the candidate who boasted of having the most experience in state government. It’s time Davis filled the roster and put a full team on the field.