Davis Blames Crisis On State Republicans 
But Democratic controller points at governor 
Carla Marinucci, John Wildermuth, Chronicle Political Writers
Sunday, April 1, 2001 
,2001 San Francisco Chronicle 
URL: 
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2001/04/01/M
N154353.DTL 
Anaheim -- The politics of energy dominated the state Democratic convention 
yesterday, as anxious delegates gave a lukewarm reception to embattled Gov. 
Gray Davis, who clashed bitterly with party rival, Controller Kathleen 
Connell. 
Speaking at the Anaheim convention center, where dimmed lights were a 
constant reminder of yesterday's Stage 2 alert, Davis blamed California's 
energy woes on former Gov. Pete Wilson, Republican lawmakers and the Federal 
Energy Regulatory Commission, which, he charged, has failed to regulate 
greedy energy firms selling power at "out of control prices." 
He insisted that he was not sure rate increases were necessary, refusing to 
say whether he would support huge hikes backed by the Public Utilities 
Commission last week. He suggested, however, that he favors a system of 
tiered electricity pricing. 
"These Republicans -- who were so enamored with deregulation just five years 
ago -- have become even more enamored with criticizing me as I try to clean 
up their mess," the governor said to tepid applause from the 1,900 delegates. 
"This deregulation disaster was authored by a Republican legislator, 
passed by a Republican Assembly, signed into law by a Republican governor and 
implemented with undue haste by a Republican PUC." 
But the governor's Republican-bashing was overshadowed politically by an 
attack by state Controller Connell, a candidate for Los Angeles mayor -- who 
rejected what she called Davis' "finger-pointing" and assailed his handling 
of the crisis. The dramatic development demonstrated both deepening rifts 
within California's ruling party and the high political stakes of the energy 
crisis. 
"There will be no excuses for Democrats in this state, because we dominate 
state government," Connell said in a convention speech in which she also 
outlined proposals to require "power hogs," such as malls, to install their 
own microgenerators. 
"I spent the past eight years making sure the state had a surplus, and now 
I'm seeing it eaten away every day by energy costs. . . . Whatever solution 
(the governor) provides must come fast and be shared openly with the people 
of California," she said in a dig at Davis, who has been criticized for 
moving too cautiously and for resisting disclosure of energy contracts to the 
public. 
Warning of the costs of "a delay and an incremental approach to an indefinite 
problem," she said, "I won't stand by and allow the consumers to pick up the 
tab." 
DAVIS DEFENDS POLICIES
Asked to respond to Connell's critique, Davis told reporters, "I believe 
we've moved at warp speed to address this problem. . . . We've kept the light 
on most days." 
The governor, who endorsed Connell's opponent, former Assembly Speaker 
Antonio Villaraigosa for mayor, then added, "It might be if she's not happy 
with that, she can run for governor next time." 
Garry South, the governor's senior political adviser, was even more caustic, 
lambasting Connell as a party infidel. "This is why Kathleen Connell doesn't 
have a friend in all Los Angeles," he said. "She's been picking on the 
governor since day one." 
"It's all air," he said of her talk. "Not only hot air but a foul wind." 
In an interview while campaigning later in the day, Connell toughened her 
rhetoric, saying, "The emperor has no more clothes here in California." 
"We are well into the fifth month (of the energy crisis) and we have yet to 
find any answers from the administration," said Connell, who promised to 
release her own detailed solutions to the crisis next week. 
Unlike many Democrats at the convention, festooned with "Wilson Did It" 
signs, she rejected as "irrelevant" the suggestion by Davis that Republicans 
were to blame for California's energy woes. 
"Californians are wearying of this finger-pointing and closed-door 
negotiations and extended debate," she told The Chronicle. "The public is no 
longer going to be patient with us. They're going to hold the governor 
accountable when they get the bill." 
CONNELL LAGGING IN POLL
Connell, who is forced by term limits to give up her post as controller next 
year, has lagged in her campaign to become mayor of Los Angeles. With 10 days 
to the election, a recent poll showed her running fourth behind City Attorney 
James Hahn, Villaraigosa and businessman Steve Soboroff. 
Despite Davis' words and speculation among delegates, Connell denied she was 
eyeing the governor's seat for the future. "I'm not looking two or three 
years down the line," she said. "But I hope the governor is looking toward an 
immediate solution to this problem." 
The governor's speech was his first since the PUC announced rate increases of 
as much as 46 percent. Davis refused to say whether he would support the 
immediate rate increase approved by the PUC but suggested that he would back 
a tiered billing system. 
"If a rate increase becomes absolutely necessary to keep our lights on and 
our economy strong, you can be sure of one thing from this governor," Davis 
said. "I'll fight to protect those least able to pay, reward those who 
conserve the most and 'motivate' those who are the biggest guzzlers to cut 
back." 
He later dodged reporters' questions about specifics, repeatedly saying that 
within the next two weeks he would release a statement detailing "what, if 
any" increases were needed. 
"Many advisers from Wall Street are running numbers, and they appear to be 
different from the PUC's," he said. 
Davis also said he has already done a lot to address the crisis and had "kick 
started" construction of new power plants and successfully promoted 
conservation programs. 
Some of Davis' backers at the convention, watching the squabbling, expressed 
concern about some of the governor's tactics. 
"People want a leader to lead," said Susan Leal, San Francisco's city 
treasurer. "They're looking for someone to come out and take command, 
regardless of who started this." 
But, she said, Davis is a tough and smart politician, and "people are still 
going to be forgiving if (the governor) does something to attack the 
problem." 
OTHER DEMOCRATS BLAME GOP
Other Democratic Party leaders were also quick to defend Davis and to blame 
Republicans. 
Terry McAuliffe, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, suggested 
that President Bush has ignored California's energy problems because "he's 
worried to death about Davis running for president." 
California is the world's sixth-biggest economy, McAuliffe noted in an 
interview, and Bush "has basically written it off, saying, 'Good luck to you. 
You're not getting any help.' " 
Art Torres, chairman of the state Democratic Party, said Davis "is attacked 
every day by the backbench Republican yahoos in the Legislature" and 
predicted that public concern over energy would ebb by next year's election. 
"We're looking at issues that are going to transcend the energy issues we see 
now," Torres said, such as crime and violence in the schools, economics, the 
environment and abortion. 
But political analyst Sherry Bebich Jeffee said Connell's criticism was 
evidence of a party split and perhaps "the opening salvo in 2002," when Davis 
is up for re-election. 
Davis's entire party, she said, could be in trouble if voters get fed up with 
higher energy bills. 
"Do the math," said Jeffee, noting that Democrats hold all but one state 
office and control of the both houses of the Legislature. "If you're going to 
throw the bums out, the bums in this state are mostly Democrats." 
E-mail Carla Marinucci at cmarinucci@sfchronicle.com and John Wildermuth at 
jwildermuth@sfchronicle.com.