Davis Favors Appointed Insurance Commissioner

Reacting to the ongoing corruption scandal at the California Department of Insurance, Gov. Gray Davis signaled Friday that he supports restoring the position of insurance commissioner to an appointed rather than elected office.

“I think it is time that department had a little reprieve from politics,” Davis said.

The governor announced he would appoint an interim successor to outgoing Commissioner Chuck Quackenbush within 30 days. The commissioner resigned Wednesday amid allegations of widespread mishandling of funds he collected from insurance firms in connection with Northridge quake settlements.

The governor, who was a strong supporter of the 1988 ballot initiative Proposition 103, which first made the regulatory post an elected office, said the events swirling around Quackenbush had made him change his mind.

“Having seen at least two elected commissioners serve,” Davis said, “I am more convinced than ever that part of the initiative has been a mistake.”

Proposition 103, in which consumer advocate Ralph Nader and others squared off against the money and might of the insurance industry, also called for a major rollback in property and casualty insurance rates.

While campaigning for Proposition 103 with Nader in 1988, Davis once described the controversial initiative as “destiny’s child.”