Davis’ Choice for VA Post Is Opposed

Claiming that services of the Department of Veterans Affairs have deteriorated, leaders in the state Senate are pressuring Gov. Gray Davis to withdraw his appointment of Bruce Thiesen as the agency’s secretary.

In a letter to Davis, Senate Leader John L. Burton (D-San Francisco) said he believes there are not enough votes in the Senate to confirm Thiesen.

A spokesman for Davis said Monday that the Democratic governor intends to stand by his appointee, despite appeals by Burton and 10 other Democrats and Republicans.

“The governor believes that Secretary Thiesen has made a lot of progress and he is sticking with him,” said Steven Maviglio.

The Cabinet-level post had been vacant for 18 months in November when Davis appointed Thiesen to succeed Tomas Alvarado, who resigned when the Senate Rules Committee refused to confirm him.

During Alvarado’s tenure, an elderly World War II veteran choked to death on his lunch at the Barstow Veterans Home. The death, which department officials said was caused by a heart attack, prompted criticism of care at the facility and eventually led the state Department of Health Services to shut it down for 19 months.

In a Nov. 30 letter that became public Monday, Burton told Davis that there was “significant” opposition in the Senate to Thiesen’s confirmation and that the department’s highly publicized troubles had “persisted and even worsened” under Thiesen’s tenure as the temporary secretary.

“I recommend you withdraw his name from consideration,” said Burton.

In a second letter handed to Davis last week, 10 other senators concurred in Burton’s call for abandonment of the nomination. They too charged that services to veterans in some cases had eroded under Thiesen.