Panel Rejects Wilson’s AQMD Appointee

Cody G. Cluff, the only appointee of Gov. Pete Wilson to the South Coast Air Quality Management District board, was refused confirmation Monday by Democrats on the Senate Rules Committee.

Cluff, an entertainment industry promoter, is a leader in a controversial campaign to deny new employment contracts to the agency’s veteran executive officer, James M. Lents, a nationally recognized smog fighter, and his management team.

Senate leader Bill Lockyer (D-Hayward), chairman of the Rules Committee, who had warned earlier that Cluff would be rejected, said he found Cluff “disruptive” at a time when the district needs stability.

Lockyer told Cluff that his record as an activist in various community affairs had demonstrated a “pattern of kicking over the table [and] upsetting the apple cart. I think it is divisive.”

Lockyer said the district, struggling to strike a balance between competing environmental and economic demands, deserves “steady, fair and consistent environmental policies.”

Cluff’s nomination was defeated on a party-line 3-2 vote.

He can remain on the board for 60 more days, however, and will be able to vote on renewing Lents’ contract. The 12-member board is evenly split on the issue.

“Cody Cluff provided an important balance to the board and his non-confirmation is a loss for air quality, the environment and small business,” Wilson said in a statement. The governor’s office said Wilson will name a new appointee at the end of the 60-day time period.

Cluff was appointed by Wilson in December to fill a slot reserved for a “specialist in air pollution.” Cluff conceded at the hearing that his expertise in smog was not scientific, but said he qualifies as a specialist because he has helped small- and medium-size companies meet complex smog rules for the past decade.

His specialty is “helping companies comply with the rules we have set so that we can have cleaner air,” Cluff testified. “That’s what makes the air clean.”

Testifying in Cluff’s favor were Southern California clean air activist Mark Abramowitz, operator of an environmental services company, and Edwin G. Laird of the Small Business Coalition of Southern California.