Bush Looks to Golden State for Job Candidates

A number of Californians figure prominently in speculation about jobs in George W. Bush’s administration. But don’t ask them about it. They’re not talking.

“One thing about the Bush administration is that loose lips sink careers,” said one loyalist, who for that reason asked not to be named.

Still, at least one Californian seems a sure bet for a high-ranking post: Condoleezza Rice, Bush’s foreign policy advisor during the campaign, is expected to be his national security advisor. A senior fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution, Rice was one of eight co-chairpersons of Bush’s California campaign.

Other state residents mentioned as possible appointees include:

* Eloise Anderson, who was Gov. Pete Wilson’s director of social services and a welfare reform advocate. She is now director of the conservative Claremont Institute’s Program for the American Family.

* Attorney Ann Veneman, second-in-command at the U.S. Department of Agriculture under Bush’s father. In Wilson’s administration, she served as secretary of food and agriculture.

* Lawyer Lezlee Westine, another former Wilson aide who is co-chairwoman of TechNet, a bipartisan advocacy group for the high-tech industry.

* Gerald L. Parsky, head of Bush’s California campaign who chairs a Los Angeles-based equity firm and served in the Treasury Department in the Nixon administration.

* Brad Freeman, a businessman who served as finance chairman of Bush’s California campaign and is a longtime personal friend of the president-elect.

* Floyd Kvamme, a prominent venture capitalist and chairman of Empower America, a conservative think tank.

* Howard H. Leach, a San Francisco investment banker and member of the UC Board of Regents.

* Jim Barksdale, former Netscape chief and, like Kvamme, a member of a high-tech steering committee that advised Bush.

* Gary Mendoza, a former deputy to Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan and Wilson’s corporations commissioner.

* Hector Barreto, owner of a Los Angeles financial services firm.

Other names being bandied about include two California Republicans who lost their House reelection campaigns and will be leaving office in January. One of them, Rep. James E. Rogan of Glendale, said Friday that he has not applied for a job with Bush and is exploring opportunities with law firms on both coasts.

But Rep. Brian P. Bilbray of San Diego has expressed interest to Bush advisors in an environment-related position.