Ex-O.C. Official Is Bush’s Choice to Run Peace Corps

Gaddi H. Vasquez, a Southern California Edison executive who quit the Orange County Board of Supervisors during the bankruptcy scandal of the mid-1990s, is President Bush’s nominee as director of the Peace Corps, the White House announced Wednesday.

The announcement came a month after Vasquez, 46, underwent heart-bypass surgery when a routine medical checkup discovered a blockage.

“I’m honored to be nominated by the president,” Vasquez said Wednesday at his home in Orange. “I’m looking forward to the confirmation process.”

Vasquez said he could not discuss his selection nor his political views toward the Peace Corps while the nomination is pending. But he said that after the heart surgery he feels fit for the job. The White House did not comment on Vasquez’s health.

The appointment could position Vasquez, once a rising Latino Republican star, for a return to the public stage. He is the latest Latino named to a prominent post by the president in a concerted effort to court the nation’s growing Latino vote.

Bush’s Cabinet is a diverse one. Among his top Latino appointments are Mel Martinez, HUD secretary, and Alberto Gonzalez, White House counsel.

Vasquez served as an Orange County supervisor from 1987-95 before resigning ahead of both a recall campaign and a 1996 grand jury investigation that led to formal accusations of willful misconduct against two colleagues.

Vasquez and two other supervisors were not accused because they had already left the board; removal from office was the only penalty provided for in the civil actions.

But Vasquez was cited in a scathing 1996 U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission report that accused the Board of Supervisors and other Orange County officials of misleading and defrauding buyers of more than $2.1 billion in municipal securities.

Vasquez, a former police officer, served as Gov. George Deukmejian’s Hispanic liaison and then as chief deputy appointments secretary from 1985 to 1987 before being appointed to a vacant Orange County Board of Supervisors seat. He won his first election as supervisor in 1988, at the time making him the highest-ranking elected Latino Republican in the state.

He continues to serve as an Orange reserve police officer and sits on numerous community boards. He has been named one of the 100 most influential Hispanics in the United States six times by Hispanic Business Magazine and was given the Award for Outstanding Leadership from the California Assembly.

He rose to national prominence during the 1988 Republican National Convention in Houston, as one of three Orange County Republicans who spoke in the hours before then-Vice President George Bush was nominated to succeed President Ronald Reagan as the party standard-bearer.

The Peace Corps directorship would mark Vasquez’s second appointed tour in Washington. He served on two White House commissions under the first Bush administration.

After resigning during the bankruptcy, Vasquez joined Southern California Edison but left three months later to resume his law enforcement career and, he said at the time, to spend more time with his family. But he returned to Edison a short time later and now is division vice president of public affairs.

He has remained active in Republican politics and served on the California steering committee for Bush’s presidential campaign. He also contributed $100,000 to the GOP National Committee, money left over from his old supervisory campaigns.

Heading the Peace Corps would ensure Vasquez a measure of global celebrity, particularly in developing nations. Former directors have used the post as a career springboard, including Elaine Chao, who went on to head United Way and is now Bush’s labor secretary, and the late Paul Coverdell, who ran the agency under Bush’s father and in 1992 was elected to the U.S. Senate from Georgia.

Vasquez’s conservative politics for years denied him political acceptance among Latinos at home, but that wall is breaking down, said Rueben Martinez, a Democratic activist and owner of Martinez Bookstore in Santa Ana.

Rifts remain over such hot-button issues as civil rights and immigration, Martinez said. Yet he hailed the announcement, saying that Vasquez would be a good choice based on “his passion, which makes him deserving.”

“I have noticed some really good changes, including ones that have shown that his heart is in a good place,” Martinez said. “He has paid his dues and suffered a lot because of his points of view, but he has a passion for the Latino community.”

Martinez added that Vasquez’s experiences during the bankruptcy “made him a better person today.”

Bishop Jaime Soto, the county’s ranking Latino clergyman in the Catholic Church, said that the nomination gives the Latino community “a chance to also show their own maturity in terms of moving on from the bankruptcy to seeing Gaddi’s gifts and allowing him to continue working for the community.”

Cynthia P. Coad, chairwoman of the Orange County Board of Supervisors, welcomed the announcement. “I think [Vasquez] would be perfect,” she said. “He has a lot of vision and could put some zip back into the Peace Corps.”

Coad said Vasquez’s strengths lie in his Latino roots and his bilingualism, which give him the “global cultural view” needed to head such an agency.

Jo Ellen Allen, director of public affairs for Edison’s southern region and vice chairwoman of the Orange County Republican Party, said the appointment would make good use of two of Vasquez’s strengths: public speaking and superb presentation skills.

“I think it’s great,” Allen said. “It’s a job tailor-made for Gaddi.”

The Peace Corps, created in 1961 by President John F. Kennedy, has more than 7,300 volunteers serving in 77 countries. Since its creation, more than 163,000 Americans have served, working in 135 nations.

Bush today is scheduled to sign legislation at a White House ceremony that names the Peace Corps headquarters in downtown Washington after Coverdell, who died a year ago.

Once a background check is completed, the White House will officially submit Vasquez’s nomination to the Senate, which must confirm the choice. California’s two Democratic senators--Diane Feinstein and Barbara Boxer--declined to comment Wednesday.

Chen reported from Washington. Times staff writers Scott Martelle and Dan Weikel in Orange County contributed to this story.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Gaddi H. Vasquez

* Born: Jan. 22, 1955

* Residence: City of Orange

* Education: Bachelor of arts in public service management from University of Redlands

* Career highlights: Orange police officer, 1975-79 (youngest officer in the city’s history at 19); executive assistant to Orange County Supervisor Bruce Nestande, 1980-84; aide to Gov. George Deukmejian, 1985-87; appointed to Orange County Board of Supervisors by Deukmejian, 1987; elected to four-year terms as supervisor in 1988 and 1992 (highest-ranking elected Republican Latino in California at 33). Resigned as supervisor in 1995 amid Orange County’s bankruptcy, hired as government affairs executive at Southern California Edison.

* Family: Married, one son

* Quote: “I’m looking forward to the confirmation process.”