Wrong Target, Gov. Davis

The bitterest high-level political feud in decades is entertaining Sacramento watchers as summer ends. But the battle between Gov. Gray Davis and Senate President Pro Tem John Burton of San Francisco, both Democrats, threatens to kill some very worthy legislation over the next several weeks. Cool thinking is needed.

Late this week, word spread that the governor might veto a bond issue that would create and maintain badly needed parks and recreation facilities--this to punish Burton for his refusal last week to allow a vote on a bill to help Southern California Edison avoid bankruptcy, something Davis wanted badly. Davis insisted that he had not taken a position on the $2.6-billion bond measure and would never veto a bill just to get even with a lawmaker. Still, a threat seemed to hang in the air.

If, in fact, Davis or his aides want to punish Burton, they have picked the wrong weapon and target. The bill, AB 1602, would put the proposed issue on the March 5 primary ballot and let the voters decide whether California should continue its investment in state and urban parks, the purchase of wild lands and the preservation of historical and cultural resources. Our bet is that voters will approve it--if they get the chance.

The lawmaker who exerted the time and leadership needed to win passage of the measure in the final days of the 2001 session was Assemblyman Fred Keeley (D-Boulder Creek). Burton was the Senate co-author.

Davis has until Oct. 14 to sign or veto AB 1602 and about 900 other measures passed late in the legislative term.

This is a critical time for the programs that AB 1602 would fund. Many wild lands along the coast and in areas like the Santa Monica Mountains need the protection of public ownership or they will become housing tracts and strip malls. The money would also finance a needed program to halt contamination of the state’s beaches.

The state faces a budget deficit because of the decline in the economy, but the bonds would have no immediate effect on general spending. The money would be appropriated by the Legislature and repaid over a quarter-century. The bond bill is too important to be caught in the cross-fire of Sacramento political wars. The governor should sign the measure as soon as it reaches his desk.