Sen. Stirling Appointed to Municipal Judgeship

SACRAMENTO —  Gov. George Deukmejian announced Tuesday that he has appointed freshman state Sen. Larry Stirling (R-San Diego) to a new municipal judgeship in San Diego County.

Stirling--an outspoken law-and-order legislator who just last week caused a stir when he jokingly referred to the citizens lobby group Common Cause as “communist” during floor debate--said Tuesday that he asked the governor two months ago to activate his long-standing request for a judicial appointment.

“It was a whole series of personal, political factors combined at one time that led me to request consideration,” said Stirling, whose salary will double from $40,800 to $82,000 annually when he dons the judicial robe.

Besides the advantage of a salary increase, Stirling said, he was tired of the travel and 14-hour work days.

San Diego-area politicians began immediately to jockey for position to replace the conservative lawmaker.

Assemblywoman Carol Bentley (R-El Cajon), who was elected to the Legislature just last November, said she considers running for the Stirling seat a “natural step.” Another weighing a possible candidacy is Assemblywoman Lucy Killea (D-San Diego).

Stirling, 47, becomes the first senator to leave the upper chamber for a seat on the bench since 1982, when then-Gov. Edmund G. Brown Jr. appointed Democrat John Holmdahl of Oakland to a state appellate court in San Francisco.

A municipal judge is on the bottom rung of the judicial system, but Stirling said he is not bothered by the perception that taking the job would be a loss of power and prestige.

“The prestige, I’m sure, is important to somebody, (but) that isn’t the determining factor for me,” he said. “It is being able to contribute and being able to satisfy the obligations to the public, my family and myself. The time came, and my subconscious said it is time to move on.”

Before his 1988 election to the Senate, Stirling served eight years in the Assembly. He had also served on the San Diego City Council and worked for the San Diego Assn. of Governments, a regional planning agency.

Stirling said Tuesday that he will resign in three weeks. Deukmejian will then have two weeks to call for a special election to fill the Senate vacancy. By law, the general election must be held 112 to 119 days after Deukmejian calls for a vote.