Ousted state air board leaders, governor's allies spar at Capitol hearing

Two state air board leaders who left under fire portrayed Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's administration Friday as demanding and threatening, charges that a former gubernatorial aide dismissed as "fiction" during a Capitol hearing.

The California Air Resources Board is facing scrutiny after Schwarzenegger ousted Chairman Robert Sawyer last month and Executive Officer Catherine Witherspoon resigned Monday, citing undue interference from the governor's top staff.

In an Assembly Natural Resources Committee hearing with only Democratic lawmakers present, Sawyer and Witherspoon described a governor who sold environmental ideas nationally while his top aides routinely fought the air board at home on efforts to regulate industry pollution. The dispute has drawn attention because the ARB oversees the 25 percent reduction of greenhouse gases by 2020 under last year's global warming law.

Former California Environmental Protection Agency Undersecretary Dan Skopec and Cal EPA Deputy Secretary Eileen Tutt testified on Schwarzenegger's behalf, a showing of lower-level representatives that irked Democratic leaders who demanded the presence of the governor's top two aides.

Skopec, who left a week ago to form his own private firm, caused an immediate stir when he defended the administration.

"I think the characterizations that were made probably deserve to be in the fiction section of any bookstore rather than the non-fiction," Skopec said in response to opening comments from Sawyer and Witherspoon.

The two former air board leaders blamed Schwarzenegger chief of staff Susan Kennedy and deputy chief of staff Dan Dunmoyer for trying to control the traditionally independent panel. The ARB has 1,000 staff members and generally has relied more on science than politics in its decision making, though the governor appoints its board.

"Once AB 32, the Global Warming Solutions Act, became law, the boundaries between the Air Resources Board and the Governor's Office dissolved and we were expected to behave as an extension of the governor's own staff," Witherspoon said.

Witherspoon also charged that the Schwarzenegger administration "has become completely one-sided and is contrary to his stated commitment to balance environmental and economic objectives."

She said Dunmoyer often questioned the ARB's pursuit of regulations on toxic chemicals and diesel emissions that would be costly to industry.

Tutt said the problem was one of leadership, not philosophy or policy. She blamed Witherspoon and Sawyer for poor communication and sending the governor mixed messages on the air board's direction. She also said Schwarzenegger has resolved the situation by appointing as ARB chair Mary Nichols, a former top environmental official for Govs. Jerry Brown and Gray Davis.

"I think there was confusion on both sides, and part of that was a lack of leadership at the Air Resources Board, and a need for stronger leadership," Tutt said.

Sawyer shot back that he saw the problem as one of too much leadership, because he believes he was fired for defying the administration.

Assembly leaders formally requested Tuesday that Dunmoyer and Kennedy appear at the hearing, but the governor has a policy of not having his senior staff testify, said Schwarzenegger communications director Adam Mendelsohn.

"This hearing was a political drill," Mendelsohn said. "It was more focused on 'he said, she said' than on solving problems."

Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez, D-Los Angeles, said Schwarzenegger's office showed "a real lack of respect for the house that authored AB 32" by not sending Kennedy, Dunmoyer or EPA Secretary Linda Adams. Núñez was further displeased by Skopec's "fiction" remark.

"That's in my view not only disrespectful but clearly, I think, a sign that they didn't bring their 'A' team today," Núñez said. "It's pretty clear the administration chose not to send a Cabinet-level person.

Under questioning from Assemblyman Mike Feuer, D-Los Angeles, Skopec initially resisted disclosing whom he met with in the Governor's Office this week. But he later indicated he had met with Kennedy.
Núñez said he would allow Assemblywoman Loni Hancock, D-Berkeley, chair of the natural resources committee, to decide whether to pursue a subpoena seeking testimony from Kennedy and Dunmoyer.

Hancock said afterward that she wants to reflect on the testimony but would pursue subpoenas "if necessary." She said she was concerned about possible "illegal and improper pressure" from Schwarzenegger's aides.
"The administration chose for whatever reason not to have very credible people come, if I may say so, to answer those allegations," Hancock said. "They are people with no direct knowledge of the incidents, no direct experience, not from the Governor's Office, which is the place the pressure came from."

The Assembly committee's three Republicans did not attend Friday's hearing. At its peak, 17 Assembly Democrats appeared, though only six of them were members of the natural resources panel.

The air board currently has 11 seats, all filled by part-time appointees who serve at the pleasure of the governor, with confirmation from the state Senate. Hancock said she wants legislation to make those seats term-based, protecting board members from immediate ouster. She also suggested giving the Senate and Assembly appointment powers, in addition to the governor.

Source: Sacramento Bee
July 6, 2007

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