Add Fiery Regent and Stir the Board

In July 1995, Dolores Huerta stood alongside Jesse Jackson and other civil rights leaders before the University of California’s Board of Regents, singing protest songs and loudly denouncing the board’s decision to abolish affirmative action.

Next week, Huerta, the well-known farm worker activist and Cesar Chavez associate, will take her place on the other side of the velvet ropes that separate the prestigious board from the occasionally raucous public they serve. Huerta confessed laughingly that she might sometimes be tempted to rejoin the protesters, rather than remain in her comfortable seat at the table.

“I’m an activist, right?” she said. “That’s what I do.”

The presence of Huerta, a 73-year-old Latina with a commanding presence and take-no-prisoners style, is likely to send a jolt through a body that has been largely dominated by wealthy white men and deep-pockets political contributors to sitting governors.

This week, Huerta was appointed by Gov. Gray Davis to a six-month term. She could be reappointed to a full 12-year term by Davis or a successor if Davis loses the recall election Oct 7.

The sudden appointment came about only after a political showdown engineered by state Sen. Gloria Romero. Romero objected to the reappointment of a generous Davis political donor, Norman J. Pattiz, saying she had repeatedly urged the governor to appoint more members of minority groups and women.

Romero (D-Los Angeles) had threatened to derail Davis’ renomination of Pattiz, a Los Angeles broadcast executive, but on Tuesday dropped her opposition when the governor also agreed to name Huerta, an international hero of the labor movement and the mother of 11 children. Huerta is to complete the term of Pattiz, who, in turn, was appointed to a full 12-year term on the board -- a post that had been vacant for more than a year.

Supporters are anticipating Huerta’s tenure with delight, saying the fiery labor leader will shake up the board and provide a strong voice for low-income students and unionized workers.

Some, like longtime friend and fellow activist Fred Ross Jr., were relishing the thought of meetings featuring both Huerta and Ward Connerly, an outspoken opponent of affirmative action.

“She will be an outstanding representative for the disenfranchised, the sons and daughters of farm workers and the urban poor, and a tireless advocate for diversity in the university,” said Ross, who worked with Huerta in the early years of the United Farm Workers of America union. “Ward Connerly isn’t going to know what hit him.”

Connerly chuckled a little at the thought of going toe-to-toe with Huerta but said he thought he could hold his own. Referring to a liberal Democrat who was a regent previously, he said, “If I can survive Bill Bagley, I can certainly survive her.”

He said he welcomed the union leader’s selection but considered it “unconventional.” “Regents are typically people who have a history of working within the system,” he said. “Regent Huerta ... throughout her history has stood outside, throwing rocks at the system.”

Connerly said he identified with Huerta to the extent that he sometimes likes to “shake up” the system as well -- from the conservative side. He is, for example, the sponsor of a controversial initiative on the Oct. 7 ballot that would limit the state’s collection and use of racial or ethnic data.

Connerly took aim at Davis, however, saying Huerta’s appointment had been strongly influenced by political considerations, as the embattled governor seeks to strengthen his support among key Democratic constituencies -- especially Latinos. While Connerly acknowledged that governors are often influenced by politics in making appointments, he said Huerta’s selection “is probably more heavily influenced by those considerations than most.”

Some analysts had a similar take, particularly since one of those vying to replace Davis, should he be recalled, is Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante, a Latino from the agricultural Central Valley.

“This is an election in which Gray Davis needs to mobilize organized labor, and make sure that Latino voters vote ‘no’ on recall,” said Jack Pitney, a government professor at Claremont McKenna College. “An appointment such as this is a signal to Latinos that they have an ally in the current governor.”

On Thursday, after Huerta and Pattiz were rapidly confirmed by a 25-5 party-line vote in the state Senate, Republicans were careful to avoid criticizing Huerta but privately complained about the governor’s decision to appoint her at the 11th hour, for what they deemed political reasons.

They also charged that Pattiz’s appointment appeared to be a reward for the broadcast executive’s donations. Pattiz, chairman of Westwood One, the nation’s largest radio network, is a major donor to national and California Democrats. He has given Davis at least $220,000 since 1999, including a recent donation of $100,000 to the governor’s campaign to fight the recall effort.

Pattiz and his supporters defended his reappointment, saying that he had played no role in its timing. “I consider it a privilege and an honor and a duty to be a regent,” he said. “I think I’ve been a very good regent -- and I want to continue that. Frankly, I think it takes about two years to figure the whole thing out.”

Pattiz said he makes “no apologies” for being a political donor to causes and candidates he believes in. “When one has been fortunate enough to be successful in building a business, one has a responsibility to be active in philanthropy, politics and giving back to the community.”

He added that he considered it a privilege to be appointed with Huerta. “Many of the things she stands for, I deeply believe in,” Pattiz said.

Davis denied Thursday that his recent appointments had been motivated by recall politics. He insisted he was doing nothing substantially different from what had been done in previous years and had to hurry to make the appointments before the Legislature adjourns today.

Huerta herself said she had been taken aback by Davis’s action. She said she got the call from his office about 4 p.m. on Tuesday, about an hour before the selection was announced publicly.

“I was really, really surprised,” she said. “I said, ‘Yes, of course, yes.’ ”

At the hearing before the Senate’s Rules Committee on Thursday, cradling a bouquet of red roses, she said, “It’s one of those things you kind of dream of, but it is like an unattainable star.”

Huerta, who often sports a red beret, is likely to differ markedly in style and substance from her fellow regents. Most are affluent professionals, businesspeople and political donors. Among their number are Sherry L. Lansing, the head of Paramount Pictures; San Diego Padres owner John J. Moores; billionaire investor Richard C. Blum, who is also the husband of Democratic U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein; and Haim Saban, an entertainment mogul and major donor to Davis and the national Democratic Party.

Regents’ meetings are often relatively quiet affairs, with little public attendance. Disagreements among regents often are settled behind the scenes. Comments from the public are carefully controlled, with each speaker required to remain in a special area of the room, behind velvet ropes, and usually allowed no more than two minutes.

Huerta already has signaled that she plans to remain outspoken.

“My message is one of social justice,” she said. “That means we have to take into account workers, students of color. We can look at the numbers of African Americans and Latinos and we don’t see their numbers at the university in proportion to their population in the state. We should change that.”

Bagley, the former regent, said Huerta would bring a “people’s touch” to the board.

“I think she can make a heck of a lot more noise than some of the more recalcitrant regents.”

An outsider, William B. Gould IV, who is a former chairman of the National Labor Relations Board, suggested that Huerta could be a formidable force. He described her as “unyielding and unstinting” in her defense of workers.

“There are not likely to be light moments ... in discussions with her,” he said.

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Times staff writers James Rainey and Gregg Jones contributed to this report.

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(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

How members of the Senate voted

This is the 25-5 vote by which the Senate on Thursday confirmed labor leader Dolores Huerta and broadcasting executive Norman J. Pattiz as regents of the University of California:

Democrats for (25):

Richard Alarcon, Sun Valley; Dede Alpert, San Diego; Debra Bowen, Marina del Rey; John Burton, San Francisco; Gil Cedillo, Los Angeles; Wes Chesbro, Arcata; Denise Ducheny, San Diego; Joe Dunn, Santa Ana; Martha Escutia, Whittier; Liz Figueroa, Fremont; Dean Florez, Shafter; Betty Karnette, Long Beach; Sheila Kuehl, Santa Monica; Mike Machado, Linden; Kevin Murray, Culver City; Deborah Ortiz, Sacramento; Don Perata, Oakland; Gloria Romero, Los Angeles; Jack Scott, Altadena; Byron Sher, Stanford; Nell Soto, Pomona; Jackie Speier, Hillsborough; Tom Torlakson, Antioch; John Vasconcellos, Santa Clara; Edward Vincent, Inglewood

Republicans for (0):

None

Democrats against (0):

None

Republicans against (5):

Roy Ashburn, Bakersfield; Jim Battin, La Quinta; Dennis Hollingsworth, Murrieta; Bill Morrow, Oceanside; Rico Oller, San Andreas

Absent or not voting (10):

Republicans -- Sam Aanestad, Grass Valley; Richard Ackerman, Irvine; Jim Brulte, Rancho Cucamonga; Jeff Denham, Salinas; Ross Johnson, Irvine; William “Pete” Knight, Palmdale; Bob Margett, Arcadia; Tom McClintock, Thousand Oaks; Bruce McPherson, Santa Cruz; Chuck Poochigian, Fresno.

Democrats -- None

Source: California Senate

Los Angeles Times