Davis Finding New Ways to Exercise Power

Gov. Gray Davis: Being a leader? Or butting into local business? Clever? Or power-crazed?

We’re learning more about Davis’ governing style by scanning his recent bill signings and vetoes.

Not just the many signings where he first forced an author to promise to fix some perceived flaw in a bill at the next legislative session. Previous governors also did that occasionally, though Pete Wilson finally gave up when legislators failed to keep their promises. Davis says he’s not worried about renegers. “A governor has a lot of leverage,” he notes.

Beyond these bills, there were two others that prompted Davis to inject himself into strictly local affairs--one in L.A., the second in Redlands. There also was a third bill that Davis used to exercise the full power of the governor’s office--maybe even some power he really didn’t have--to force the settlement of an old dispute between warring Southland water agencies.

“Those are three big deals where I’ve said, ‘I’m giving you a chance to resolve it. I believe in local government,’ ” Davis told me. “ ‘I’m not telling you how to resolve it. I’m just telling you, if you don’t resolve it, I’m resolving it.’ ”

So he’s having it both ways: standing up for local control while threatening his own control.

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Davis sided squarely with the San Diego County Water Authority over the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California in one nasty squabble. The MWD, Davis told me, “needs to be put out of its misery. It’s the most ineffective organization on the planet Earth.”

San Diego has been trying to buy water from the Imperial Irrigation District and have it transported through an MWD aqueduct. After long MWD resistance, the two agencies finally settled on a delivery price last year. The deal sweetener was an agreement by the state to spend $235 million for MWD water conservation projects, specifically canal lining and underground storage.

But a condition of the deal was that the MWD, the irrigation district and the Coachella Valley Water District negotiate a historic reallotment of California’s share of the Colorado River. California has been siphoning off extra water, and other states are steamed. The feds are threatening to tighten the spigot unless California can live within its legal limit.

Negotiations dragged. Davis became increasingly annoyed by the MWD. Finally, he had this provision inserted last month into a $1.97-billion water bond bill: The local agencies had until Oct. 15 to divvy up the river water. If they didn’t meet his deadline, Davis himself would do the divvying.

Actually, that provision was the brainstorm of Keith Brackpool, Davis’ private water advisor, who is a big-time water entrepreneur and Democratic contributor. (Davis last year got $134,000 from his company, Cadiz Inc.) Brackpool profits from underground water storage.

Davis’ deadline and divvying threat were of questionable legality. But politically, nobody wants to challenge a new governor.

“The water’s going from Imperial to San Diego. Trust me,” Davis vowed last week. “Exactly how I do it, I don’t know. But it’ll get done in a timely fashion.”

Then, right before the deadline Friday, the three water agencies announced they had reached a tentative agreement. They’d felt the governor’s prod.

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Davis also has moved into an L.A. bus dispute.

He vetoed a union-sponsored bill by Sen. Kevin Murray (D-Culver City) that would have required any new operator taking over a Metropolitan Transportation Authority bus route to pay the same wages as the MTA. In his veto, Davis said the state should not dictate local collective bargaining rules. But if he becomes convinced the MTA is using new operators as “a subterfuge for denying workers’ rights,” he’ll consider signing a similar bill next year.

“I’m giving them one more chance to act like adults,” Davis said.

He also stepped into the so-called doughnut hole--1,000 acres of aging orange groves surrounded by the city of Redlands. Landowners want to develop it, but fear the city won’t let them. A bill by Assemblyman Thomas Calderon (D-Montebello) would have given jurisdiction to San Bernardino County. Davis vetoed the measure, but said unless the city and owners reach an agreement, he’ll sign a similar bill next year.

“This is ridiculous,” Davis said of Redlands.

Davis spokesman Phil Trounstine observes: “It’s reflective of his micro-management. He doesn’t want to let go. He wants to govern. . . . He doesn’t want to be too big for his britches and insert himself into a place he doesn’t belong. But he wants to get things done.”

So yes, Davis is butting into local business. Sometimes that also means leading. He’s hard-nosed, he’s irritating--and so far effective.