Which Jerry Brown Will Show Up This Time?

In 1975, I received an invitation to dine with the governor of California. It was an opportunity for school leaders to sup with Gov. Jerry Brown. I was overwhelmed, anticipating candle lights and chandeliers.

Well, not quite.

We met in a small room in the “horseshoe” of the Capitol executive offices. Shrimp tempura like plastic and rice that was soggy and tasteless. 

In an adjoining office was the California Teachers Association leadership.  The governor went from group to group trying to work out a deal for collective bargaining legislation. 

School boards were not enthused by the thought of agency shop and binding arbitration being priority topics for local school employee discussions.. 

Union leaders refused to give on their priorities, as well, and the governor threw up his hands in frustration.  The issue would have to be dealt with in the legislative committee process, with Brown hoping a collective bargaining bill would get to his desk. 

He was not disappointed. Unionization of public employees became a reality. 

Brown's tenure was splendid with controversy.  The medfly issue, the Rose Bird  appointment to the Supreme Court, Adriana Gianturco, the transportation czar who blocked freeway construction in OC to punish us for eliminating the Coast Highway segment. 

Meanwhile, the governor's lifestyle was unique: a small apartment with a mattress on the floor, an old blue car that probably cost more to maintain than a new state car, and dating rock singer Linda Ronstadt.

Fast forward to 2011. Brown is again elected governor. And he is facing the greatest challenge of any governor in California's history.

But this is a new Jerry Brown - mature, and married to Anne Gust, a remarkable woman. He is knowledgeable about the firmly divided Legislature.

But has he developed the political skills necessary?

Is he willing to interrupt the trend of escalating pensions and entitlement programs?  Long-term solutions have to address these issues.  They will continue to outgrow even the best of economic times. 

Decentralizing government is long overdue, but finding the revenue for localized programs and services will be difficult and complicated.  A fair amount of distrust exists between levels of government, which usually manifests in more regulations and mandates from the state. 

If the difficult decisions are to be made, Brown and the Legislature will face stiff opposition. 

If the governor is capable of bringing the Legislature together to share these painful decisions, and to match the realistic expectations of the people of California, he will go down in history.

A big “if.”

County Government: Does It Fit Its Purpose?

If the private sector operated like government, there would be little advancement in new products, technology, medicine or anything else. 

Institutional government, except perhaps the university system, remains the same. 

Educational governance, for one example, is crazy:  At the state level, there are the elected State Superintendent of Education, the appointed Secretary of Education, the State Board of Education and the Department of Education. 

Meanwhile, there also are county boards of education and local district boards, who all cry out for local control.  Money trickles down to them with all sorts of bureaucratic mandates attached, and locals have very little say over what goes on in the classroom.  Creativity is stifled.

The whole system is inefficient and hidebound, and delivers poor service to its customers, the children of the state and their taxpaying parents.

Another example is county government, whose structure has not changed in decades as its role has changed significantly. 

In Orange County, less than 8 percent of the land is still unincorporated and under county jurisdiction.  Yet there are still five supervisors, fully staffed, governing services that now are largely pass-through programs from the state and federal level, as other services have passed out of the supervisors’ purview.

The Orange County Transit Authority provides transportation planning and funding, Cal Optima provides medical oversight.  Cities are now doing most of their permitting and regulating. Law enforcement falls within the jurisdiction of the elected Sheriff-Coroner and District Attorney. 

Special districts, such as water and sanitation districts, have their own boards and financing, and though supervisors do sit on these boards (with stipends) they are only there as representatives. 

Developing and administering a budget for the taxpayer’s money is the major function of any government, and particularly of the county’s.  Rarely, though, is there any attention given to reforming the structure of county government to meet changing responsibilities. 

It's time for a new look at how we can deliver services more openly and cost effectively - but that might mean voting oneself out of a job, which is seldom seen in the political world.

The new year will provide tough challenges and we have to ask ourselves are we prepared to make the necessary changes. This may be the best time for opportunities to do so.

Marian Bergeson is a former state senator, state secretary of education and Orange County supervisor.

Whitman and Fiorina: The Progress of Women in Politics

The Bergeson family moved from Westwood to Newport Beach in 1959.

It was then a newly developing community that was moving from a small beach community, where everyone attended Newport harbor High School, to an expanding area that spanned the Coast Highway. Battles were being waged against a coastal freeway that would bisect Newport Beach.

It was significant to me that many of the leaders in Newport Beach were women: Dora Hill, Doreen Marshall, Jackie Heather, Lucille Keuhn, and business leaders Winifred Bacon of Hoag Hospital and gnes Blomquist, entrepreneur and philanthropist. There was Evelyn Hart of Harts Sporting Goods, where my children bought all of their bicycles and speedos, and Isabel Pease, who wanted trees planted on every street, and got her way.

Peggy Landers was my mentor in the world of school politics. When I ran for school board in 1964, I spent all of $50 for an ad in the Daily Pilot. When I ran for the board of the newly unified district – comprising the former Newport Beach Elementary, Costa Mesa Union and Newport Harbor High school districts – it cost me a little more than $500. Campaigning then was all-volunteer, with precinct walking, coffees and a debate moderated by Jim Cooper on KOCE.

The new Newport-Mesa Unified School District faced numerous problems with finance issues, which became a priority for me. I was able to use that expertise to gain statewide involvement as president of the California School Boards Association, which brought me face-to-face with the state Legislature in the battle over collective bargaining for teachers. I did not feel that teachers considered binding arbitration and agency shop as their first priority, but rather how to reinforce the art of teaching with the support and involvement of local communities.

While Newport Beach was an example of utilizing the talents of women in policy development, that had not translated to the state level. California’s government was a male-dominated institution, where deals were cut in smoke-filled rooms – obviously no place for women!

When Bob Badham vacated the local Assembly seat to run for Congress, I was encouraged to run for it and somewhat reluctantly agreed. In a field of 17 candidates, I was considered the front-runner and it was difficult for the male candidates to attack a woman, so they used a soft approach: “Well, she’s a nice lady, but she’s a spender.” (I countered that by getting the endorsement of Howard Jarvis.)

But women also were held to a different standard then. No family pictures of young children in the campaign brochures – that would imply a neglect of family if elected. Age was a consideration: female candidates always their ages attached to their names, but not so with male candidates.

Upon election, however, gender mattered less, as oyu could do anything you had the time and talents to accomplish, as long as you could stake out your territory. You didn’t have to act like a man, you just had to work harder and outsmart them.

When I ran for lieutenant governor against the incumbent, Leo McCarthy, I raised more than $3 million, which was significant in those times but not enough to overcome the lack of identity an Orange County officeholder had statewide.

This year, in observing the primary election campaign, I noted the differences in style and methods of campaigning. The state has gotten so large that media – TV, radio, new media – requires huge budgets in the millions of dollars.

But the advancement of women in the private sector has given them the opportunity to mount the same pricy campaign as their male counterparts, particularly in the cases of Carly Fiorina and Meg Whitman.

I don’t envy anyone willing to take on the insurmountable tasks of Sacramento or Washington. But these women have proved their mettle in the tough business world, and odds are that they can make the tough decisions that just might turn things around.

My interest as a voter is to know what you have done to prove your abilities, NOT false promises with no way of getting there.

Instilling confidence in the future and building trust in our institutions is doable, but will take extraordinary leadership. Women have proved they can play hardball politics as well as their male counterparts. Meg Whitman and Carly Fiorina are the best qualified candidates for the challenges of governor and U.S. senator.

They just happen to be women.

Marian Bergeson was the first woman to be elected to both the Assembly and state Senate in California. She also served as an Orange County supervisor, state secretary of education, and chair of the state Transportation Commission.

Crisis Is Chance for Change

By Marian Bergeson

This is a year about money, how much do we need, what do we want to keep from taxation, and what services will our money buy?

For many years, government has been everybody’s piggy bank. If things aren’t going our way, we can fix it with an initiative to go on the ballot, never mind the unintended consequences. Can government continue to be the solution for all problems?

As we dig in for another round of elections, we are bewildered by the charges and countercharges that appear in slick brochures, TV and radio ads.  Candidates advocating for “change.” There is little definition of what that change would look like.

How can a $20 billion-deficit state budget with autopilot expenditures be changed? Draconian cuts could affect the entire structure of California and the standard of living of every Californian. Tax increases of the magnitude required could stifle investment and economic growth.

Years of balancing budgets on the back of gimmicks and borrowing has finally caught up with us. We have run out of gimmicks and we are obligated to debt repayment beyond understanding.

On the flip side, it can be a time for opportunity. We could redefine the role of government: at what level should government services be provided, what is the most appropriate revenue stream to support these services and what are the essential entitlements for the most needy?

Very likely this will not happen in Sacramento or Washington. In my opinion a bottom-up approach is the most logical. Local communities could be empowered to unleash creativity, without bureaucracy and mandates.

Communities are defined by the involvement and leadership of their residents. As a longtime resident of Newport Beach, I have seen many examples of individuals and businesses launching efforts to respond to critical local needs. Thanks to many public-private partnerships fostered through philanthropic organizations and foundations, we have seen education, arts, culture and environmental programs develop with little or no government money.

Understanding our community, our needs, where each of us can become interested and involved can be fostered through effective communication. Local media can be a powerful force in giving credit to those that make it happen, and publicizing the opportunities for leadership and volunteerism. Local media is critical to identify, advocate and stir debate on issues that determine who we are.

I welcome the Newport Beach Independent to join in this all-important role.

Marian Bergeson is a former Newport-Mesa school district trustee, assemblywoman and state senator representing Newport Beach, Orange County supervisor, state Secretary of Education and chair of the state Transportation Commission.