Ferguson Crying Foul Over GOP Maneuvers : Politics: Newport Beach assemblyman says timing of Campbell resignation was rigged to keep him out of race.

NEWPORT BEACH —  Assemblyman Gil Ferguson charged Friday that some of his fellow Republican legislators conspired to eliminate him from the race for state Sen. William Campbell’s seat so they could clear the field for his opponent, Assemblyman Frank Hill.

Ferguson (R-Newport Beach) said he believes that Campbell resigned on Friday--a few weeks before he had originally scheduled his departure--because it could trigger election laws that prevent him from entering the race.

Ferguson recently moved into Campbell’s Senate district so he could run for the seat. If Gov. George Deukmejian calls for the special election before Wednesday, Ferguson said, he might not meet the residency requirement to become a candidate.

“I think it’s outrageous that someone would scheme such a Machiavellian plan to ensure that I was not allowed to run in this race,” Ferguson charged Friday. “It’s obviously no accident that this whole thing was set up. It’s well thought out.”

Ferguson said he wasn’t accusing the Legislature’s Republican leaders of planning the conspiracy.

But he noted that Assembly Minority Leader Ross Johnson (R-Fullerton) and Senate Minority leader Ken Maddy (R-Fresno) have both endorsed his opponent, Hill (R-Whittier).

“There are four people who are involved: Frank Hill, Ross Johnson, Ken Maddy and Bill Campbell,” Ferguson said. “I’m not accusing them, but they’re the only ones who have any interest in this race politically.”

Campbell refused to comment Friday and Hill did not return telephone calls to his office.

But Johnson angrily rejected Ferguson’s charge, saying, “That’s just categorically incorrect.

“I don’t believe that any such conspiracy to deny Gil Ferguson the right to run for office exists or has existed. Certainly I have not been party of any such conspiracy.”

Ferguson said he talked with Deukmejian’s office Friday about his concern and was told “the governor does not want to do anything that would exclude me from the race.” Ferguson said Deukmejian could delay the special election long enough for him to qualify, but he was afraid the governor might unwittingly schedule it too early.

A spokesman for Deukmejian said the governor has not decided when to schedule the special election, which could involve a primary as early as February. He said, however, that the governor was not seeking to exclude Ferguson from the race.

“Certainly, the governor is not interested in excluding anyone from running in the special election,” Deukmejian spokesman Tom Beerman said.

On Friday, Campbell submitted a terse letter of resignation to Senate President Pro Tem David A. Roberti (D-Los Angeles), saying he would step down from the 31st District office effective at midnight. Beerman said Campbell also met Friday with the governor.

In a press release Friday, Campbell said he decided to resign after the last of his legislative projects--attending a committee meeting Thursday on the subject of investments by the public employee retirement systems.

“I plan to use the last two weeks of this year to make the transition from more than two decades of public service to my new career as president of the California Manufacturers Assn.,” Campbell said in the release. “Although that position does not take effect until Jan. 1, 1990, I felt that the transition should be accomplished at personal rather than public expense.”

Campbell announced in October that he would leave his office in early January to become president of the manufacturers association, a major trade group with extensive lobbying operations in Sacramento.

Days later, Ferguson announced he would run for the seat. His Assembly district overlaps Campbell’s Senate district, but Ferguson has lived for several years in Corona del Mar, outside the Senate district. Last month, Ferguson said he moved to Laguna Beach and registered as a voter in the Senate district as of Dec. 1.

Campbell’s 31st Senate District straddles the line between Orange and Los Angeles counties, stretching up to Whittier and south to Laguna Beach.

In addition to Hill and Ferguson, Brea City Councilman Ron Isles is the only other Republican who has announced plans to run for the Republican-dominated seat.

State officials also said Friday that the timing of Campbell’s resignation guarantees that the 20-year legislative veteran will receive an immediate cost-of-living increase when he begins collecting his pension.

By quitting before Dec. 31, Campbell will receive the increase scheduled to go into effect in January; had he delayed his resignation until after the first of the year, he would have had to wait until January, 1991, to receive a cost-of-living increase on his base pension salary of nearly $27,000.

Campbell’s decision to linger in office after his announcement in late October angered California Common Cause, which criticized him for having a “serious conflict of interest” by not resigning immediately after accepting a private offer.

The public interest group lambasted Campbell again last week for taking a “junket” in leading a handful of legislative colleagues to New York City to meet with investment bankers. The Times disclosed that Campbell, as chief of a joint legislative budget committee, also scheduled--as part of the group’s official duties--a tour of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and that the legislative contingent accepted dinners and free Broadway play tickets from corporate executives.

Air fare and lodging for Campbell and four other state senators will be paid by taxpayers, Senate staffers said.

In another matter, a spokeswoman for the federal Small Business Administration said Friday that Campbell has failed to comply so far with the agency’s request that he reimburse the government $60,175 in grants that were made to his 1987 Conference for Women.

The agency asked for the money back after newspaper articles showed that the conference, promoted by Campbell’s office, paid $165,000 in consultant fees to a firm owned by Campbell’s wife, Margene, and a former aide, Karen L. Smith.

“After the Conference on Women was held last April (1987), it was widely reported that certain individuals, including your wife and a former member of your staff, made large profits from the conference,” said an SBA letter addressed to Campbell in March.

“If that is true, SBA should be reimbursed for the assistance it provided to the Conference. Simply stated, taxpayer funds cannot and should not be used to support a training event that generates profits for the event’s organizers.”

Lesher reported from Orange County and Frammolino reported from Sacramento.