Many Heads Could Roll if Schwarzenegger Wins
Reuters
Tuesday, September 30, 2003; 2:44 PM
By Michael Kahn
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Arnold Schwarzenegger's promise to clean house if he wins California's recall election for governor next week has many nervous state appointees worried their jobs could soon be terminated.
While uncertainty is a trademark of any job in politics, California's Oct. 7 recall election could lead to the unusually quick removal of Gov. Gray Davis and many of his estimated 3,000 appointees less than one year after the Democrat won a second term last November.
It is a daunting prospect in an uneven economy -- a core reason for the electoral drive to remove Davis -- for employees who recently bought homes or moved to the state capital, Sacramento, with a job promise of at least another four years.
"When Schwarzenegger says he wants to clean house, it makes people think," said one appointee who declined to give her name. "Some people are very nervous."
Employees with jobs on the line include more than 100 employees in the governor's office, Cabinet members, department heads and staff at places like the Department of Finance and the Office of Emergency Services. There are about 200,000 workers in state government.
Davis is facing a Republican-led recall vote over his handling of the state's budget crisis and is unpopular partly because of his cool personal style.
Recent polls show a majority of Californians want to oust Davis and replace him with Republican "Terminator" star Schwarzenegger who has vowed to shake up Sacramento.
"If it is a change of administration from Republican to Democrat or Democrat to Republican, the appointees are generally replaced," said appointee Cliff Allenby, the director of the state's Department of Developmental Services. "If you planned to be here and you moved here and it is over in a year, it could be very difficult."
Allenby, who has survived six administrations dating back to Democratic Gov. Pat Brown in 1963, added every governor had a different take on who should stay or go. Republican Gov. George Deukmejian, for example, installed mostly his own people when he took over, no matter the political affiliation, Allenby said.
'ODD SITUATION'
Another appointee who has outlasted a number of administrations said a key to success was staying above the political fray and doing a good job. This time even that may not be enough.
"This is an odd situation," said the appointee, who declined to be identified for fear of jeopardizing potential employment in a new administration. "At the end of the term, you plan for it, but this is different because it is very, very uncertain."
One person sure to lose out in a new administration is Davis spokesman Steve Maviglio, who noted appointees such as officials negotiating gaming compacts with American Indian tribes, and the state's Homeland Security director could also soon be out of work.
The former three-term state lawmaker from New Hampshire predicts that a changeover that could occur within days would be "chaotic," but he realizes the fickle nature of life in the political arena.
"In politics you never have job security," he said. |
