Leadership can be its own reward

You’ve got to wonder why anyone would fight to become a Republican leader in the Democratic-dominated Legislature.

The governor is nominally a Republican, but he seldom sides with GOP lawmakers on major policy issues and doesn’t help them much politically.

Republicans are badly outnumbered -- 25 to 15 in the Senate, 48 to 32 in the Assembly. That means they’re powerless to stop any legislation that requires only a simple majority vote. Their relevance is mostly as naysayers: They can block money bills -- budgets, tax hikes -- that need two-thirds majorities.

The Democratic bosses -- Senate president pro tem and Assembly speaker -- usually defer to the Republican leaders’ requests on the choosing of committee vice-chairmen. But they don’t have to. And it depends on whether the Democrat has a beef at the moment.

It’s not like decades past in the pre-polarized, pre-term limits era when minority leaders -- Sen. Ken Maddy, Assemblyman Bob Monagan -- were moderates flanked by pragmatic centrists and could work deals with Democrats to move the state forward. Occasionally, they’d even finesse significant Republican bills through the Legislature.

Today, being minority leader tends to be a thankless job, although it does pay better than what an ordinary legislator makes -- $133,639 annually instead of $116,208. And in the Senate, the GOP leader occupies a big, handsome office in the historic, domed wing of the Capitol. But ambitious wannabes often are measuring the drapes, kibitzing and plotting a takeover.

One such plotter for more than a year was Sen. Dave Cogdill, 57, of Modesto. Two months ago, he was chosen by Senate Republicans as their new leader. On April 15, he’ll replace the soon-to-be termed out Dick Ackerman of Irvine. Cogdill could hold the job for the equivalent of an eternity under term limits -- until 2014.

I asked him why he sought the job.

“Everything I’ve ever been involved in, I’ve been very fortunate to rise to leadership,” Cogdill said. “I enjoy being in positions of leadership.”

He rose to captain of his volunteer Fire Department in Mono County. Ran for the fire district board at age 25 and became chairman. Got a job as a trainee in the county assessor’s office and wound up as chief appraiser. Moved west over the Sierra to Modesto and opened an appraising business. Got elected to the City Council.

“I’ve always believed it’s important to get involved in the community,” he said. “If you don’t get involved, you’re part of the problem.”

In 2000, Cogdill was elected to the Assembly and in 2006 to the Senate, where he immediately began jockeying for the top Republican post. “In my quest to be as relevant and effective as possible,” he said, “I realized that most of the major decisions are made by members of the ‘big five.’ ”

That’s Capitol shorthand for the governor, the two Democratic honchos and the two minority leaders.

I asked him how Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger could improve relations with Republican legislators. He didn’t hesitate.

“We really need to improve communication,” Cogdill replied. “On a lot of things where we’ve disagreed with the governor, we’ve felt blindsided. He gets out ahead of us instead of sitting down with us and saying, ‘Here’s the problem, here’s where I see us going, what are your thoughts?’ . . . At least give us the courtesy of a little foreknowledge.”

Cogdill cited as an example Schwarzenegger’s surprise endorsement before last month’s primary of Proposition 93, the unsuccessful Democratic-sponsored initiative to loosen term limits.

“All last year it was, ‘No way, no how, unless we get redistricting [reform] with it.’ And we were certainly singing that tune. Then bang! We read in the newspapers that [endorsement]. That sends my folks over the edge when that happens.”

Cogdill can be outspoken, but in a calm way. He doesn’t rant. He’s very likable, although he doesn’t smile much. He’s definitely not the stereotypical backslapping pol.

He loves trout fishing in the Eastern Sierra and has a vacation home near Twin Lakes on the outskirts of Bridgeport, where he lived as a teenager. In recent summers, his wife and kids have spent more time there than he has because the lawmaker has been bogged down with budget haggling in Sacramento.

In most politicians’ offices, there are power photos of themselves with some political bigwig. In Cogdill’s office, visitors are greeted by a big framed picture of a golden trout. It was presented to him by the conservationist group California Trout for his legislative efforts to increase fish planting.

“I like him a lot,” says Sen. Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) who will replace Sen. Don Perata (D-Oakland) as pro tem around Labor Day. “He is your proverbial straight shooter. He does not hide the ball. He’ll tell you exactly where he stands. At the same time, he has a desire to get things done.”

Ackerman says: “There are workers and there are non-workers. He’s a worker.”

Cogdill for the last year has been working to get a water deal done -- one that includes new dams and an improved Delta plumbing system. But anti-dam Democrats have balked. New negotiations are underway. Cogdill says if they don’t produce an agreement within a month, business and agriculture interests will back their own ballot initiative for November.

The San Joaquin Valley presumably will benefit on water and other issues because the Legislature’s two GOP leaders will be from the valley. Assembly Minority Leader Mike Villines represents Fresno County.

On policy, Cogdill is a typical Republican legislator: Anti-abortion. Anti-gun control. Pro-business. Anti-tax.

But he seems to leave wiggle room for perhaps closing tax loopholes, as Schwarzenegger now is urging. “Where votes end up at the end of the day is anybody’s guess,” the senator says. “Some will look at it and say, ‘That’s a tax increase.’ Others will say, ‘It’s an equity issue.’ ”

The trick for Cogdill will be to lead Senate Republicans into some flexibility on taxes and wring more spending cuts out of Democrats while avoiding another summer-long stalemate. That would make being minority leader worthwhile -- partly because it would allow him to go trout fishing.

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george.skelton@latimes.com