CHAPARRAL

Out with the Old, In with the New

(or how the Republicans took back the governor's office)

by Mona Field, Social Science Division

Taking full advantage of high levels of voter rage and the anything-but-charismatic Gray Davis, the California GOP took back the governorship with a stunning 48 percent of the recall vote.

Organized labor lost its No on Recall effort as well as the backup plan for Cruz Bustamante. The business community is delighted and hopeful that the new administration will reduce regulations that may protect workers but cut into profits. And the Bush administration is salivating at the idea of taking California's 55 electoral votes in November 2004.

The California GOP standard-bearer, actor Arnold Schwarzenegger, has promised much to Californians and to his party. If successful, he may create an umbrella for the two conflicting wings of the party: the Christian right and the fiscal conservative/social moderate group. Since the recall election required no partisan primary, he swept past the conservatives who normally dominate primaries and got elected by a broader coalition, including many angry Democrats and decline-to-state (no party) voters.

Meanwhile, Gray Davis showed some class by accepting defeat early in the evening and offering to provide a smooth transition for the governor-elect. In preparing to leave office sometime in mid-November, Davis signed and vetoed his last bills and appointed his final group of judges and executive branch board and commission members.

Some of the laws signed by Davis in the last few weeks that impact community colleges include:

¾ SB 328 (Scott), which reforms several aspects of our high school concurrent enrollment programs.

¾ SB 81 (Alpert), which provides for the development of a statewide curriculum framework for an integrated teacher-preparation program.

¾ SB 25 (Bowen) that places restrictions on the use of social security numbers.

¾ SB 644 (Burton) that provides that one member of the CCC Board of Governors will be appointed from the classified staff (with nominations coming from the unions that represent classified, including CSEA and AFT).

¾ AB 1207, a much-discussed CFT sponsored retirement bill with little value to community college faculty.

Some of the bills vetoed by the governor that many CC faculty, staff and administrators supported include:

¾ SB 328 (Escutia), which would have provided colleges the authority to serve students without legal immigration status in the BOG Fee Waiver and EOPS programs.

¾ AB 457 (McLeod, Negrete) that would have provided a golden handshake for PERS employees.

Now community college leaders around the state are engaged in mega-speculation: Will Arnold fulfill his promise to fully fund community colleges (our full share of Prop. 98 funds)? Will he figure out how to close the $24 billion budget gap without hurting education OR raising any taxes? Whom will he appoint to run the state agencies that affect all Californians? How will his advisors guide him as he appoints members to our own CC Board of Governors, the CalSTRS and CalPERS boards, and many more focal points for our endeavors?

At the same time as the gubernatorial transition, another major player leaves office in Sacramento: Tom Nussbaum, chancellor of the state CC system, retires in December. The CC Board of Governors will appoint a replacement by early November. Stay tuned for more news in the next edition, since our Chaparral deadline does not permit us to report any substantive information at this time. &