Room at the State Government Inn

There’s no question Gov. Gray Davis is working overtime on the state’s energy crisis, but his administration needs to keep the rest of state government functioning too. It’s evident now that the governor has never fully overcome his inability to keep state jobs and other appointive posts filled.

We learn of this with the angry resignation of retired appeals court Justice William A. Newsom of Dutch Flat from the state Parks and Recreation Commission. In his letter to Davis, the frustrated Newsom said the commission was so riddled with vacancies during his seven-month tenure that it never had a quorum. That is, there were never enough members available to conduct any official business.

A spokesman for the state Department of Parks and Recreation says the commission did have a quorum for its February meeting. But now, there are only three members of a nine-member commission. Department spokesman Roy Stearns says there are no meetings scheduled with any critical items up for action. The commission will next meet either in July or August, supposedly to consider a general plan for the Humboldt Redwoods State Park.

Newsom said he was honored to be asked by Davis to serve, but now says in the past seven months the commission “has accomplished nothing and indeed has not been able to address its serious statutory responsibilities.” The commission, like many state boards and commissions, is generally a citizens’ advisory body with little to do with the day-to-day administration of the department. But its overview and oversight functions can be important to the direction of the parks program, especially as the department allocates funds from a $2.1-billion bond issue.

During Davis’ first year in office, state boards or commissions frequently could not function because they did not have enough members on hand to conduct business. Davis was slow in making appointments, observers said, because he insisted on personally interviewing all potential appointees himself. At times, Davis would have to pick someone from his own staff to serve on a board for the day of a meeting so it could take important actions. In time, the frequency and urgency of these embarrassing reports faded away. But it’s clear the problem persists.

In the wake of Newsom’s resignation, Davis spokesman Roger Salazar said the governor has made 1,790 appointments in 28 months in office, more than his predecessor, Gov. Pete Wilson, did in the comparable period of his term. It’s not an apt comparison, however, because Wilson succeeded another Republican and many of his staff aides were holdovers. There is a virtually complete turnover with a change in parties in charge.

Salazar said the criticism is unfair because membership on boards and commissions changes as “people come and go.” But to have six vacancies in a nine-member commission? If the commission has no real purpose, let’s get the Legislature to abolish it. Otherwise, the administration should fill these positions. The business of governing this state isn’t getting done.